Specifications

Pro Tools Reference Guide384
Quantizing with Swing
If you’re working with hi-hats or bass lines, you
may want to apply more of a swing feel to the
track.
To quantize with an eighth note swing feel:
1 Select the range of MIDI notes to be quan-
tized.
2 Choose MIDI > Quantize.
3 Under What to Quantize, select the Attacks
option. To quantize note durations as well, se-
lect the Releases option.
4 Set the Quantize Grid to eighth notes.
5 Select the Swing option with the Swing per-
centage you want:
• For a light swing, use 12%.
• For a tighter swing-like groove, use 24%.
• For a true “triplet-like” swing feel, use
50–75%.
6 Make sure the options for Tuplet, Offset Grid
By, and Randomize are not selected. Click Ap-
ply.
Audition the change and if the desired effect is
not achieved, undo the edit and experiment
with a different Swing percentage.
Quantizing with Randomize
If quantized notes sound too mechanical or “on
the beat,” use the Randomize option in the
Quantize window to make them sound more
natural.
To “humanize” the rhythmic feel of notes:
1 Select the range of MIDI notes to be quan-
tized.
2 Choose MIDI > Quantize.
3 Under What to Quantize, select the Attacks
option. To quantize note durations as well, se-
lect the Releases option.
4 Set the Quantize Grid to the note value you
want to use.
5 Select the Randomize option with a value of
5%.
6 Click Apply.
Audition the change and if the desired effect is
not achieved, undo the edit and experiment
with a different Randomize percentage.
Experimenting with Quantize
When using the Quantize command, you’ll of-
ten have to experiment with many of the con-
trols. You may have to try different values for
Include and Exclude Within, and Strength;
these controls determine which notes are af-
fected and how drastically they are changed. In
addition, the Randomize control, which adds a
percentage of randomness to the quantize, can
be used to make tracks feel less mechanical—less
perfect.
Although quantize is a wonderful tool for clean-
ing up tracks and playing with the feel of your
music, sometimes the recorded data may not be
salvageable. In these instances it is wise not to
spend too much time trying to fix something
that should probably just be re-recorded.