User guide

Tracktion 4 Reference Manual
115
4.5 : Quantising And Groove Templates
If you have a recorded MIDI part that is a little looser in feel than you would like, you can have Track-
tion tighten it up by using one of the quantise tools. If, on the other hand, your timing is just a little too
tight, or your MIDI clip was recorded using the step entry mode, you can have Tracktion apply a groove
template to it.
Both quantise and groove templates work by shifting the timing of individual notes to match an inter-
nal template. In the case of quantise, this template is a xed grid with a size determined by the quantise
resolution. The amount by which notes are shifted towards the quantise grid can be controlled by the
“amount” value. Groove templates, on the other hand, deliberately pull notes out of the quantised grid,
which can give a more natural, or human, feel. The templates used by the groove templates tool are
user editable, so you can create your own grooves for use in your songs.
The quantise and groove template tools can both be used completely non-destructively, so you can
make changes and experiment without fear of losing your original work.
To use the quantise or groove tools, simply select the clip(s) you wish to apply the process to. Be
careful that you have the clip, and not any individual notes selected, as the groove and quantise tools
are non-destructive at the clip level, but make permanent changes when applied to individual notes.
Similarly, the quantise tool available for MIDI input devices is permanent in nature, and therefore should
be used with care.
Figure 4.5.1 shows the MIDI clip properties, where the quantise and groove template tools are lo-
cated.
The quantise setting is used to select the quantise grid. The grid is dened in terms of fractions of
a beat, so 1/4 of a beat, given a standard 4/4 bar, would be equal to 1/16th in musical notation. Once
this value is set, adjusting the amount control denes how tightly notes are pulled to the quantise grid.
A value of zero percent would have no effect on the note events, whereas a value of 100% would be a
rigid quantise.
It is important to understand that by pulling notes to a rigid grid, quantise will, at high settings, re-
move all sense of live feeling from a MIDI part. Furthermore, if a clip mixes 16th notes, with 1/8th notes,
or normal notes with triplets, for example, the quantise will likely be as detrimental to one aspect of the
clip as it is benecial to another.
Even though clip quantise in non-destructive in nature, you will see the notes in the clip move around
as you adjust the quantise grid, and the quantise amount.
The groove option displays a menu from which you can select an existing groove template to be ap-
plied to the clip. Unlike with the quantise control, you will not see the groove template changes in the
clip, but when you play back the edit you should hear the effect.
The quantise control does not affect the amount of groove applied by a groove template if one is se-
lected, it only controls how heavily the clip is quantised towards the quantise grid. What this means in
practise is that you can use both quantise and groove templates together to provide a groove to a part
that is either tightly or loosely quantised.
Figure 4.5.1