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Volume articulation, sometimes called an envelope, is critical to the character of the instrument. A xylophone's waveform, for example, must have a rapid attack, no sustain, and a short release to simulate the sound of a hard mallet striking a wooden bar. A bowed string instrument, on the other hand, can achieve a variety of attacks and releases.
The following figure shows the volume articulation for a DLS Level 2 instrument, as displayed in the DLS Designer Window when the Volume or Pitch button is selected. The graph represents the volume or pitch over time. Each segment corresponds to a setting in the text boxes, and changes can be made either in the text boxes or by dragging the colored squares. Note that the time scale is not linear.
The following segments make up a DLS2 volume articulation. If the DLS1 check box is selected, the Delay and Hold segments are not used and cannot be adjusted.
Setting | Range | Notes |
Delay | .001 to 40 | Duration of silence before the attack begins. |
Attack | .001 to 40 | A short attack time gives a note a percussive beginning, and a long attack provides a fade-in effect. The attack always ends at the maximum volume of the wave. |
Hold | .001 to 40 | Duration of the maximum amplitude. |
Decay | .001 to 40 | The value in the text box is the time the volume would take to reach zero. The time to reach the sustain level is shown in the gray box. |
Sustain | 0 to 100 | Percentage of the maximum amplitude reached by the attack, at which the note is sustained. The length of the sustain segment in the graph is irrelevant, as the duration is ultimately determined by the length of the note. |
Release | .001 to 40 | A short release time causes the note to sound chopped-off, while a long release time produces a fading effect. The value in the text box represents the time that would be required to reach silence if the sustain level were 100 percent. The time needed to go from the current sustain level is always less than or equal to that value, and is shown in the gray box. |
The sliders in the Instrument Articulation area are used for the following settings:
Duration of the release segment when a note-exclusive or key-exclusive event occurs.
This value is a multiplier that DirectMusic Producer uses to enhance the attack speed and volume of the tone. Move the slider to the right to simulate the effect of a note being struck harder.
This value is a multiplier that DirectMusic Producer uses to modify the hold duration according to the pitch. Lower-pitched notes hold longer than higher-pitched ones. The farther to the right the slider is, the more pronounced is this effect.
This value is a multiplier that DirectMusic Producer uses to modify the decay duration according to the pitch. Lower-pitched notes decay less quickly than higher-pitched ones. The farther to the right the slider is, the more pronounced is this effect.
Move the Pan slider to specify left and right balance for stereo output. Values are expressed as a percentage ranging from L50% (moved completely to the left) to R50% (moved completely to the right), with Mid being the center setting.