piano style decay on held notes?

[bluemoves]

Probably really simple, but I don't know how to get a sample to simultaneously loop AND fade away...

I have a short piano sample I'd like to make a piano instrument out of.. the sample doesn't have a natural fade to it, it just cuts off.. So, for the notes to be long enough the sample must be looped - but of course then when I play a note, it sounds like a piano but it sustains forever!!

There must be a way to set (KONTAKT) so that when you trigger a looped note it has a natural piano-style decay?

[DSmolken]

Envelope. Zero attack, hold long enough to reach the point where the looping starts, then decay over some time - more time for lower notes - with sustain level set to 0.

[bluemoves]

Thanks.

I'm quite new to Kontakt so I have to admit I don't really understand what you mean...

I can see a tab called 'zone envelopes' in the wave editor.. is this what you mean?

Do I have to set an envelope for each sample or each group or what?

Sorry..

[DSmolken]

It's not the simplest thing to explain, but you basically need to modulate the volume with a typical AHDSR envelope. This is very common in synthesizers, so maybe a basic tutorial on making a synthesizer in Kontakt would be the best place to start. I can think of a similar piano implemented in SFZ, but nothing in Kontakt off the top of my head. In the 80s-90s, it was common for workstation keyboards to use a sample for the start of a piano note, and use a synthesized tail, so in some ways you're going to have to do a few of the things that they did.

[bluemoves]

Oh I've already got an AHDSR on the instrument - if I hit a key and let go it begins fading from the moment I let go of the key.

That sound is perfect but that's not my issue.

The problem is, I want the same behaviour with a HELD key..! (i.e. like a piano.. where it doesn't matter how long you hold that key down, the sound fades!)

I see what you're saying about early tech but surely there's something in a modern sampler to achieve it??

(I mean, I don't personally know how to do it (obvs.!) but, surely It would be as simple as telling the software to trigger the sample and start playing it with all its looping etc. but to begin fading out the volume over a user-specified time range.. it's not rocket science!)

it's 2020 - I can't believe there isn't a 'button'!!! I want a BUTTON!

[thecontrolcentre]

Use the decay and sustain controls in the ADSR to change the "fade out" of the sample. Bring them down until you get the required behaviour. The decay controls when the sample starts to fade, sustain controls how long the note plays for after the decay starts.

https://blog.landr.com/adsr-envelopes-infographic/

[bluemoves]

Thank you guys! _/\_

OK, working with the Decay control, I can get it pretty close.. but, as DSmolken points out, with a piano, high notes decay very noticeably quicker than low ones.

I can get it to sound good in the middle register but then the lower notes decay much too quickly and the high notes sustain much too long...

I guess I'm now wondering if there's an AHDSR controller whose output is linked to pitch??

Decay at the global/instrument level isn't really cutting it.

[JeffLearman]

There is definitely a solution; I'm sure Kontakt can do this, but I only have the free version which I don't think allows creating/editing instruments, so I can't give Kontakt specifics. But it wouldn't be as good as it is without such a feature. If nobody here has Kontakt-specific answers, try the Native Instruments forums.

Terms to look for are "zones" where you could give a different value to different key ranges (but note that the term zone can mean a lot of different things, and you'd probably have to define the zones) or "key tracking" where you give a percentage to apply to the value that depends on the ratio of the MIDI note divided by 127 (the max MIDI note). You'd use a negative percentage to get a lower number for a higher note.

Don't give up, you're close!

[thecontrolcentre]

Thank you guys! _/\_

OK, working with the Decay control, I can get it pretty close.. but, as DSmolken points out, with a piano, high notes decay very noticeably quicker than low ones.

I can get it to sound good in the middle register but then the lower notes decay much too quickly and the high notes sustain much too long...

I guess I'm now wondering if there's an AHDSR controller whose output is linked to pitch??

Decay at the global/instrument level isn't really cutting it.

This is inevitable with only one note spread over the entire keyboard. For more realistic behaviour you need multiple samples.