changing sustain time on the fly?

Are you talking about

Changing the ADSR sustain time of a sound.

or

Changing the hold/release time of an arpeggio.

I don't understand why you'd want to change the sustain time on the fly and why this is a must have for trance-like music. Seems to me you'd want a long sustain time for trance music. more time to space out.

per the manual section on the TVA

Attack is set by T1 and adjustable
Decay & Sustain (T2 & T3) are adjustable together as one adjustment
Release is set by T4 and adjustable

these adjustment can be done on the "fly" by the Matrix control.

umm, isn't this a little obvious?

There is no such thing as sustain time, sustain is simply a level of the sound while the key/note is pressed.

So, if you want to adjust the 'sustain time' set the sustain to 0 and change the decay. You may also need to adjust the T2 value which is actually a hold in the AHDSR envelope.

Ofcourse,

You guys are right. Sustain is not a time but a level.
My point is, this level cannot be assigned to a slider, like attack, decay, release tm can. This way, patches with a lot of sustain cannot be shortened without going into edit mode (I thought).

However, I didn't know about the Matrix control.. will take a look at that.

Thanks

Roland calls the basic amplitude envelop a TVA (time variant amplifier), better know as a ADSR.

The parameters are adjustable on the fly via the Matrix control.

You have three possible adjustments;

Attach Time, T1
Decay Time, T2 & T3, which also controls the sustain time.
Release Time, T4

The manual covers the matrix on page 109.

There is a nice little graphic on page 102 that illustrates the TVA Envelope.

The workshop document FGWS06 also has a little info on the TVA

good luck

Atlas, ADSR is an acronym for Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release but it doesn't stand for the synonym for "envelope". Because envelope can be anything, like simple AR or AHDSR (+ Hold stage), etc. TVA has more stages than AHDSR actually.

Ok, checked out matrix control.
Unfortunately, this matrix operates within the patch only, not globally. This way you have to edit the patch in order to dynamically change these settings.

All these replies and no definitive answer? Actually it's in here, repeatedly.

Sutur, you didn't say anything about patch vs globally at first. You did say you could assign a slider to the release tho. How did you do that? Why not assign that to the decay?

I guess I am reading you want an additional envelope controller in the master effects so you can easily change the 'sustain time' anywhere without ever editing any patches?

Artemiy, if by more stages you mean the L2 value which extends the use of the 'hold' to more complex shapes, yes, but technically there isn't really more than 5 steps - AHDSR. Right? Maybe it's a bad idea to mix the languages. There is also the L0 which could further obfuscates even the definition of attack.

The graph on 102 may be the best way to describe.

Is there not another layer to the Matrix Controls, that being the System Controllers? I don't have FG manual sitting next to me. This should allow you to set a single system controller to modify any/all patch with Matrix control assigned to that.

well, my original post contains the keywords "on the fly" and "don't want to change every patch"

When in patch mode, the sliders automatically assign to Attach, Decay, ReleaseTM. That's by default. Unfortunately, there is no "Sustain" to which a slider can be assigned. (other than on a Motif XS where there is a knob for Release and a knob for Sustain).

I know this can be done by the matrix and system controllers, but than the patch has to be edited. I have not yet found a way to do this globally.

You see I don't have a Fantom-G so my apologies for coming up just a bit short with the specific answer for you. Unfortunate as it may be, editing patches, even drastically modifying them to your will, is a part of the game.

Again you don't see a Sustain in the default slider setups because that would be only changing the sustain volume while a key is held down. To be more specific, what we are talking about here, 'Sustain Time', is actually a combination of Decay Time and Sustain Level.

Admittedly, I can see where it gets confusing, but you'll likely need to modify your patches to get the effect you are after.

I mean, you get it right? You need to shorten the decay. If they are to decay into silence, the sustain has to be 0.

Yamaha calls the amplitude ADSR an "AEG"

The Sustain Knob on the XS allows you to adjust the level at which the sustain is played in an addition to the 2 decay times/levels.

Maybe I should state that the "Sustain Time" is controlled by your finger on the key.

1. When you hit (depress) a key the sound volume increases to the Attack level taking the Attack time to get there.
2. As you continue to hold the key down the sound level decays, adjustable via the decay time to a level set by the decay level.
3. The sound continues to sound after the decay at a sustain level .
4. until you release the key where the sound fades away as controlled by the release time.


These envelop things are available for amplitude (volume), Filters and Pitch on most keyboards. They have the basic form of "ADSR" from the old moog days, different mfgs use slightly different terms and may add additional points on the curves, such as "Holds" or "Delays"

Cross Reference

Roland's TVA (Time Variant Amplitude) envelop
(T=Time, L=level)

Attack -- T1/L1
Decay -- T2/L2
-- T3/L3 (L3 is the Sustain Level) (T3 can be considered a part of the sustain time)
Sustain -- Sustain time (your finger)
Release -- T4

Yamaha's AEG - Amplitude Envelop Generator

Starting Level -- Initial Level
Attack -- Attack Time/Attack Level
Decay -- Decay 1 Time/Decay 1 Level
-- Decay 2 Time/Decay 2 Level (Decay 2 time can be considered part of the sustain time)
Sustain -- Sustain time (your finger) Sustain Level (Knob)
Release -- Release Time

Korg's EG's (Envelope Generators) Amplitude Envelop

Attack -- Attack Time/Attack Level
Decay -- Decay 1 Time/Breal Level
-- Slope Time/Sustain Level (Slope time can be considered part of the sustain time)
Sustain -- Sustain time (your finger)
Release -- Release Time/Release Level

The additional settings I say can be considered part of the sustain is not controlled by the time your finger is depressing the key. Note also the values can be changed based on key velocity and octave.