Re: [fluid-dev] Short note durations on percussion channel

[S. Christian Collins]

Josh,

I think your resolution is reasonable, and it seems it will only really affect GM/GS MIDI files, and not other usage, so that's good.

The reason I brought up the GS sound effects bank (patch 56 on the percussion channel, if memory serves me correctly) is that many of the sounds are looped, and would respond badly to having no note-off event, essentially leaving them looping indefinitely throughout the song.  Also, there are a few other exceptions in the GS percussive presets that could cause problems, such as the different order of percussion sounds in some of the patches.  Examples include the Orchestral bank (patch 48), which includes a sustained applause sound effect as one of its notes, and the brushed kit, which has brush swirls that should respond to length.

This is why I proposed simply setting a minimum note length value for the percussion channel in GM/GS mode.  If you set the minimum note length to 10ms, for example, that would cause all percussion instruments to sound properly--short sounds will play their duration because of the long release values SoundFont creators use on such sounds, and long sounds won't hold out indefinitely due to a lack of note-off.  I can't think of any downsides to this solution.

-~Chris

address@hidden wrote:

If a composer is using percussion sounds on a non-percussion MIDI channel in GM/GS mode, then its up to them to ensure that the note durations are long enough.  At least as far as the standard is concerned, which is what we should follow.

Josh

Quoting David Henningsson <address@hidden>:

S. Christian Collins skrev:

Josh,

Thanks for explaining the true nature of the problem--I misunderstood.
I would like to propose the following for the percussion track:

   * A note-off event received before the attack phase is completed
     would be delayed until completion of the attack phase, unless the
     attack phase is longer than 0.5 seconds.

I can't think of any cases where this would cause an undesired effect.
Most percussive sounds would have a very short attack phase, and the
sounds that would have attack phases longer than 0.5 seconds (cymbal
rolls, sound effects that fade in) would still properly respond to
keypress duration.

By the way, should this only be applied to the percussion track? What
about synth toms and similar sounds?

// David