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Quantization? #589795 04/04/20 04:20 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2017 Posts: 236 K KGU 2 OP Apprentice
OP KGU 2 Apprentice K Joined: Dec 2017 Posts: 236	Hey all, How are you quantizing 1 . In your DAW of choice? 2. In realband? thanks. Last edited by KGU 2; 04/04/20 04:23 PM.

Re: Quantization? KGU 2 #589815 04/04/20 06:17 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jul 2000 Posts: 27,572 Hudson Valley & Lake George NY Matt Finley Veteran
Matt Finley Veteran Joined: Jul 2000 Posts: 27,572 Hudson Valley & Lake George NY	Are you asking about MIDI? BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.

Re: Quantization? KGU 2 #589818 04/04/20 06:27 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2017 Posts: 236 K KGU 2 OP Apprentice
OP KGU 2 Apprentice K Joined: Dec 2017 Posts: 236	Good question Matt Finley. In general, no, I mean how do I send my 6, or whatever # BIAB tracks to my DAW. Then-- In my DAW, How to I quantize my vocal tracks from biab --- or any newly recorded DAW tracks. [ Or any newly recorded instrumental/ drum track additions?] I heard it was easier with Midi, right? But most biab export tracks and vocal tracks won't be midi. How are the pros doing this? thanks

Re: Quantization? KGU 2 #589825 04/04/20 07:01 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2016 Posts: 1,173 Gold Coast, Queensland, Austra... Teunis Expert
Teunis Expert Joined: Dec 2016 Posts: 1,173 Gold Coast, Queensland, Austra...	I wouldn’t class myself as a pro and I do not use RealBand except for minor changes in RealTracks. What I do is export the RealTracks these rarely if ever need much in the way of quantisation. I tend to use Reaper for mixing etc. For MIDI I export the parts and usually pull them into Cakewalk by BandLab and there I might Quantize the file then “humanise” again (set them just a little bit of from being exact) using CAL scripts. I do similar to velocities. For recording I pull the backing into Cakewalk then sing or play the part (I use Cakewalk because I’m more familiar with Cakewalk for this purpose and have stuff set to go.). Once the part is recorded for voice I might put it into Melodyne where notes can fairly easily be put to key and also have the timing adjusted. For guitar I might just pull the track into Reaper make splits or stretches where necessary. Why Reaper, I find doing the splitting and stretching far easier in Reaper. So in reality the tool depends what I’m trying to achieve. Do not over quantise. Over quantising makes things sound false as does overdoing the editing of singing. Musicians rarely if ever play as exact as the computer. My thoughts Tony Stay well HP i7-4770 16GB 1TB SSD, Win 10 Home, Focusrite 2i2 3rd Gen, Launchkey 61, Maton CW80, Telecaster, Ovation Elite TX, Yamaha Pacifica 612 BB 2022(912) RB 2022(2), CakeWalk, Reaper 6, Audacity, Melodyne 5 Editor, Izotope Music Production Suite 4.1

Re: Quantization? KGU 2 #589832 04/04/20 07:31 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Oct 2008 Posts: 20,587 Australia Noel96 Veteran
Noel96 Veteran Joined: Oct 2008 Posts: 20,587 Australia	Melodyne is great for aligning vocals with tempo. Other than that, in Reaper, I sometimes use stretch markers. These work best if added to a quieter region and at a point where the waveform crosses the horizontal axis. There is also a smoothing option for any stretching/shrinking that occurs as a consequence of vocal alignment. MY SONGS... Audiophile BIAB 2026 audios on Soundcloud

Re: Quantization? KGU 2 #589854 04/05/20 01:24 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: May 2000 Posts: 22,608 Mi., USA rharv Veteran
rharv Veteran Joined: May 2000 Posts: 22,608 Mi., USA	Set the tempo in the DAW to be the tempo of the BiaB song before bringing the tracks in. 90% of the work is done. Image below is a 7/4/song at 112 .. dragged right into Reaper on the beat. Attached Files (Click to download or enlarge) (Only available when you are logged in) dragReap.jpg (327.75 KB, 151 downloads) Last edited by rharv; 04/05/20 01:48 AM. I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome Make your sound your own!

Re: Quantization? KGU 2 #589863 04/05/20 02:36 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 8,792 Pawling New York R Rob Helms Veteran
Rob Helms Veteran R Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 8,792 Pawling New York	Quantizing is a term for midi. You are really referring to tempo mapping. 80% of that is done during recording. Some folks play and sing to a click or drum track. I usually make sure I have at the minimum drums base and one instrument track prior to vocals. This helps me stay in time. Most timing issues are resolved by careful setup when using BiaB or RB. If by chance a word or phrase gets out of time like I start a verse to soon or to late I split the piece on both ends and drag it into time. The same can be done with live played instrument tracks. Also I usually do at least 4 or 5 takes of a vocal and comp them together. That way I can cut out weaker phrases mis-spoken words etc. lastly I solo the vocals and edit out any background noises and sounds like a swallow or breath I don’t like the sound of. Another good practice is to solo the vocal, one instrument and drums. Listen carefully to the phrasing against timing. Just be careful not to over think it and make it seem unnatural. Don’t lose uniqueness. If none of this is what you are asking then maybe you’re talking about putting tracks together from different sources recorded in different timing. In that case it is truly a situation of tempo mapping. That requires that you be very careful in setting up your temples to start with in your bass tracks, and using as Bob said a program like Melodyne, or learning to use tempo mapping in your DAW Last edited by Rob Helms; 04/05/20 02:42 AM. HP Win 11 12 gig ram, Mac mini Sonoma with 16 gig of ram, BiaB/RB 2026, Reaper 7, Harrison Mixbus 11 , Presonus Audiobox USB96

Re: Quantization? KGU 2 #589867 04/05/20 03:28 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jul 2000 Posts: 6,504 Fort Pierce, Florida, U.S.A. Notes Norton Veteran
Notes Norton Veteran Joined: Jul 2000 Posts: 6,504 Fort Pierce, Florida, U.S.A.	No I absolutely never-ever quantize anything unless it's a style of music like techno or EDM that needs to be quantized. IMO Music needs to breathe, and when it is too rigid, it takes the life right out of it. The solution is to practice the part until you get it right, starting with the drums. Lock with the groove the drummer and bass player sets up. It'll keep your music from sounding stiff and mechanical. Insights and incites by Notes Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music https://www.nortonmusic.com 100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove & Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks

Re: Quantization? Notes Norton #589869 04/05/20 03:33 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jun 2012 Posts: 21,096 Melbourne, Australia AudioTrack Veteran
AudioTrack Veteran Joined: Jun 2012 Posts: 21,096 Melbourne, Australia	I also never quantize, but I'm not sure of your reasons why you wish to do this. Perhaps to align notes to make a melody line more readable would be one good reason. BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.

Re: Quantization? AudioTrack #589874 04/05/20 03:55 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2003 Posts: 24,715 Hamlin NY MarioD Veteran
MarioD Veteran Joined: Dec 2003 Posts: 24,715 Hamlin NY	Put me in the I never quantize group also. Subtle variations are what make it human. If the timing is more than subtle it is time to record it again. OK, a random thought; Why does toilet paper need a commercial? Who's not buying it? 64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware

Re: Quantization? MarioD #589922 04/05/20 06:41 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2017 Posts: 236 K KGU 2 OP Apprentice
OP KGU 2 Apprentice K Joined: Dec 2017 Posts: 236	thanks guys, good comments. Just a couple replies off the top. WHY? ------------------- A producer who heard my track said it needed quantizing. ------------------- NOTES NORTON No I absolutely never-ever quantize anything unless it's a style of music like techno or EDM that needs to be quantized. IMO Music needs to breathe, and when it is too rigid, it takes the life right out of it. The solution is to practice the part until you get it right, ------------------- One experienced video on Quantizing, or tempo mapping-- said "Time is money" today in studios, they don't have time waiting for musicians to get it right. ------------------- ROB HELMS Quantizing is a term for midi. You are really referring to tempo mapping. 80% of that is done during recording. Some folks play and sing to a click or drum track ------------------- Gotcha. this producer said quantizing, and then I got confused 'cause my searches turned up midi. -------------------

Re: Quantization? KGU 2 #589929 04/05/20 07:58 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jul 2000 Posts: 27,572 Hudson Valley & Lake George NY Matt Finley Veteran
Matt Finley Veteran Joined: Jul 2000 Posts: 27,572 Hudson Valley & Lake George NY	Skimming the follow-up posts, it appears Rob got you started down the right path. Your producer either misspoke or was trying to give you an equivalent concept. If you recorded a bunch of audio vocal tracks not sung to a click track, or less likely, a bunch of tracks sung badly in time to a click track, now you have a serious problem trying to align these tracks in your DAW. Is that what is happening here? If so, each DAW may have a way to do what Cakewalk calls 'audio snap' (or at least that's what they called it in SONAR; don't know about now). It is also possible to micro-manage each track, snipping them into pieces (called clips) and manually moving them left or right to fit, and/or tempo stretching a clip to fit. This is painstaking work, but sometimes it's the only answer. Your audio engineer will have good skills to do this most efficiently. KGU 2, could you confirm if I'm on the right track here? BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.

Re: Quantization? KGU 2 #589997 04/05/20 11:25 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Nov 2016 Posts: 299 Europe Dzjang Apprentice
Dzjang Apprentice Joined: Nov 2016 Posts: 299 Europe	I use a pdf to midi converter to help me decipher tricky Bill Evans, Charlie Parker, Jarrett, Hancock transcriptions. The output is highly quantized and every note has identical velocity. Even then, the performance is often remarkable. There is a (quantized, even velocity) midi of Jarrett’s My Funny Valentine, somewhere on the net. The harmony, the variation between straight and triplet playing, the sudden changes from eight notes to flurries of 16th notes or 16th triplets, the changes in octaves, largely make up for the quantization. Real good players have great time and you’d be surprised how close they get. As stated above, play it perfectly or... imo... quantize it, or like in Ableton “warp” it if it’s audio. Some commercial midis of Pat Metheny’s music are quantized (to help reduce the file size in MIDI). But with varying velocity. Anyone who has ever heard the Midi of Third Wind or Are you going with me, James, American Garage... can agree: quantized music is not necessarily sterile or lifeless. Rather, it blows your mind. The human ear is quite tolerant of little lags or leaps, but has little tolerance for sloppiness. And I know, cause I’m not a great musician and it even bothers me. There’s two possible answers, I think: play really good, quantize... both will do. Biab, Kontakt, Sampletank and lots of nice libraries, from Fluffy audio to Abbey Road drums. Check out these great contemporary Jazz Styles: www.jazzstylezz.com

Re: Quantization? KGU 2 #590023 04/05/20 03:15 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Aug 2011 Posts: 11,039 Winston Salem, NC USA Jim Fogle Veteran
Jim Fogle Veteran Joined: Aug 2011 Posts: 11,039 Winston Salem, NC USA	I took what the producer told you as you need to improve your timing. Be it midi or audio the root of this discussion is timing. The practice button in Band-in-a-Box has a wonderful tool where a song will play for "X" numbers of bars and then there is silence for a number of bars. The goal is to learn the "feel" of a song's tempo by playing along to a song and discovering if you speed up or slow down during the silence. Good musicians and singers can work all around the beat without loosing track of where they are at. While they can work around the beat they remain as rock solid as a metronome. By-the-way my sense of timing is terrible. Jim Fogle - 2026 BiaB (Build 1224) RB (Build 8) - Ultra+ PAK DAWs: Cakewalk Sonar - Standalone: Zoom MRS-8 Desktop: i7 Win 11, 12GB ram 256GB SSD, 4 TB HDD Music at: https://fogle622.wix.com/fogle622-audio-home

Re: Quantization? KGU 2 #590067 04/05/20 08:42 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2017 Posts: 236 K KGU 2 OP Apprentice
OP KGU 2 Apprentice K Joined: Dec 2017 Posts: 236	thanks guys, good discussion here. Last edited by KGU 2; 04/05/20 08:48 PM.

Re: Quantization? KGU 2 #590068 04/05/20 08:47 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jun 2012 Posts: 21,096 Melbourne, Australia AudioTrack Veteran
AudioTrack Veteran Joined: Jun 2012 Posts: 21,096 Melbourne, Australia	Great. Did you post it here in the User Showcase also? BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.

Re: Quantization? KGU 2 #590074 04/05/20 09:49 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Nov 2016 Posts: 299 Europe Dzjang Apprentice
Dzjang Apprentice Joined: Nov 2016 Posts: 299 Europe	An extreme example could be this... [video:youtube]https://youtu.be/JKY7TmB2TYY[/video] Hope you like it. Sounds not really perfect, but still has a lot of power, even if velocity is even and quantizing was done. Biab, Kontakt, Sampletank and lots of nice libraries, from Fluffy audio to Abbey Road drums. Check out these great contemporary Jazz Styles: www.jazzstylezz.com

Re: Quantization? Dzjang #590085 04/06/20 01:19 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jun 2012 Posts: 21,096 Melbourne, Australia AudioTrack Veteran
AudioTrack Veteran Joined: Jun 2012 Posts: 21,096 Melbourne, Australia	Jan, Oh Wow, this is so well done. So much is played in the cracks. Quantizing it to make it too rigid would have destroyed everything. I really like the way this floats, ignoring the underlying rhythm completely, but never breaking the rules. Quite sensational. BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.

Re: Quantization? KGU 2 #590096 04/06/20 03:41 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jul 2000 Posts: 6,504 Fort Pierce, Florida, U.S.A. Notes Norton Veteran
Notes Norton Veteran Joined: Jul 2000 Posts: 6,504 Fort Pierce, Florida, U.S.A.	Originally Posted By: KGU 2 <...snip...> One experienced video on Quantizing, or tempo mapping-- said "Time is money" today in studios, they don't have time waiting for musicians to get it right. <...> The answer to that is to practice, prepare, and get it right BEFORE you get into the studio. Back in the tape days, and especially before multi-tracks, musicians and singers practiced until they knew their parts, then rehearsed with the band and ironed out the song before recording. Once in the studio, they simply played the song from start to finish, usually getting it down in one or two takes. When we had a pro studio in town and I was a first call saxophonist, I got a lot of work because they called me a "one take Jake". I spent some of my time, off the clock, practicing what I was going to record. In all the band recordings I did 'back in the day' we rehearsed until it was right and never did more than two takes. Today in my personal MIDI studio, where recording time isn't more expensive than practice time, I still practice until comfortable with the part before recording. I find when I'm comfortable enough so I don't have to think about what I'm playing, but instead just let it flow, the timing and phrasing come out many times better. I think the three worst enemies of music are quantizing, auto-tune, and needless compression. Quantizing takes the human breathing out of it, auto-tune takes the vocal expression out of it, and compression takes the dynamics out of it. IMO there is a lot more to music than dots on the page and/or notes in a grid. Insights and incites by Notes Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music https://www.nortonmusic.com 100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove & Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks

Re: Quantization? Dzjang #590098 04/06/20 03:47 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2013 Posts: 2,732 St. Louis, MO. USA sslechta Veteran
sslechta Veteran Joined: Dec 2013 Posts: 2,732 St. Louis, MO. USA	Originally Posted By: Dzjang [video:youtube]https://youtu.be/JKY7TmB2TYY[/video] When you post the YouTube link, take out the "https://youtu.be/" part and just leave the "JKY7TmB2TYY" (Unique video code). It would look like this except brackets instead of braces: {video:youtube}JKY7TmB2TYY{/video} Steve BIAB/RB 2022, Pro Tools 2020, Korg N5, JBL LSR 4328 Powered Monitors, AKG/Shure Mics. PC: Win11 PRO, 4 TB M2 SSD, 2 TB HD, 128 GB Memory

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