Script: Auto Hold/Sustain

[DctSys]

 

Simple but handy script for MainStage: Play a note/chord or arpeggio and it holds all the notes until you play the next group of notes. It effectively automates the way a piano player might use the Sustain pedal. Play a chord in this layer then play something in a different layer while the original chord sustains.

There's one parameter - the gap (in beats) that's needed between notes so that the new note is considered a new group, and cuts off all the old notes.

 

//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Auto Hold
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

var NeedsTimingInfo = true;
var activeNotes = [];
var then=0;
function HandleMIDI(event) {
    if (event instanceof NoteOn) {
        var now = event.beatPos;
        
        if(now-then>GetParameter("Cluster Duration"))
        {
        for(i=0;i<activeNotes.length;i++) {
            var off = new NoteOff(activeNotes);
            //Trace(off);
            off.send();
            }
        activeNotes=[];
        }
        
        // add note to array
        activeNotes.push(event);
        //Trace(event);
        event.send();
        then=now;
    }     
    else if (event instanceof NoteOff)
    {
        //Ignore Note Off's
    }
    // pass non-note events through
    else
        {
        event.send();
        }
}

//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
var PluginParameters = 
[
        {name:"Cluster Duration", type:"log",
        minValue:0.25, maxValue:4, numberOfSteps:4, defaultValue:1},
     
];

 

[David Nahmani]

Thanks a lot for sharing your script, that sounds like a great tool, however I wasn't able to make it work in Logic Pro? It sustains every chord but doesn't stop them from sounding when I play a new chord. 

[DctSys]

I don't have logic to test in, and MainStage is obviously different in a few subtle ways, but did you have a clock running - either record or playback?

 

Without a clock then all the notes are arriving at the "same" time, so will all just get added. There needs to be a full beat between the last note of a group and the start of the next group and obviously that can't happen if there are no beats.

[gacki]

It always sends the same Note Off for me: E6 with velocity 100 - regardless of they keys that were pressed before...

 

[David Nahmani]

15 hours ago, DctSys said:

did you have a clock running - either record or playback?

Yes, I tried both recording and playing. 

9 hours ago, gacki said:

It always sends the same Note Off for me: E6 with velocity 100 - regardless of they keys that were pressed before...

Interesting: I don't get any Note Off events here? 

[DctSys]

That is odd...

 

The trace() you oncommented should only see noteOn's. That's where its picked up a new note and added it to the list of currently playing notes. 

NoteOff's should appear if you uncomment line 17. That's not working somehow. That's where a new chord has been detected and its clearing the old one.

You could also add a Trace(event); after line 14. That's the interesting on as that's where a NoteOn which SHOULD trigger noteOff's has been detected.

 

I checked the Logic Doc's for the timing stuff fin Logic and its identical to MainStage... weird.

[gacki]

Some debugging.

This function doesn't work:

var off = new NoteOff(activeNotes);

Here's my trace:

 

Trace(activeNotes);
var off = new NoteOff(activeNotes);
Trace(off);

I'm running the script, pressing a single key (C4) and then after a while a second key (A3):

 

[NoteOn channel:1 pitch:72 [C4] velocity:88]
[NoteOff channel:1 pitch:100 [E6] velocity:0]

activeNotes correctly gives me the last pressed note, but off always contains the E6 instead.

Digging further down shows that generating a simple NoteOff also results in the E6; so this is just the default. Simply using activeNotes to generate a NoteOff fails; one needs to address the elements explicitely.

The following modified function works for me:

        for(i=0;i<activeNotes.length;i++) {
			var off = new NoteOff;
			off.pitch = activeNotes[i].pitch;
			//Trace(off);
			off.send();
            }

This is verified to work in Mainstage 3.5.3 and in Logic 10.6.3.

 

 

 

Auto Hold debug.pst