H2 sends 2 note off midi messages when entering note length

[thijz]

to reproduce :

• connect a midi monitor to the MIDI out of H2
• set tempo low (50 bpm works fine)
• using the GMkit, create a pattern and put 1 note on the 'crash jazz' instrument (any instrument will do, but a long sample makes it easier to demonstrate, hence using the 'crash jazz')
• loop the pattern and the midi monitor will show a 'note on' when the sample starts and a 'note off' when the sample is completely played

so far so good :-)

• now right-drag the note to the right (=define the note length) : the dot changes into a black bar that defines the note length
• make sure that the note length is shorter than the actual sample (!)
• loop the pattern
• H2 sends a 'note on' at the start of the black bar and a 'note off' at the end of the bar > this is normal
  however ... H2 also sends out a second 'note off' when the pattern loops

this is what the pattern and the midi output looks like :

in theorie this should not be a problem, but some softsynths (like Calf Monosynth) dont seem to like that very much and it's also not very clean :-)

i'm running a version (git) that is 2 weeks old or so)

[thijz]

related to #63
(the last comment in this ticket also mentions on/off overlap, maybe this is the same issue ?)

[thijz]

ok, did some more testing and found out 2 things :

1. when i connect the output of H2 to midimon and click the stop button in the H2 gui, H2 sends out a 'note off' midi message for each instrument that has midi out enabled. I guess this could makes sense (that way you stop all playing notes when you stop H2 transport) but what does not make sense is that this note off message is for 'octave 2' iso 'octave 0' (the actual instrument note) :
   

2. i also created this very simple pattern (see pic) and if i hit play, let it run a couple of times and then hit stop i see several note off messages (1 is the 'stop' note described above) :
   

if i add a second instrument i see double the number of note off messages :

[thijz]

did some more digging on the 'note off' that H2 sends when you hit the 'stop' button :

when you stop H2 transport (hit Stop) H2 now sends out a rather useless note off message
it would be much more efficient to send a midi CC 'all notes off' message to the midi channel of all instruments that have midi out enabled

on this page : http://nickfever.com/music/midi-cc-list
you can see that there is a CC 120 (and also 123, not quite sure what would be best)

[thijz]

fyi: seems that hitting F12 (the H2 'panic' button) also sends out the same note off as when you hit 'stop'

CC 120 test :
i made a test setup where i connected VMPK (virtual midi keyboard that can also send out CC messages) to a softsynth. On VMPK i created a button that sends out 'CC 120' and when i hit that button all sound of the softsynth is muted immediately. I also tested with 123 but i didnt see any difference

Looks like this would be a good option to replace the 'note off'

[thijz]

update:
when you use the PC keyboard to trigger sounds in H2, or if you simply click on the instrument name in the pattern editor you also see 3 midi messages :

1. 'note off' immediately followed by a 'note on' when you hit the key on the keyboard
2. a second 'note off' when the sample stops playing

[thijz]

closing since all MIDI related stuff will be gathered here :
#63
https://github.com/hydrogen-music/hydrogen/wiki/MIDI-implementation