Quantizing a mixed triplet/dotted triplet rhythm to a beat in 4/4

[hypnotikproductions]

How does one do this? The way I usually handle things like this is either:

A) Finding each notes respective interval, quantizing each note to their respective interval, and then finding the point at which the pattern syncs back up to the start of the beat so that it loops, but this method means that while it will loop, the beats in between the start and the end dont necessarily sync up with the pattern, its off the grid.

B) Playing the melody on the keyboard and recording just the way I want, rendering the parts i like, and then trying to find the bpm of the melody so that I can get it to sync to the grid and thus have other instruments and drums be able to play with it

What I'm looking for is to have all the notes synced up to the beats so that it will:

A) Still have the same feel and length as the original melody
B) Fit properly to the grid in 4/4 time

But whenever I deal with weird mixed rhythms like the one I'm trying to work with now, it just gets complicated and I find it to be a roadblock, especially if I really like the rhythm ive played and just cant get it to be in a working 4/4 format to build upon. Is there a better method or way of going about doing this than what I've been doing?

The rhythm im trying to transcribe to 4/4(if you will, dont know the proper term) is as follows:

triplet, dotted triplet, triplet, triplet played at a medium speed @ 51 bpm

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51 bpm is the tempo currently, but tbh tempo itself doesnt matter to me, the tempo could be whatever; as long as the feeling of the melody/drums when I play them at whatever tempo is on point, thats what really matters to me

Im a self taught musician btw, never taken a music class in my life. I'd give a shot in the dark as to whether its an 8th/16th/32nd note triplet but im not sure at that low of a bpm, the lower I go with tempo the more it confuses me as to which note interval im working on. When I have time soon I will post an audio example of the rhythm as I've played it for accuracy's sake, because I have limited knowledge and its hard to explain without an actual audio example.

After I figure this out I plan on making an interesting hip-hop beat in 4/4 time with it, but this whole time scale issue has been frustrating me for ages. If I can learn how to get around it in a reliable/full proof way I feel like my production will improve so much, because right now I will do things musically that I dont have the technical musical knowledge of and it tends to impede my progress because I cant understand exactly what im doing.

 

[Nystagmus]

It somewhat depends upon which DAW program you are using.
But as far as I know, the main idea is planning.

If you want to be able to mix triplets and anything divisible by three with 4/4 time, then you need the least common multiple of 3 and 4 which is 12. 3x4=12.

So if you set your meter to 12/8 or 12/16 or something like that with 12 beats, then you will be able to more easily compose on the grid and/or quantize as needed without it getting too bizarre. 12 divided into 3 groups is four, and 12 divided into 4 groups is three. And of course each group can be divided in half.

If you use FL Studio, if you set the project settings for 48 beats per pattern, then it's pretty much the same thing, since 12x4=48.
It's still a multiple of 12 so you are just gaining extra slots for beats and a nice long pattern length.

My 4/4 patterns in FL Studio are usually 8x8=64 beats long unless I am using 3/4 or 6/8 or 12/8 etc (all basically just 12 beats for simplicity).
So when I deviate from 4/4 meter in FL Studio I use 48 instead of 64 beats.

I hope this makes sense to you.

For BPM, if you start at 140 BPM, usually it syncs well with BPM-synchronizing VST's and you can always cut in half to = 70 BPM or tweak it up or down from there as needed. but 140 really works well if you need to combine both fast and slow parts, such as in classic DubStep (not laser chainsaw BroStep).

Peace

 

[KonKossKang]

Most daws allow custom quantize settings.
Some daws even let you program your own in xml too.


like 4/96 for example is 0.0416666666666667 resolution which is 1/96 grid snapping
because 4/4 time signature.


Some daws do it the setting PPQ way.
Some daws only allow eroslution changing via the tempo slider. [which is obviously not even a bad thing since that's usually the point of tempo in the first place]


But in general that is usually an audiobending/quantize obstacle.