Unsure about how the glide/portamento is supposed to work

Question

Unsure about how the glide/portamento is supposed to work

I tried to implement glide in one of my instruments (a fretless bass) and since I don't seem to really understand how this feature is supposed to work, I will be using this modified boiler plate preset as an example here.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<DecentSampler minVersion="1.8.14">
   <ui width="812" height="375" bgImage="Images/Boilerplate Skin.jpg">
    <tab name="main">
      <labeled-knob x="445" y="75" width="90" textSize="16" textColor="AA000000"
                    trackForegroundColor="CC000000" trackBackgroundColor="66999999"
                    label="Attack" type="float" minValue="0.0" maxValue="4.0" value="0" >
        <binding type="amp" level="instrument" position="0" parameter="ENV_ATTACK" />
      </labeled-knob>
      <labeled-knob x="515" y="75" width="90" textSize="16" textColor="AA000000"
                    trackForegroundColor="CC000000" trackBackgroundColor="66999999"
                    label="Release" type="float" minValue="0.0" maxValue="20.0" value="0.2" >
        <binding type="amp" level="instrument" position="0" parameter="ENV_RELEASE" />
      </labeled-knob>
      <labeled-knob x="585" y="75" width="90" textSize="16" textColor="AA000000"
                    trackForegroundColor="CC000000" trackBackgroundColor="66999999"
                    label="Chorus" type="float" minValue="0.0" maxValue="1" value="0" >
        <binding type="effect" level="instrument" position="1" parameter="FX_MIX" />
      </labeled-knob>
      <labeled-knob x="655" y="75" width="90" textSize="16" textColor="AA000000"
                    trackForegroundColor="CC000000" trackBackgroundColor="66999999"
                    label="Tone" type="float" minValue="0" maxValue="1" value="1">
        <binding type="effect" level="instrument" position="0" parameter="FX_FILTER_FREQUENCY"
                 translation="table"
                 translationTable="0,33;0.3,150;0.4,450;0.5,1100;0.7,4100;0.9,11000;1.0001,22000"/>
      </labeled-knob>
      <labeled-knob x="725" y="75" width="90" textSize="16" textColor="AA000000"
                    trackForegroundColor="CC000000" trackBackgroundColor="66999999"
                    label="Reverb" type="percent" minValue="0" maxValue="100"
                    textColor="FF000000" value="0">
        <binding type="effect" level="instrument" position="2"
                 parameter="FX_REVERB_WET_LEVEL" translation="linear"
                 translationOutputMin="0" translationOutputMax="1" />
      </labeled-knob>
    </tab>
  </ui>
  <effects>
    <effect type="lowpass" frequency="22000.0"/>
    <effect type="chorus" mix="0.0" modDepth="0.2" modRate="0.2" />
    <effect type="reverb" wetLevel="0.5"/>
  </effects>
  <midi>
    
    <cc number="1">
      <binding level="ui" type="control" parameter="VALUE" position="3"
               translation="linear" translationOutputMin="0"
               translationOutputMax="1" />
    </cc>
  </midi>
  <groups attack="0.0" decay="6" sustain="0" release=".1" ampVelTrack="1">
    <group name="Triangle" tags="Triangle" glideTime="0.2" glideMode="legato">
      <sample path="Samples/PolyBrute Triangle Wave-F#2-V127-QC3R.wav" name="PolyBrute Triangle Wave-F#2-V127-QC3R" rootNote="54" loNote="49" hiNote="54" loVel="0" hiVel="127" volume="-8.3273dB" end="156613" loopEnabled="1" loopStart="23520" loopEnd="87450" loopCrossfade="10" loopCrossfadeMode="linear"/>
      <sample path="Samples/PolyBrute Triangle Wave-C0-V127-WASV.wav" name="PolyBrute Triangle Wave-C0-V127-WASV" rootNote="24" loNote="12" hiNote="24" loVel="0" hiVel="127" volume="-1.26672dB" end="148089" loopEnabled="1" loopStart="4182" loopEnd="76923" loopCrossfade="10" loopCrossfadeMode="linear"/>
      <sample path="Samples/PolyBrute Triangle Wave-F#1-V127-ETGZ.wav" name="PolyBrute Triangle Wave-F#1-V127-ETGZ" rootNote="42" loNote="37" hiNote="42" loVel="0" hiVel="127" volume="-7.25211dB" end="148980" loopEnabled="1" loopStart="16203" loopEnd="80015" loopCrossfade="10" loopCrossfadeMode="linear"/>
      <sample path="Samples/PolyBrute Triangle Wave-F#6-V127-3J94.wav" name="PolyBrute Triangle Wave-F#6-V127-3J94" rootNote="102" loNote="97" hiNote="102" loVel="0" hiVel="127" volume="-13.359dB" end="145418" loopEnabled="1" loopStart="13210" loopEnd="77698" loopCrossfade="10" loopCrossfadeMode="linear"/>
      <sample path="Samples/PolyBrute Triangle Wave-C3-V127-Z5O6.wav" name="PolyBrute Triangle Wave-C3-V127-Z5O6" rootNote="60" loNote="55" hiNote="60" loVel="0" hiVel="127" volume="-8.54755dB" end="146342" loopEnabled="1" loopStart="13155" loopEnd="78650" loopCrossfade="10" loopCrossfadeMode="linear"/>
      <sample path="Samples/PolyBrute Triangle Wave-C4-V127-SNGL.wav" name="PolyBrute Triangle Wave-C4-V127-SNGL" rootNote="72" loNote="67" hiNote="72" loVel="0" hiVel="127" volume="-8.87536dB" end="157313" loopEnabled="1" loopStart="24332" loopEnd="88137" loopCrossfade="10" loopCrossfadeMode="linear"/>
      <sample path="Samples/PolyBrute Triangle Wave-C1-V127-OJF2.wav" name="PolyBrute Triangle Wave-C1-V127-OJF2" rootNote="36" loNote="31" hiNote="36" loVel="0" hiVel="127" volume="-6.12848dB" end="146333" loopEnabled="1" loopStart="13058" loopEnd="77154" loopCrossfade="10" loopCrossfadeMode="linear"/>
      <sample path="Samples/PolyBrute Triangle Wave-C6-V127-1VCE.wav" name="PolyBrute Triangle Wave-C6-V127-1VCE" rootNote="96" loNote="91" hiNote="96" loVel="0" hiVel="127" volume="-12.5689dB" end="146081" loopEnabled="1" loopStart="9135" loopEnd="73389" loopCrossfade="10" loopCrossfadeMode="linear"/>
      <sample path="Samples/PolyBrute Triangle Wave-F#0-V127-6DZ9.wav" name="PolyBrute Triangle Wave-F#0-V127-6DZ9" rootNote="30" loNote="25" hiNote="30" loVel="0" hiVel="127" volume="-4.11309dB" end="146112" loopEnabled="1" loopStart="11370" loopEnd="78137" loopCrossfade="10" loopCrossfadeMode="linear"/>
      <sample path="Samples/PolyBrute Triangle Wave-C5-V127-124D.wav" name="PolyBrute Triangle Wave-C5-V127-124D" rootNote="84" loNote="79" hiNote="84" loVel="0" hiVel="127" volume="-9.84687dB" end="146158" loopEnabled="1" loopStart="13256" loopEnd="78569" loopCrossfade="10" loopCrossfadeMode="linear"/>
      <sample path="Samples/PolyBrute Triangle Wave-F#3-V127-WBNT.wav" name="PolyBrute Triangle Wave-F#3-V127-WBNT" rootNote="66" loNote="61" hiNote="66" loVel="0" hiVel="127" volume="-8.69056dB" end="146279" loopEnabled="1" loopStart="13258" loopEnd="78044" loopCrossfade="10" loopCrossfadeMode="linear"/>
      <sample path="Samples/PolyBrute Triangle Wave-F#5-V127-1KJH.wav" name="PolyBrute Triangle Wave-F#5-V127-1KJH" rootNote="90" loNote="85" hiNote="90" loVel="0" hiVel="127" volume="-11.1835dB" end="156083" loopEnabled="1" loopStart="23284" loopEnd="88914" loopCrossfade="10" loopCrossfadeMode="linear"/>
      <sample path="Samples/PolyBrute Triangle Wave-C7-V127-X6S5.wav" name="PolyBrute Triangle Wave-C7-V127-X6S5" rootNote="108" loNote="103" hiNote="120" loVel="0" hiVel="127" volume="-13.8096dB" end="155548" loopEnabled="1" loopStart="21348" loopEnd="85415" loopCrossfade="10" loopCrossfadeMode="linear"/>
      <sample path="Samples/PolyBrute Triangle Wave-C2-V127-MW79.wav" name="PolyBrute Triangle Wave-C2-V127-MW79" rootNote="48" loNote="43" hiNote="48" loVel="0" hiVel="127" volume="-7.91677dB" end="145607" loopEnabled="1" loopStart="12630" loopEnd="77692" loopCrossfade="10" loopCrossfadeMode="linear"/>
      <sample path="Samples/PolyBrute Triangle Wave-F#4-V127-T7C7.wav" name="PolyBrute Triangle Wave-F#4-V127-T7C7" rootNote="78" loNote="73" hiNote="78" loVel="0" hiVel="127" volume="-9.1631dB" end="145137" loopEnabled="1" loopStart="11943" loopEnd="77782" loopCrossfade="10" loopCrossfadeMode="linear"/>
    </group>
  </groups>
</DecentSampler>

Basically at the group level, I just mostly added
glideTime="0.2" glideMode="legato"

Then I sequence something with slightly overlapping notes.
I can hear it does something, but not what I would expect from this kind of feature.

With the "Vital" synthesizer for example, this is very straightforward to setup, I just need to raise the glide time (for example 0.2s) and it works immediately exactly as you would expect. I can reduce the voices to 1 if I want monophony, but it works either way.

With Decent Sampler, it never really reaches the next note and seems slower than the glide time I provided. Is this working as intended?

Someone also pointed in a much older post that the glide/portamento seems to work only in midi (sequenced) mode.
So I tried that too, but it really seems to be the same to me.

Am I doing this right?
David, can you provide a working example for this feature?

asked Jun 22, 2025 in Sample Creation by michel-pecqueur (2.0k points)

1 Answer

Answer 1 · 2026-04-23T11:03:34+0000

maybe your samples aren't long enough?

works here with an oscillator instead of samples fine. in legato with overlapping notes (first note and second note) it will glide in this glideTIme, though if the glideTime is longer than the second note the second note won't reach the destination noteheight.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<DecentSampler minVersion="1.8.14">

    <ui width="812" height="375">

        <tab name="main">

            <labeled-knob x="100" y="00" width="100" textSize="24" label="glidetime" type="float" minValue="0" maxValue="3" value="0.2" defaultValue="0.2">

                <binding type="amp" level="instrument" parameter="GLIDE_TIME"/>

            </labeled-knob>

            <label x="0" y="0" text="legato"/>

            <labeled-knob x="305" y="75" width="90" textSize="16" textColor="AA000000" trackForegroundColor="CC000000" trackBackgroundColor="66999999" label="Attack" type="float" minValue="0.0" maxValue="4.0" value="0">

                <binding type="amp" level="group" position="0" parameter="ENV_ATTACK"/>

                <binding type="amp" level="group" position="1" parameter="ENV_ATTACK"/>

                <binding type="amp" level="group" position="2" parameter="ENV_ATTACK"/>

            </labeled-knob>

            <labeled-knob x="375" y="75" width="90" textSize="16" textColor="AA000000" trackForegroundColor="CC000000" trackBackgroundColor="66999999" label="Decay" type="float" minValue="0.0" maxValue="4.0" value="0">

                <binding type="amp" level="group" position="0" parameter="ENV_DECAY"/>

                <binding type="amp" level="group" position="1" parameter="ENV_DECAY"/>

                <binding type="amp" level="group" position="2" parameter="ENV_DECAY"/>

            </labeled-knob>

            <labeled-knob x="445" y="75" width="90" textSize="16" textColor="AA000000" trackForegroundColor="CC000000" trackBackgroundColor="66999999" label="Sustain" type="float" minValue="0.0" maxValue="4.0" value="0">

                <binding type="amp" level="group" position="0" parameter="ENV_SUSTAIN"/>

                <binding type="amp" level="group" position="1" parameter="ENV_SUSTAIN"/>

                <binding type="amp" level="group" position="2" parameter="ENV_SUSTAIN"/>

            </labeled-knob>

            <labeled-knob x="515" y="75" width="90" textSize="16" textColor="AA000000" trackForegroundColor="CC000000" trackBackgroundColor="66999999" label="Release" type="float" minValue="0.0" maxValue="20.0" value="0.2">

                <binding type="amp" level="group" position="0" parameter="ENV_RELEASE"/>

                <binding type="amp" level="group" position="1" parameter="ENV_RELEASE"/>

                <binding type="amp" level="group" position="2" parameter="ENV_RELEASE"/>

            </labeled-knob>

            <labeled-knob x="585" y="75" width="90" textSize="16" textColor="AA000000" trackForegroundColor="CC000000" trackBackgroundColor="66999999" label="Chorus" type="float" minValue="0.0" maxValue="1" value="0">

                <binding type="effect" level="instrument" position="1" parameter="FX_MIX"/>

            </labeled-knob>

            <labeled-knob x="655" y="75" width="90" textSize="16" textColor="AA000000" trackForegroundColor="CC000000" trackBackgroundColor="66999999" label="Tone" type="float" minValue="0" maxValue="1" value="1">

                <binding type="effect" level="instrument" position="0" parameter="FX_FILTER_FREQUENCY" translation="table" translationTable="0,33;0.3,150;0.4,450;0.5,1100;0.7,4100;0.9,11000;1.0001,22000"/>

            </labeled-knob>

            <labeled-knob x="725" y="75" width="90" textSize="16" textColor="AA000000" trackForegroundColor="CC000000" trackBackgroundColor="66999999" label="Reverb" type="percent" minValue="0" maxValue="100" value="0">

                <binding type="effect" level="instrument" position="2" parameter="FX_REVERB_WET_LEVEL" translation="linear" translationOutputMin="0" translationOutputMax="1"/>

            </labeled-knob>

        </tab>

    </ui>

    <effects>

        <effect type="lowpass" frequency="22000.0"/>

        <effect type="chorus" mix="0.0" modDepth="0.2" modRate="0.2"/>

        <effect type="reverb" wetLevel="0.5"/>

    </effects>

    <midi>

        

        <cc number="1">

            <binding level="ui" type="control" parameter="VALUE" position="3" translation="linear" translationOutputMin="0" translationOutputMax="1"/>

        </cc>

    </midi>

    <groups glideTime="0.20" glideMode="legato" >

        <group modVolume="0.75" groupPan="0.0" groupTuning="0" attack="0.5" decay="0.0" sustain="1" release="0.5">

            <oscillator waveform="saw" volume="0.75" pan="0"/>

        </group>

        <group modVolume="0.75" groupPan="0.0" groupTuning="0.1" attack="0.5" decay="0.0" sustain="1" release="0.5">

            <oscillator waveform="saw" volume="0.75" pan="0"/>

        </group>

        <group modVolume="0.75" groupPan="0.0" groupTuning="-0.1" attack="0.5" decay="0.0" sustain="1" release="0.5">

            <oscillator waveform="saw" volume="0.75" pan="0"/>

        </group>

    </groups>

</DecentSampler>

Unsure about how the glide/portamento is supposed to work

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