Reference Guide

719
Changing the timing of a recording
Editing MIDI events and continuous controllers (CC)
Quantizing
Quantizing is one of the most important editing functions in SONAR. You use this feature to correct
timing errors you make when recording from a MIDI instrument or to adjust the timing of audio clips.
Very few musicians are capable of performing in perfect time. As you play, you are likely to strike
some notes slightly before or after the beat or to hold some notes slightly longer than you intended.
The Quantize commands can help to correct these types of timing mistakes.
SONAR has two different quantize commands:
These commands have quite a few settings, making them very flexible and powerful. In addition,
both of these commands let you create, save, and re-use presets. This means that once you find the
settings you like, you can save them and then apply them to other projects in a consistent way.
Resolution
The resolution indicates the spacing of the grid. You can use any value from a whole note down to
a thirty-second note triplet. You can also specify resolution in clock ticks. A rule of thumb is to select
a resolution that matches the smallest note in the region you are quantizing. If you are quantizing a
run of sixteenth notes, use a sixteenth note as the resolution. If you are quantizing a mix of sixteenth
and eighth notes, you should still use a sixteenth note. At the default timebase of 480 PPQ, 480
clock ticks is equal to quarter-note resolution.
When you use Groove Quantize, SONAR creates a grid at the desired resolution on top of the
notes in the groove. For example, if the groove contains only quarter notes but you choose
sixteenth-note resolution, SONAR builds the grid by dividing the space between each quarter note
into four equal sections. In places where the groove file contains no notes, SONAR builds a fixed
grid of the desired resolution.
Offset
Normally, the resolution grid is aligned evenly with the start of measures and beats. As an option,
you can shift the grid earlier or later by any desired number of clock ticks. If the resolution is a
quarter note and you’ve set the offset to +3 ticks, then a note that is originally near 1:01:000 would
be moved to 1:01:003—three ticks beyond the beat boundary.
Command How it works
Process > Quantize Adjusts the start time and duration of selected notes so that they line up with a
fixed size grid
Process > Groove Quantize Lays a grid over an existing piece of music (the groove pattern), and then
adjusts the start time, duration, and velocity of selected notes so that they line
up with the grid
Table 127.