Creating the Instrument to measure the changes in a more specific manner, but doing this by ear is also acceptable. Metering options explained If you are having difficulty creating smooth transitions between the velocity layers, you may want to experiment with cross-fades. The fades create an overlap between the velocity layers and might fix the transition problem. Cross- fades are not always the most natural solution, because it is often even harder to implement natural sounding cross-fades than to create natural-sounding velocity layer switching without fades. The simple explanation for this is that the sample files need to be near perfectly matched in sound quality and pitch to create a good fade from one to the other. Fades also work well when fading in a second sound such as a louder attack that is mixed with a softer attack. In this case, a sound is added and not replaced by a second sound. Remember that cross-fades can also be used as an effect or to create a brand new instrument by layering additional sounds into the original sample.