Yes, different devices do indeed respond differently to MIDI controller 64 (sustain).

The 5 is not generally a problem, though, as the vast majority of GM synths use the 0-127 CC as a "bang-bang" and not a continuous action, typically defining the dividing point between Pedal Up and Pedal Downs at the halfway mark, or 064. (Here's where guys like Gary will chime in about their special Sustain Pedal situation, which is programmed to emulate half-damper action. You can get it, but it is going to cost you more money, whether hardware like Gary's piano or software as in some of the high end piano modeling synths. )

So the 127 is a Pedal Down and the 5 represents a Pedal Up. This is a common MIDI programming practice when creating a MIDI file for use with different GM synths because there exist some synths that don't like going all the way to zero, can't recognize it ("1-based" synths, for example). So setting the Controller for a number slightly above zero makes sure that every possible situation can be handled with the same setting, "5" or "3" being the same action as zero anyway.

The situation can be further exacerbated by certain software synths and their implementation, too. It is customary if not de rigeur to not send MIDI Note Off data in a MIDI file. Even though the original MIDI standard includes Note Off commands, it was found early on that the inclusion of the Note Off commands was superfluous for the most part, bloating the size of MIDI files needlessly when the MIDI Note Duration command literally does the same thing as a Note Off command placed at the end of every single note in a file. But there are indeed certain times when certain softsynths, particularly those of the DXi persuasion, will miss the Note Duration data point, causing longer or shorter notes, often causing the "hung note" situation, particularly on Pad tracks such as strings, synths or organs. That bug has been reported here numerous times. I have never found a cure for the situation other than to switch to a good hardware MIDI synth, where none of this has ever occurred here.

As for CC64 being used on guitar parts, I try to avoid that situation in my own MIDI sequences, simply because the real guitar has no sustain pedal in the first place. That is really something only the Piano, and a few other percussion instruments have in real life. Harp, etc. Still, even given that, the use of the Sustain CC64 is with us forever more than likely, especially in those downloaded-for-free MIDI files that are so ubiquitous. The funny thing about that situation and human nature is that almost everybody will blame the host program they use or the developers of the host -- and never the free downloaded MIDI file from an unknown stranger that they are trying to get to act right.


--Mac

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