Falcosoft wrote on 2023-03-06, 03:57:
In case of SC-55 a later Note On message with lower velocity value also changes the velocity value of earlier Note On messages when using the same instrument on the drum channel. This is the feature that was removed in later units.
That's interesting. The interpretation of multiple successive Note On messages is left open by the MIDI standard, so interpreting it like that is actually valid. It's basically a "legato/monophonic playback + retrigger" interpretation, but on the drum channel only.
Falcosoft wrote on 2023-03-06, 03:57:
Some kind of workaround for such an effect is needed on all synths since typically Note Off messages has no effect on drum sounds.
Yes, and some electronic drum kits don't even bother sending Note Off messages, which violates the standard and leads to all sorts of problems, depending on the sequencer / sound module or plugin used.
Falcosoft wrote on 2023-03-06, 03:57:
That "SOMEHOW" turned out to be very SC-55 specific in case of Doom.
I have just made a simple test Midi file showing how it could have been implemented in a more general way (using only channel volume messages that are supported the same way on all synths).
Drum_Metal_Cymbal.zip
That's cool, but as I said a typical implementation employed by many drum samplers (non General MIDI, so completely custom mappings) is to map the normal cymbal sound to one note, then the choke sound to another one. So you'll get two trigger notes in your drum map for each individual cymbal: one for the normal cymbal hit, and another one for choking *that* cymbal, and only that. Then the sound module needs to implement some special casing for cymbals only so it can mute each active cymbal sound individually when receiving the cymbal-specific choke notes, and optionally also quickly crossfade the actively sounding cymbal sample into another short "choke" sample.
That's how it's typically implemented on good drum modules; all cymbals must have their own voice channel (and of course every single drum its own voice channel too, so they can ring out properly, can be muted individually, etc.) The same deal for the open/closed hi-hat sounds: you open the hi-hat pedal, hit the hi-hat with the stick which then rings out, then close the pedal *without* hitting the hi-hat with the stick again—this must result in a "choke hihat" sound because now the pedal is closed! Better electronic drumkits can be programmed to send different MIDI notes for all these different choke scenarios which you can then map accordingly in your drum sampler.
Source: I've programmed a few albums' worth of metal drum tracks in MIDI sequencers 😎🤘 Can't be bothered to look up the specific details for Superior Drummer that I personally used, but here's a quick random example from https://ask.video/forums/audio/thread/13100-h … in-logic-pro-x-:
AFACT, cymbal chokes in the Logic Drum Kit Designer kits are assigned to these keys: […]
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AFACT, cymbal chokes in the Logic Drum Kit Designer kits are assigned to these keys:
- for the crash cymbal on C#2 the choke is on E0
- for the crash cymbal on A2 the choke is on F0
Both of the choke notes are short crash sounds that work best as chokes at low MIDI velocities. This seems to be the case in both Drummer's GM map and its specific V-Drum map.
Yes, and it's fairly typical to put all these "auxilliary utility notes" in the zero octave range, along with various keyswitches, etc.
DOS: Soyo SY-5TF, MMX 200, 128MB, S3 Virge DX, ESS 1868F, AWE32, QWave, S2, McFly, SC-55, MU80, MP32L
Win98: Gigabyte K8VM800M, Athlon64 3200+, 512MB, Matrox G400, SB Live
WinXP: Gigabyte P31-DS3L, C2D 2.33 GHz, 2GB, GT 430, Audigy 4