Generates a hold or sustain envelope stage. A hold stage lasts for the duration specified by the controls. A sustain stage lasts as long as the GATE is up.

Combine Stage, Booster Stage, Hostage, and Upstage modules to generate complex envelopes with any number of stages.

See also:

• Generating Single-Stage Envelopes
• Generating Multi-Stage Envelopes
• How Stages Work Together

Modes

• In SUSTAIN mode, the GATE signal acts as a sustain gate. When the gate rises, Hostage samples the IN signal, then generates a sustain stage at the sampled voltage until the gate falls.

• In HOLD mode, the GATE signal acts as a trigger. When triggered, Hostage samples the IN signal, then generates a hold stage at the sampled voltage for the specified duration.

Controls

• SUSTAIN / HOLD: Selects Hostage’s operating mode.

• DURATION: The duration of the hold stage (when Hostage is in HOLD mode).

  The duration switch (1 / 10 / 100) sets the range of the DURATION knob. The switch labels indicate the maximum duration (seconds) for each range. For each range:

  • The minimum duration is 1/1000 of the maximum: 1ms, 10ms, or 100ms.
  • Centering the knob gives a duration of 1/10 of the maximum: 100ms, 1s, or 10s.

  In GATE mode, Hostage ignores the DURATION controls.

Ports

• DEFER: When the DEFER gate is up, Hostage defers to its IN signal, forwarding the IN signal directly to the OUT output.

  While Hostage is deferring it ignores incoming GATE signals.

  When it begins deferring, Hostage abandons any envelope stage it may have been generating.

• GATE: Triggers a hold stage or sustains a sustain stage, depending on the current operating mode.

  While Hostage is deferring, it ignores the incoming GATE signal.

  In SUSTAIN mode, if the GATE is up when Hostage stops deferring, it begins a new sustain stage. If the GATE is down when Hostage stops deferring, it emits an EOC pulse.

• IN: When Hostage generates a hold or sustain stage it emits the voltage that it sampled from the IN signal at the start of the stage.

  While Hostage is deferring, it forwards the IN signal directly to its OUT output.

• ACTIVE: A 10V gate signal indicating that Hostage is either actively generating a stage or deferring to its IN signal.

• EOC: When Hostage completes a stage it emits a 1 millisecond 10V pulse at its EOC output.

• OUT: The generated stage signal or (when deferring) the IN signal.

• CV: A control voltage signal to modulate the duration.

Notes

• While a stage is in progress, the DURATION knob, switch, and CV input are “live.” If the duration value changes, Hostage applies the new value to the remainder of the stage.

• Before Hostage becomes active for the first time (whether by a trigger, a gate, or a DEFER signal), it outputs 0V.

• Changing the mode abandons any stage in progress.