Simpler: choose the sample region before shaping the envelope

Three different endings

The end of a MIDI note, the end of a sample and the end of a release fade are different events. Confusing them makes sample instruments seem unpredictable. In normal gated playback, note-off begins the release. If the sample runs out first, increasing Release cannot invent more audio. With One-Shot enabled, note-off no longer ends playback; with Loop enabled, a selected region can repeat.

Begin with the original synthesized teaching sample already loaded, not a factory-library recording. It is a 1.6-second harmonic pluck synthesized at C4, approximately 261.63 Hz. The first example uses Root 60, the full Start 0% to End 100% window, Loop off and One-Shot off. Attack is 3 ms, Release 160 ms and Volume 45%. Play the melody and follow a note from its beginning into the gap after it.

Remove material before adding a longer fade

Raise Start from 0% to around 10%, leaving End alone. This skips the beginning of the file; it does not simply lower its level. Listen for whether the note loses a useful attack or becomes less insistent. Return toward zero if the phrase stops speaking clearly. Then restore Start and shorten End to 60%. Compare the next triggered notes rather than expecting an already playing voice to turn seamlessly into a newly trimmed one.

The window controls are percentages of the source file, not beat positions. Moving them changes the region used by the instrument, rather than destructively rewriting the original sample. Choose Start below End and leave enough material for the phrase. A small Attack increase can soften a new onset, but it is not a substitute for selecting a useful region in the first place.

Root explains the pitch reference

Root identifies the MIDI note that plays the sample at its untransposed speed. Keep the teaching sample at Root 60 for this exercise. Compare Transpose 0 with +12: the octave-up version reads the same audio twice as fast. Pitch, the speed of internal texture and the available playback time are linked. Changing Root instead changes that reference relationship; it is not pitch detection.

Build a held sound from a small region

The chord example starts with Loop on, One-Shot off, L Start 15% and L End 45%. Attack 60 ms rounds the entrance and Release 300 ms allows a fade after the notes end. Listen to whether the repeated section sustains a usable tone or announces itself as a repeated fragment. Lower the monitoring level if its repetition becomes unusually sharp.

Move L End slightly while keeping L Start fixed. A shorter region repeats more often and may acquire an obvious buzz; a longer one can preserve more internal movement. These percentages refer to the current trimmed window, not the whole original file. If you change Start or End afterwards, revisit the loop because its source positions move too.

The implemented loop wraps between its points; there is no crossfade-loop control or automatic seamless-loop promise here. Discontinuities can produce clicks or a rough edge. Try another boundary or turn Loop off if that texture does not serve the part. Lengthening Release only softens note endings, not a discontinuity repeated inside every held note.

One-Shot is a separate articulation choice

Return to the first example with Loop off, then enable One-Shot. Short MIDI notes now trigger playback through the selected sample region. This mode uses a short click-reducing onset rather than the adjustable Attack envelope, and Release is not a normal note-length control. Switch One-Shot off to restore gated shaping. Keep it off for the looping experiment: combining One-Shot and Loop can keep a voice running beyond note-off until playback is stopped. There is no need to enable both to make a held chord.