Harp Sustain Notes

[Pyre]

Hi all,

What happens with note off messages and release samples for harps?

I am not a harpist (maybe one day!), and was under the impression that a harp plays a note by plucking a string, after which the note naturally dies away, like a piano with the sustain pedal held down permanently. I know strings can be then muted out, I was under the impression that this was what the 'mute' articulation did on the VI Harps setups. But I notice that when using the standard articulation, a short MIDI note is a lot shorter than a long one. Is muting the string included as part of the release sample on the standard articulation?

What should I do for a musical performance where the harp strings decay away naturally rather than being muted? Should I use very long MIDI notes, or will CC#64 work as it can for the piano?

Many thanks,

Pyre

[andi]

Hi Pyre!

The "mute" articulation for the Vienna Instruments Harps doesn't include a release sample. It triggers notes that have been muted by the harpist shortly after the attack. There is also a "normal+RS-mute" articulation. With this articulation the notes ring as long as the key is hold. At the release of the key a mute sample gets triggered.

 

@Pyre said:
What should I do for a musical performance where the harp strings decay away naturally rather than being muted? Should I use very long MIDI notes, or will CC#64 work as it can for the piano?

I would use the "normal" articulation and hold the keys as long as it suits. CC64 will work as well.

Best regards,
Andi

[Pyre]

Hi Andi,

Fantastic, that's great to know, I'll move forwards with that in mind.

Many thanks for your help.

Pyre