Hi,
Forgive me if the question is something that is too trivial. I am new to MIDI, and yet to read the MIDI specifications in it's entirety (although I've started). I've understood the basic concept of MIDI's Note-On/Note-Off commands/messages, the notion of note being an index, concept of velocity and channel. One doubt which I have is regarding Percussive instruments like Western Drum-set, unlike piano most of the percussion instruments are such that the Note-ON happens when the instrument surface is hit, but not clear as to what may be seen as a Note-OFF event ? Unlike Piano, where one could press and hold the note, on percussive instruments, it is rarely the case. However, we know that once a drum-surface is hit, the sound has to go through it's ADSR envelope for a certain duration. This duration, doesn't make sense to be "cut-short" by the Note-OFF message (sine the Note-OFF is most probably meaningless in this case).
Also, for cymbals, one has actions like "choking" to stop/mute the ringing of a cymbal that has been hit. The natural duration for the ringing of the Cymbal (if not choked) could be something like say 15 seconds. Choking the cymbal has a different waveform release (R from ADSR), which is also not quite sudden, I think. Notifying the choke event via a Note-OFF, I'm not sure is the right approach.
Could someone shed some light on how this is done between MIDI eDrum-pads and MIDI drum samplers ?
regards,
BD