Pitch Bend - RPM, Wheel - Legato, Portamento, Glissando

[Jan Iversen]

Hi there

With this post I hope to help just 1 person to better understand Pitch Bend with MIDI.
And I assume you already know how to insert Wheel for bending in your DAW.

One of the things that often teases me when I compose is Bending.
In various DAWs you will typically find "Wheel" which is the one you bend with, in MIDI.

In MIDI, you have 2 controllers to use when using bending.

1. Wheel
2. Pitch Bend Sensitivity.

The starting point is almost always the same, where you can bend 2 up and 2 down with Wheel value = 8191.
Sometimes, however, you need to bend much more, and this is where RPN comes into the picture.

RPN – “Pitch Bend Sensitivity” can greatly expand your bend range.
See the attached Excel sheet, as it is a bit difficult to explain. ?

If you are using Synth or VST, remember to set the Bend value to the maximum you want to bend, directly on your Synth or VST Patch/Sound. Here, RPN - Pitch Bend Sensitivity does not help, as it cannot exceed what the actual bend max. on the sound on the Synth or VST is set to.

“Pitch Bend Sensitivity” is located in RPN.
Since RPN has several functions, select "0" for the "Pitch Bend Sensitivity" function.
RPN
0 = Pitch Bend Sensitivity.
1 = Fine Tuning
2 = Coarse Tuning
3 = Tuning Program Select
4 = Tuning Bank Select

Wheel max. value is 8191, which is = 8192 in Wheel range, since 0 is counted or minus -8191 (-8192)
RPN max. value is 0 - 16383, which is = 16384 in range, since 0 is counted.

When RPN = 16383 each ½ note = 128 for RPN value.
When RPN = 16383 each ½ note = 64 for Wheel value.
How is that ?
If one “ ½ note ” uses 128 RPM, you can take 128 * ½ notes x 128 RPM value before you hit 16384, which is the max. RPM value.

For Wheel we know we got an max. value of 8191.. (8192 include 0)
8192 / 128 notes = 64. Therefore, we will go 1 * ½ tone up/down using 64 or -64 in the Wheel when RPN = 16383

Fortunately, we don't have to think too much about the RPM, apart from setting it to the desired max pitch bend.

As seen in the attached excel sheets, the Wheel value changes for each RPM selection.
This is of course because you have to divide the Wheel value up into the number of ½ notes you can bend with RPM.
If you choose RPM = 128 then you have to use 8191 in Wheel to bend 1 * ½ note.

Last but not least, it is obviously wrong for me to write a maximum number of bend options.
But I have only calculated with ½ notes and not all the frequencies that lie between notes, which you can of course also bend to.

As if the above was not enough, there is also a completely different way to bend.
With Portamento or Legato which work in a completely different way.
 

 

 

Pitch Bend - Legato, Portamento and Glissando

All three words are Italian musical terms for: Cohesive -or / and without separation.

Legato makes an automatic sliding transition between 2 notes without re-triggering the new note.
When you then play, the sounds will automatically bend up/down to the next pressed note if you keep note 1 pressed at the same time.
Since Legato does not re-trigger note 2,3,4... the sound will often be weaker in strength, as there is no re-triggering of the new note(s).
Sounds like Strings, Sax and several others, however, can often keep the volume.
If you only press 1 note at a time, no bending will occur with Legato.

 

Legato Parameter: Example

Mono / Poly:                                Mono/Poly      Try both
Legato SW:                                   Off/On
Legato retrigger interval:     0 – 12 – Off      Set to re-trigger note, as desired.
Portamento SW:                         Off/On
Portamento mode:                    Normal/Legato
Portamento Type:                      Rate/Time
Portamento Start:                      Pitch/Note
Portamento Time:                      0-1023 (63)      Used to determine the speed of bends.
 

 

Portamento works almost like Legato, but with the difference that the sound will always bend from note to note.
It is therefore not necessary to hold down the 1st note, as in Legato.
The sound will also be re-triggered for each new note and volume will therefore be maintained.
As with Legato, Portamento Time can be set for the right bend speed.

Portamento Parameter: Example:

Mono / Poly:                                Mono/Poly
Legato SW:                                   Off/On
Legato retrigger range:            0 – 12 – Off
Portamento SW:                         Off/On
Portamento mode:                    Normal/Legato
Portamento Type:                      Rate/Time
Portamento Start:                      Pitch/Note
Portamento Time:                      0-1023 (63)

And then there are sounds that are constructed in a way that means that none of the above can be used. ?

Glissando

As far as I remember, I have never seen Glissando in any of my music devices, so I will refrain from describing this one.

 

I hope I'm right in the above, otherwise you must finally correct me in my misunderstandings ?

Best regards
Jan

Pitch bend and Frequenz.xlsx