Reference Guide

720 Editing MIDI events and continuous controllers (CC)
Changing the timing of a recording
Duration
As an option, SONAR can adjust the duration of note events so that each note ends one clock tick
before the start of the nearest resolution-sized note. This ensures that the notes do not overlap,
which can cause problems on some synthesizers. The adjustment may lengthen the duration of
some notes and shorten the duration of others.
When you use Groove Quantize, the duration adjustment compares the note length to the duration
of the sample note in the groove. If no duration information is available, SONAR uses the distance to
the start of the groove event closest to the end of the note.
Velocity
The velocity adjustment, which is only available with the Groove Quantize command, adjusts the
note velocity to the velocity of the corresponding notes in the groove.
Strength
The human ear is tuned to the slight “imperfections” we hear from most musicians. If you quantize a
project so that all notes are perfectly in position, it may end up sounding mechanical or rigid. To
avoid this, SONAR lets you adjust the strength of the adjustment. A strength of 100 percent
indicates that all notes are moved so that they are in perfect time, while a strength of 50 percent
means that all notes are moved half-way towards the desired position. This lets you “tighten up” the
timing as much as you want, without going too far.
The Groove Quantize command also lets you control the strength of duration and velocity
adjustments. As you work with this command, you will notice that the note start time has a greater
effect than the duration on the rhythmic feel of the track. For this reason, changing the starting times
(time strength close to 100 percent) has a more noticeable effect than changing durations (duration
strength close to 100 percent). However, there are situations in which you might want to change
both to avoid ending up with notes that overlap or with unwanted rests.
Swing
Many projects do not have notes positioned on a perfectly even time grid. For example, projects with
a swing feel, though they may be written entirely in eighth notes, are often played more like eighth-
note triplets, with the first note extended and the second one shortened. The Swing option lets you
distort the timing grid so each pair of notes is spaced unevenly, giving the quantized material a swing
feel.
A swing value of 50 percent (the default) means that the grid points are spaced evenly. A value of 66
percent means that the time between the first and second grid points is twice as long as the time
between the second and third points. The following figure illustrates the effect of the swing setting on
the timing grid: