Quantizing
- Thread starter j-xile
- Start date
slik da relic
New member
leaving the snare or the hi hat or both not quantized will give u a more natural feel... i tend to leave those alone.
da relic
da relic
Afroman2010
New member
I quantize some of my instruments and i usually quantize my hi-hats
engines of necessity
Registered Noisemaker
I hold fast to no particular rule, but quite often any percussive noises (drums, stabs, accents) I quantize, while melody phrasings I leave natural.
deRaNged 4 Phuk'dup
Moderator
I Quantize everything to 1/32. That gives you "organized chaos" even when you want things "off time".
There's no right or wrong way to do things, and there's no set reasoning behind why anyone does music, but I gotta ask how many current songs have you guys heard on a commercial level that sound freehanded?
Even Live drums are "quantized" these days.
There's no right or wrong way to do things, and there's no set reasoning behind why anyone does music, but I gotta ask how many current songs have you guys heard on a commercial level that sound freehanded?
Even Live drums are "quantized" these days.
engines of necessity
Registered Noisemaker
if you're talking hip-hop...approximately 0%, but in other genres there are plenty of examples of freehanded music. (anything with live guitars/bass, vocals etc) My music is industrial rock which is kind of that merger of precise electronic sounds and imprecise live sounds...with a heavy dose of noise colors where necessary.
deRaNged 4 Phuk'dup
Moderator
^^^Not just hip hop. RnB, Pop, even live Rock guitars and drums are ran through programs that align hits to tempo nowadays.
Not in all cases, but it's far from abnormal practice.
Think of all the "retakes" that used to be done because a snare was off by a few milliseconds. They created technologies to fix that, and now it's abused. Look at Elastique in Pro Tools for example.
Not saying any method is wrong, just surprised so many don't quantize.
But FYI, i've never quantized a vocal or guitar I've played over a track, I was only referencing digital sound modules/sequencers with quantizing capabilities.
Not in all cases, but it's far from abnormal practice.
Think of all the "retakes" that used to be done because a snare was off by a few milliseconds. They created technologies to fix that, and now it's abused. Look at Elastique in Pro Tools for example.
Not saying any method is wrong, just surprised so many don't quantize.
But FYI, i've never quantized a vocal or guitar I've played over a track, I was only referencing digital sound modules/sequencers with quantizing capabilities.
Last edited:
U
uNDefineD
Guest
the album i'm currently working on has the orchestration of a hard rock band. literally everything that isn't audio is quantized - this means acoustic drums, electric bass, piano, synths, orchestral parts, the works. there's enough variation in the velocity and performance to make it sound human, especially with the unaligned guitars and vocals taken into account.
it really doesn't bother me, seeing as a decent group of musicians would be just as tight-knit anyway. check out any live james taylor dvd - his band is so on the money it sounds like a studio recording.
it really doesn't bother me, seeing as a decent group of musicians would be just as tight-knit anyway. check out any live james taylor dvd - his band is so on the money it sounds like a studio recording.
Last edited by a moderator:
engines of necessity
Registered Noisemaker
Thank you to uNDefineD for calling out the great James Taylor and the musicians he aligns himself with. The man may not go hard, but everything he puts out is smooth as silk.
Purple Sippa
New member
I've never quantized my tracks before
D
dornkorus
Guest
I know this may make some producers gasp in shock
, but quantizing is not one of my top priorities when I make beats. Lol seriously. I do quantize as I go along ...sometimes...but I usually just CREATE CREATE CREATE and as long as it sounds good, I'm happy. I usually only quantize when something I've made sounds very obviously off beat and not in a creative way lool.
, but quantizing is not one of my top priorities when I make beats. Lol seriously. I do quantize as I go along ...sometimes...but I usually just CREATE CREATE CREATE and as long as it sounds good, I'm happy. I usually only quantize when something I've made sounds very obviously off beat and not in a creative way lool. People believe that by not quantinizing drum, you leave the drums with that more realistic feel, however, professional drummers aren't off, you won't hear them going off of beat, that's with or without a click track. Furthermore, if your doing pop, hip-hop, modern r or club u never want your drums to fall off beat.
deRaNged 4 Phuk'dup
Moderator
^^^What he said.
I think people don't understand the different elements of sequencing, so they think purposely off timed hits can't be done in a quantized environment.
In the end, whatever works, but it disturbs me when folk purposely make drums go all over the place trying to recreate that "Dilla Sound" without recognizing there has to be organized chaos.
I think people don't understand the different elements of sequencing, so they think purposely off timed hits can't be done in a quantized environment.
In the end, whatever works, but it disturbs me when folk purposely make drums go all over the place trying to recreate that "Dilla Sound" without recognizing there has to be organized chaos.
baron.von.case
New member
Quantizing is useful, but in moderation. It can end up taking away some of the humanness and nuance to performance. Of course, this depends on your genre and objective. If you're doing electro or whatever, you probably want it as cold and mechanical as possible.