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"Unwanted portamento" when a note ends exactly where next note begins: Still a problem?

Old versions of Cubase (and current versions of Xequence) have a parameter "Note Length Correction" which slightly shortens all notes output via MIDI by a small adjustable amount.

This was originally intended to prevent hardware synths from wrongly assuming that you want portamento if you use "Legato" quantization and one note ends exactly where the next note begins, but due to MIDI timing inaccuracies over the wire, the actual received order of the Note Off / Note On were swapped, so the synth thinks the notes overlap and it gives you portamento when it shouldn't.

Xequence has this option too (with a default shortening of 1 ms), but it can cause problems when users actually expect exactly adjusted notes to give portamento, but due to the 1 ms shortening, they don't. Etc!

So basically the question boils down to: Is "Note Length Correction" (adjustable automatic shortening of ALL output MIDI notes) a thing that people actually understand, use, and need?

Thanks for your feedback! 🎹

@Michael -- polls get lost when editing a post.

Do you use and need "Note Length Correction"?
  1. Do you use and need "Note Length Correction"?6 votes
    1. Yes, I use it often
        0.00%
    2. Yes, with some synths
      33.33%
    3. I never use it
        0.00%
    4. I've never heard of it before
      66.67%

Comments

  • I'd be very surprised if MIDI messages get mixed on the wire.
    Isn't it the app that has to make sure the Note On and Note Off messages are sent in the correct order?

  • edited July 2022

    @rs2000 said:
    I'd be very surprised if MIDI messages get mixed on the wire.
    Isn't it the app that has to make sure the Note On and Note Off messages are sent in the correct order?

    You may be right that the order is always preserved, but why would "Note Length Correction" exist otherwise?

    (I've just checked the Cubase LE manual, and it doesn't actually say why this parameter is useful; so I guess that was simply my assumption since the first time I saw it in ... 1997 😆)

  • @SevenSystems said:

    @rs2000 said:
    I'd be very surprised if MIDI messages get mixed on the wire.
    Isn't it the app that has to make sure the Note On and Note Off messages are sent in the correct order?

    You may be right that the order is always preserved, but why would "Note Length Correction" exist otherwise?

    Hmm. Probably because when you draw on a quantized piano roll grid and note end = another note's start, there is no clear definition which message to send first. I see it more as a matter of the PR editor defining what should happen in this case.

  • @rs2000 said:

    @SevenSystems said:

    @rs2000 said:
    I'd be very surprised if MIDI messages get mixed on the wire.
    Isn't it the app that has to make sure the Note On and Note Off messages are sent in the correct order?

    You may be right that the order is always preserved, but why would "Note Length Correction" exist otherwise?

    Hmm. Probably because when you draw on a quantized piano roll grid and note end = another note's start, there is no clear definition which message to send first. I see it more as a matter of the PR editor defining what should happen in this case.

    Interesting. So you're suggesting that this option affects editing operations in Cubase, not the MIDI output?

    The Cubase manual has exactly one sentence on this option in the entire document:

    But this discussion alone to me indicates that such an option is not really needed then. In the case of Xequence, when a note ends on exactly the same tick that another note starts, then the correct order of events is guaranteed anyway when sending or exporting that clip.

  • @rs2000 said:

    @SevenSystems said:

    @rs2000 said:
    I'd be very surprised if MIDI messages get mixed on the wire.
    Isn't it the app that has to make sure the Note On and Note Off messages are sent in the correct order?

    You may be right that the order is always preserved, but why would "Note Length Correction" exist otherwise?

    Hmm. Probably because when you draw on a quantized piano roll grid and note end = another note's start, there is no clear definition which message to send first. I see it more as a matter of the PR editor defining what should happen in this case.

    I think the issue is that there are some synths that pay attention to time stamps and if a note off and note on are set to happen simultaneously (regardless of order), a synth will think it should portamento.

  • I'd say keep 100% gate-time and add a tie selection function that extends the gates so the notes overlap.

  • @Samu said:
    I'd say keep 100% gate-time and add a tie selection function that extends the gates so the notes overlap.

    Pure Acid has a nice PR display of note glides, I find this a useful indication of overlapping notes.

  • @rs2000 said:

    @Samu said:
    I'd say keep 100% gate-time and add a tie selection function that extends the gates so the notes overlap.

    Pure Acid has a nice PR display of note glides, I find this a useful indication of overlapping notes.

    I know, that would be so nice to have in Drambo as well :wink:

  • @rs2000 said:

    @Samu said:
    I'd say keep 100% gate-time and add a tie selection function that extends the gates so the notes overlap.

    Pure Acid has a nice PR display of note glides, I find this a useful indication of overlapping notes.

    That looks neat indeed!

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