Adjusting Per-Track Volume Level and Left-to-Right Pan

You can independently adjust the volume level and left-to-right pan for each track. Adjusting the left-to-right pan is similar to setting the balance between the left and right speakers on a stereo audio system.

The range of volume level is 0 to 127. This is the "MIDI channel volume", controlled by MIDI controller number 7.

The range of the left-to-right pan value is also 0 to 127. This is the "MIDI pan", controlled by MIDI controller number 10.

Composer lets you temporarily adjust the volume of one or more selected tracks during playback. See Adjusting Volume of Selected Tracks During Playback.

You should be aware that some soundcard drivers cleanly separate sounds into the left and right speakers when you assign the maximum left and right values, 0 and 127. Other soundcard drivers bleed the sounds to some degree between the left and right speakers, even when the maximum left and right values (0 and 127) are used. Other soundcard drivers do not support left-to-right pan at all.

The track for an imported MIDI file may have varying per-track volume and pan values throughout the song. Or, you may add varying per-track volume level and pan values throughout the song using graph editing tools, as described in Per-Track Channel Volume and Left-to-Right Pan.

To determine whether a track has a constant volume level or left-to-right pan, versus a varying volume or pan throughout the song:

1.      Choose the Track Setup command from the Track menu. Composer will display a Track Setup window, such as the following:

2.      Observe the values in the Volume and Pan columns of the Track Setup table for each track. A number for the volume or pan indicates that the track has a constant value for the volume or pan throughout the entire song. If the value is displayed as "Var" (for "varying") then the volume or pan changes at one or more places in the song.

To change the volume level or left-to-right pan for one or more tracks:

1.      Choose the Track Setup command from the Track menu, as above.

2.      For each track row, click the Volume or Pan cell. In the Volume or Pan cell, enter a value 0 to 127.

NOTE:
If the value was "Var" and you enter a number, then the varying volume or pan level will be replaced with a constant level throughout the entire song. Once you have entered a number, you cannot restore the varying volume or pan levels in the song by typing "Var" back into the table cell. To restore the varying volume or pan level, hit the Cancel button to exit the dialog box without saving the changes.

3.      Click the OK button to complete the new volume or pan assignments.

To assign a volume level or left-to-right pan value to all tracks in one step:

1.      Choose the Track Setup command from the Track menu.

     Composer will display a Track Setup window, such as illustrated above.

2.      Click the column header for Volume or Pan.

     Composer will display the following dialog box (or a similar one for Pan):

3.      Enter a value from 0 to 127.

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