note_polyphony

Polyphony limit for playing the same note repeatedly.

Example #

note_polyphony=3

The difference between applying polyphony across one note and using note_polyphony is that note_polyphony also uses note_selfmask which opens up some additional options. Default self-masking behavior is that higher-or-equal-velocity notes turn off lower-velocity notes, but lower-velocity notes do not turn off higher-velocity notes. A new note will always play.

To be more precise, assuming a note_polyphony=1, the self-masking behavior by default is:

• If a low-velocity note is playing, a higher-or-equal velocity note kills the low-velocity note.
• If a high-velocity note is playing, a strictly-lower-velocity note will play without killing the high-velocity note.

The note_polyphony opcode is thus not a strict polyphony limit but more of a hint for the instrument behavior. This behavior is indeed generally desirable when playing repeated piano notes, hammered dulcimers, etc. It can also be useful for cymbals, although especially with hi-hats, those will often use different notes for different articulations, and note_polyphony would be limited to working within an articulation.

The note polyphony is checked within a polyphony group, set by the group or polyphony_group opcodes. If no group is specified on the region (or its group, master or globally) the note polyphony applies to the default group as if group=0 was specified.

This means that instruments where one note needs to trigger multiple layers, for example drums with separate microphone samples, will usually need to set a separate group number for each microphone position, so the note polyphony limit is tracked separately for each mic.

Category: Instrument Settings, Voice Lifecycle