Custom release of soundfont presets supported in Musescore 3?
According to this polyphone tutorial (https://www.polyphone-soundfonts.com/en/documentation/tutorials/using-c…), it is possible to create soundfont presets that have custom realistic releases on sustained notes. Does Musescore playback support such a feature or does it just attenuate/fade-out the sample, regardless.
Thanks, Sam
To quote the tutorial...
"When you trigger a note you will hear first the beginning of the sample (the attack) and then, as long as you don't release the key, the loop within the sample will be played again and again (the sustained phase). When you release the key, the loop will still be used and the sound will progressively be attenuated until you cannot hear it anymore. This is the traditional way to do a release with soundfonts: easy to set but ignoring transient harmonics that could occur during the real release of an acoustic instrument. This type of release can be viewed as a simple extension of the sustained phase.
A more realistic release would be to use the real release provided by the recorded sample. The attack and sustained phase will be done the same way but when the key is released the sustained phase will suddenly drop, leaving room for the recorded release that will begin to sound. A custom release is used instead of extending the sound of the sustained phase, adding details to the sound."
Comments
Using an example sf2 file (see attachment) from the polyphone tutorial I determined that the custom release plays within the Piano Keyboard, not during playback. That is I can't detect any difference between the classic (simply cuts off) and custom release during playback even when each consequitive note is a different voice. I would love to see Musescore improve its audio playback by allowing custom releases. I think I'll make a feature request.
In reply to Using an example sf2 file … by Sambaji
Done. #281288: Improve score audio by allowing custom releases of soundfont during playback
In reply to Done. #281288: Improve score… by Sambaji
I'd like to add a vote for custom releases. I was really excited at finding a harpsichord soundfont that sounded realistic in Polyphone, but without the custom releases it only sounds adequate, not stunning.
In reply to I'd like to add a vote for… by andrew907
I'm thinking and hoping I was overhasty here. Now I am hearing releases when I play a full piece instead of just clicking a note. This is really grand!
In reply to I'm thinking and hoping I… by andrew907
Again I was too hasty.
Expected behavior: On note on, main sample plays and the first, silent part of the release sample loops. On note off, the rest of the release sample plays.
Actual behavior: On note on, the main sample plays and the entire release sample loops as long as the key is held down.
Apparently Musescore cannot loop just part of a sample and play the rest on release. It either loops the whole sample or doesn't loop at all.
In reply to Again I was too hasty… by andrew907
Tried exporting as MIDI and playing with timidity: http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/bionic/man1/timidity.1.html
Timidity can't play notes with the release samples as intended either (that is, as they sound in Polyphone). So it's not just a Musescore/Fluidsynth problem. Maybe loops with special endings are a niche feature in SF2 and not well supported.