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This is a common stage of an envelope generator where a voltage – usually being sent to a filter’s cutoff frequency or an amplifier’s level – is being held a steady level while a note is still being held down. The knowledge that a note is being held is usually provided by a gate signal, that stays high as long as a note is held down, although some envelope generators may have a dedicated time control for how long the sustain stage should last.

Envelopes that contain sustain stages include the ADSR (Attack/Decay/Sustain/Release) and AR (Attack/Release, which usually assumes a sustain stage); these are described in more detail elsewhere.

Rarely you will find an envelope generator that loops between stages while a note is being held; these create a lot animation in a sound and are to be prized. I am desperate (desperate, I tell you) for someone to create a modular version of the looping envelopes in the Sequential Prophet VS. I’ll help.

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