Release Envelopes - An Idea?

[piano18]

Hello!

I have been using Aria for a while and recently started making my own SFZ piano from samples I have made. Without going in about this rather daunting process, I am confused about release samples and thought it would be good to sign up and ask someone!

Okay, release samples are basically a staccato note and on trigger=release the sample plays, yes? This can be set to whatever volume we like (and so if it was a high velocity it could be loud etc).

But, I find two problems with this approach. Firstly, if the note was a high velocity BUT it has decayed to almost silence, we suddenly get a loud release sample! Which doesn't sound right! Is there a way to change the volume based upon the current amplitude of the playing sample??

My idea is that I don't use a release sample whatsoever, and instead use an envelope for the release (currently ampeg_release=0.24). This is an okay substitute, but the only real significant difference of the decay of the hammer falling is that the first to go are the low frequency harmonics, then it quickly goes up stopping frequencies higher and higher.

After looking into it, many string instruments stop in a very similar way (if you think about the physics this kind of makes sense!) and so I was wondering perhaps if such a feature could be implemented in a later version of the engine! It is only an idea, but something that could be quite useful for people sampling string instruments. A time set envelope that instead of just fading the note, fades the eq starting from low frequencies all the way to the top!

Otherwise, thanks for such a great engine anyway! It is certainly the best for using SFZ files. And where can I get the latest updates? I currently can only get v1.111 from my Garritan user page, are there any later versions?

Thanks!

Rob

[davidv]

Hi

my time on this forum is limited, but you know about the rt_decay SFZ 2.0 opcode?


"The volume decay amount when the region is set to play in release trigger mode, in decibels per second since note-on message."

http://www.cakewalk.com/DevXchange/article.aspx?aid=108

[piano18]

Hello, thanks for the reply,

I don't understand what this opcode is for as rate of the decay can be set by ampeg_release yes? I added the code to my file and it didn't make any difference, but thank you for the suggestion!

[davidv]

The rt_decay opcode sets the volume for the release sample according to the time that has been spent between the note on sample and the release trigger.

As for not using release samples at all I dont follow the idea, since most release samples sounds totally different than their counterparts, for lots of instrument. Mechanical noise, etc.

Yes you could use a filter eg or a custom egXX_cutoff envelope to try.

Sorry i dont have more time to think about the best way for you to approach this, SFZ is very complex and there are many approches to the same problem.

[piano18]

Ah okay! Thanks!

I was hoping for a feature like that but never found it - I will use this to find the correct volume to play the release sample.

It's fine, sorry to be a bit confusing, that's perfect!

Rob

[davidv]

Good to know it helped!