Why do my soft hits already sound loud?

You play a ghost note, but the module or drum plugin plays it back almost like a normal stroke. The pad is sending notes; the problem is the MIDI value they carry. eDrumWork classifies this behavior as D03.

The eDrumWork dynamics diagnostic compares several weak strokes with the rest of your playing instead of judging one isolated number.

What the MIDI stream shows

Each Note On normally carries a velocity from 1 to 127. It describes what the module outputs, not the physical force of the stick. When deliberately soft hits cluster high, little room is left between ghost notes, ordinary strokes and accents.

Test one zone with separate soft, normal and strong groups, and compare their spread and overlap. A single hard or soft value is not enough.

MIDI too strong or audio too loud?

Lowering a mixer channel changes loudness but not the incoming MIDI dynamics. Conversely, a compressor or a plugin velocity curve can make correctly separated MIDI values sound similar.

Inspect raw MIDI first:

• high velocities on deliberate weak strokes point to D03;
• correct MIDI separation but a uniform sound points downstream;
• missing Note On events on weak strokes point to D01.

Preserve the opposite end of the range

Toning down weak signals can restore contrast, but it may also make ordinary playing feel dull or keep accents from reaching the top of the range. Retest D04 after every change.

Module behavior differs across Roland, Yamaha, Alesis, Pearl, Millenium, EFNOTE and DIY setups. Use the documentation for your exact model and avoid universal numbers.

eDrumWork compares your declared intent with the received velocity. It does not claim to measure physical force.

Measure my pad dynamics