Note-on without note-off fails to sustain
I'm working through the Max Midi tutorials and the first Midi tutorial seems to suggest that if a note-on message is sent to a noteout object it should sustain indefinitely until it receives a note-off message:
"Then click on the first message box. You should hear the device sound the note. It should sustain until you hit the second message box, which will turn it off. "
However, when I click the note-on message it gradually decays (over the course of a couple seconds) until I hear nothing. Am I missing something, or misunderstanding the text of the tutorial somehow? I'm using Max 7 on Windows 10 and I have the noteout object routing to the default synth (Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth).
Thanks in advance for any help!
The attached patch is the relevant portion of that tutorial, consisting of two messages comprising a note-on and note-off and the noteout object.
G'day Nathan, without knowing anything about the Microsoft synth my guess is that it defaults to a piano sound - which naturally fades out over a few seconds even if you hold the note forever. If that's the case then nothing is going wrong.
Try clicking the note-off message sooner and you'll hear it stop abruptly. Or try selecting a sound that sustains instead of fading out (e.g. strings or organ).
Your guess about the Microsoft synth was exactly correct, its a piano sound that faded out naturally. Switched to a different synth and notes started sustaining. Thank you so much!