im going to make an ADSR patch to incorporate in to my synths, but one thing is unclear. when the envelope function is completed, it just goes from the sustain value, to 0, over time, which is the release function. but if i have not held a key down long enough to have reached the sustain part of the envelope, how does a typical release function work then, does it just take whatever current value the function is at, and then ramp it down over the release time? or something else? because when i use a VST like the FM8, it sounds to me like when i release a key early in the function, it takes less time to ramp down to 0, but that could just be that i didnt have it loud enough and it seemed that way.

adsr-patch-question

A typical way to handle this is to use the Decay segment to 0.

"does it just take whatever current value the function is at, and then ramp it down over the release time?"

ADSR patch question