MC 5 Quantize whole track

ok, then you are using MIDI.  the way you worded it, Herb was thinking you were talking about audio, which is completely different.

MIDI has notes you enter or record which triggers the sounds you hear, but it's much easier to edit MIDI notes than it is audio.

to edit the pitch of MIDI notes, open the PRV (piano roll view) of the MIDI track you're working on and click on a note and drag it where you want it.  you can edit the pitch or the timing this way.

however, if you want to quantize (timing) you can select several of the notes and use the MIDI FX processing to quantize them to a particular time.  select them, then right click somewhere (not directly on a note) and choose MIDI FX>CAKEWALK>QUANTIZE I think - I don't ever do this so I'm going from rough memory.

The problem you will have with the master tune is that is does affect the tuning of the entire track.....all the notes will be changed by whatever amount you move that slider. 

So, if I understand correctly, the problem you are having is that only certain notes are out of tune, but the rest are in tune and OK.   Is that correct? 

If so, the problem is in the samples or the patches. They were programmed or recorded (if samples) in a less than ideal manner resulting in slight tuning variations. 

The solution is: 

1 use better samples that are in tune all the way through..... sound center or some other synth with flutes.

2. clone the track..... then move the pitch on the clone to make just those notes in tune.... use envelopes to pull faders down in the original track on those notes and up in the clone track(s) as needed to make the parts play in tune.  Not as hard as it sounds, but it is labor intensive depending on how often that note is played. 

3. Or.....render it to audio. Then use melodyne or another audio pitch correction software to "fix" the bad notes. 



 try the other things first  (1&2) if that doesn't work get a demo version of Melodyne and IIRC it runs as a full version for 10 days. use melodyne to fix it. and bounce it or process audio to remove melodyne FX from the track. 

My ears are the same..... I can detect slight pitch variations and it is irritating as you have pointed out. 


If the instrument is a sampled instrument, where it was actually recorded live.....and the synth is playing back those samples...(many of the better sounding synths use this method) it is very possible that the musician was not careful with hand technique or tuning and that simply slipped the notice of anyone there in the studio.  The less expensive and homemade sample libraries do tend to suffer from this issue whereas the more expensive the library, the more likely it was recorded properly with many layers of samples, and tested extensively and properly before it was marketed to the users...us. 

I have used melodyne (not a cheap plug in, but very effective) to fix pitch issues on instrument tracks like you are describing. The cost to value ratio (of buying melodyne)  I guess depends on what you plan to use the tracks for. It is one of my favorite tools to use for vocals and instruments. 


NOTE: It is probably cheaper to buy melodyne than it is to buy a decent sample library of orchestral sounds.  As long as the sample library you now use sounds good, all you need to do is fix the pitch variations.....melodyne does that well. Last time I looked, melodyne was around $200 or so...depending on the version and features, but some of the better medium level sample libraries can easily exceed $500 and to see them at $1k and up is not uncommon for the better ones.  Some of the top of the line ones the film producers use will make you cry when you see the prices.

You can insert a velocity envelope to draw in volume changes.