Pseudo-sustaining
Preface
Most instruments on OS will play audio that’s unaffected by their actual note length. When you increase the length of a note, it will not make the note sound longer. In other words, a 1/4 note will sound as lengthy as a 1/16 note. There’s no auditory difference whatsoever.
You can edit note length if you would like to export the MIDI to a DAW (any professional music program) in the future. However, I really recommend doing this step on a DAW where you are actually able to hear note sustain.
if you’re staying on OS, then changing the note length is purely an aesthetic decision.
To remedy the lack of sustain, early OS veterans used pseudo-sustaining to in order to "extend" the length of instruments. This was accomplished by chaining notes of instruments such as Smooth Synth side by side.
This article will discuss everything you need to know about pseudo-sustaining.
General Rundown
Pseudo-sustaining works with all instruments, but is commonly used with Smooth Synth and Violin.
We will use Smooth Synth in this demonstration as it requires the least maintenance to sound decent.
To start, place a row of 1/4 notes side by side and lower the instrument volume to 1/8th of the bar.
I made a chord progression that uses pseudo-sustaining in this sequence. This is a bare bones example of how it can be used, so from here we can try improving the texture of the chords by adding more instruments.
Layering more instruments with pseudo-sustain
People have different ways of adding “filler” to their sequences so I can’t speak for everyone, but the following is one of my personal combinations that I use often.
Here, I have used Violin and 8-Bit Triangle.
Violins have pronounced highs and rich mid registers, and are the basic instrument to use when adding texture. Notice how I’m using 1/8 notes instead of 1/4 here.
For pseudo-sustain instruments with more attack (in other words more roughness), they tend to sound very gritty at lower BPMs. This can be solved by using 1/8 grid, but it’s not necessary at higher BPMs as it won't be noticed as much.
Some people even go as far as to using 1/16 notes, but remember the more “accurate” you try to make any sound on OS, the more busywork it will need. Using 1/4 or 1/8 will accomplish most tasks, and any smaller may even work against you and generate some undesirable buzz noise.
You can turn the reverb on the violin in order to better fade the notes into each other. I don’t suggest putting reverb on every instrument that pseudo-sustains because it lowers the quality of the overall sequence. Just use reverb for instruments that absolutely need it, such as Violin and Cello.
8-Bit Triangle is a neutral instrument that works well for cementing pseudo-sustain chains. 8-bits in general are the few instruments you can extend and it will apply the respective note length changes. This property does a good job of completely masking any leftover grittiness from the violins.
With new instruments considered, here is our example chord progression now.
As you can hear, the chords feel much more defined. By delicately placing different kinds of instrumental voices across the piano roll, you can control how you want your sequence to sound!
Useful Shortcuts
As of the 01/04/21 update, you can extend notes on creation by holding Ctrl while dragging the Draw tool. You can also extend existing notes by holding Ctrl and dragging the end of the note.
You can then select long notes and hit Ctrl+Alt+C (as introduced in the 11/29/20 update) to cut them according to the grid. Notice that changing the grid measurement will also affect this shortcut.
These two shortcuts in particular make pseudo-sustaining more efficient!
Additional Notes for Pseudo-sustaining
Some instruments are partially sustainable, such as Electric Guitar, Flute, and Secret Piano. These instruments will cut audio at the end of their playtime. While Flute can be easily pseudo-sustained due to its soft texture, Electric Guitar and Secret Piano are typically not meant to be pseudo-sustained.
As for the rest of the instruments, pseudo-sustain works well with those that don’t have a lot of initial attack such as Smooth Synth and Church Organ. However, you can create interesting effects with instruments that aren’t as compatible.
My best advice is to not be very literal with pseudo-sustaining. It’s called pseudo for a reason and while it does do its job to an extent, it may not work as intended in other situations.
Example—If I were to spam a string of piano notes, it would literally sound like a string of piano notes. Regular pseudo-sustain isn’t going to fix any of that, but there are still uses to pseudo-sustained piano.
Pseudo-sustaining also works great for low-register Steel Drums, low-register Sitar, Trombone, and French Horn. You can also use low-register Pizzicato for ambient effects!