Question on sustaining short notes / note off [solved]

[Khyrum]

Hi, new user here.  Looking through wiki documentation and some forums posts, I'm struggling trying to figure out how to create a type of effect on an instrument and wanted to ask for some help.

In short, I'm trying to create an instrument that when played in series of 16th notes is short or staccato enough to sound distinct from its surrounding notes, but then to sustain it and add effects to the same instrument when I want.  I'm thinking a sound kind of like the series of short notes followed by a volume dropped sustain like in this song from TMNT:
https://youtu.be/yYWx3vAFi98?t=6

My process was:

• Create a sample
• Loop sample (bidi)
• Create instrument
• Add volume envelope to fade quickly
• Enable envelope sustain

I think I missed a step or just don't understand something.  When I play my notes, as far as I understand they sustain until a Note Off event.  Since I'm playing a bunch of 16th notes, will I need to then extend my pattern so that I can have a note off event after every 16th note to get this staccato sort of effect?

Thanks in advance!

[Saga Musix]

I think the easiest approach here would be to have two instruments, one with a very short envelope and no sustain (for the staccato notes) and a sustained variant. That way, you don't have to increase the pattern detail for releasing the 16th notes.

Alternatively, you can just create one sustained instrument and use the volume slide effect (Dxy in IT / MPTM / S3M, Axy in MOD / XM) to quickly fade the notes out.

[Khyrum]

Thanks Saga, not sure why I had it my head to do everything with one instrument! 

You've done awesome work on OpenMPT.

[Saga Musix]

You're welcome