Quantizing Generated Parts

Quantise only the notes that miss the grid; a blanket pass removes the playing along with the error.

Related

TempoRubatoMIDI Protocol

The problem

Generated MIDI often sits slightly off the grid, so it drags or refuses to line up with other tracks. A blanket quantise fixes that and removes the playing at the same time. Worse, the wrong grid can push accents onto the offbeat, which sounds less musical than the original error. When a whole passage is off, the cause is tempo or start point, not quantisation.

How it works

Quantising pulls each note onset to the nearest grid point, and strength decides how far. Full strength erases every microtiming difference; fifty to seventy percent usually aligns without flattening. The grid has to match the music, because triplets, six-eight and swung eighths do not fit a sixteenth grid. Quantising changes onsets only, not lengths or velocity, so it cannot fix notes that are too short. It also collapses rolled chords and arpeggios onto one point, which hardens the attack.

Practice

Listen before quantising and never select all on import. Quantise only the notes that are clearly wrong, using quantise selected notes. Choose the grid by meter and subdivision, use a triplet grid for swing, or skip it entirely. Start at sixty percent strength and add ten percent at a time while listening. Afterwards nudge accents a few milliseconds early or late to recover the feel. Drums and bass can take heavier settings, melody and solos far lighter. Keep a copy before and after, so an A/B tells you whether it improved or merely tidied, and check the result against the other tracks rather than alone.

What to listen for

In the 116 BPM jazz-funk kit, whether the offbeats get pulled onto the beat. In the Garofitsa jig, whether the six-eight accents still group correctly. In Grieg's Norwegian march, how the already regular rhythm needs no quantising, so a pass only makes it stiffer. In Liszt's impromptu nocturne, what free tempo loses once it is snapped to a grid.

Sources

• 量化的网格选择与强度设置，依音序器公开文档核对，未抄原文
• 量化对律动的影响，依制作实践通识核对，未抄文本

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.