What is MIDI note length in ms

[BEAT91]

If Track Speed = 1/1, BPM = 120, Note Length = 1 on a Play MIDI track.

Is one Step (1/16) = 125 milliseconds?
(1 bar = 16/16 = 2000ms)

Max Note Length = 16
One Step = 125ms x 16 = 2000ms = 1 bar?

Min Note Length = .25
One Step = 125ms x .25 = 31.25ms = 1/64th note?

Now what if we up Track Speed to 4/1, do we divide all of this with 4?

And what is the relation to the 24PPQN resolution of the MIDI sequencer?
Do we have 96PPQN when Track Speed = 4/1?

[prehmuss83]

BPM to ms Converter/Calculator | muted.io

[BEAT91]

Indeed an interesting tool and well in place here for this thread.
But the questions remain:
Is the Play MIDI behavior as described in the first post?

[5020780]

Hi, do you have a DAW? You can record MIDI and see there.

[BEAT91]

No DAW, I bought a Play

I thought this was an official support forum. Must contact Polyend in a different way to have answers.

Thanks for your suggestion!

[Mitch]

Okay, here ya go!

Is one Step (1/16) = 125 milliseconds?

yes

Max Note Length = 16
One Step = 125ms x 16 = 2000ms = 1 bar?

No, note length does not affect step duration, it determines when Note Off is sent.

Min Note Length = .25
One Step = 125ms x .25 = 31.25ms = 1/64th note?

Same as above.

Now what if we up Track Speed to 4/1, do we divide all of this with 4?

Step durations are divided by 4, need to test how this works in practice.

And what is the relation to the 24PPQN resolution of the MIDI sequencer?
Do we have 96PPQN when Track Speed = 4/1?

No, track speed does not change sequencer resolution (BTW it’s 96 not 24).

[BEAT91]

@Mitch Thanks! I now understand the difference between step duration and note length but still wonder if I can align them to the same timing paradigm. About PPQN, I read on this page of the manual

The MIDI PPQN is 24 (while the internal PPQN is 96).

Is this a typo or did I misunderstood?

Thanks again!

[Mitch]

Yeah that is right, internal MIDI will be 96. PPQN and 24 PPQN out as per the MIDI standard.

[ambivalence]

somewhat relevant:

Note with unspecified duration in MIDI mode for drones

What is the problem? It is currently impossible to sequence drones in MIDI mode because of the maximum note duration of 64 steps. What do you want to achieve? I wish it were possible to specify an “unlimited” duration (no NOTE OFF event) so that a single note could be spread over several patterns. Then it could be stopped either by triggering another note on the same track or having a “note off” step. Are there any workarounds? Not really, one can slow down a track or overlap sounds over sever…

for those who have missed it.

[BEAT91]

Interesting, @ambivalence thanks!
This issue talks about “note duration” which makes it again confusing to me. We had step duration vs note length in this thread and now also note duration

[Sandroid]

Note Duration and Note Length are essentially the same thing:

• the length of how long a note is held
• or a more visual example: how long you are holding the key down on a keyboard.

[BEAT91]

Yes, I can follow that but I hoped to get a definitive answer for what that length is in milliseconds based on the given value under the note length parameter (as described above).

This is puzzling:

@BEAT91

If Track Speed = 1/1, BPM = 120, Note Length = 1 on a Play MIDI track.

@Mitch

Is one Step (1/16) = 125 milliseconds?

yes

Max Note Length = 16
One Step = 125ms x 16 = 2000ms = 1 bar?

No, note length does not affect step duration, it determines when Note Off is sent.

I mean, if you just put 1 step at the beginning of a MIDI track with note length 16, that step sends a note off at 2000ms? I know it’s monophonic so a really long step duration is interrupted by the next step but my calculations still keep up?