I have found that some synths and sample players are bettter at this than others. BFD3 for example is far better at making the drums sound real vs any other drum sample player I know. 

brundlefly
A few quick thoughts:
 
 
3. When it comes to timing and feel of non-one-shot instruments, durations are way more critical to the feel of a phrase than start times. Unfortunately, this isn't an easy thing to get right by any means other than real-time performance.
 
4. If the composition/style allows it, the ebb and flow of tempo through different sections of a piece or within measures is more important to getting the feel of a live performance than just having one part rushing or dragging throughout or being randomly off the beat by small amounts.
 
5. Select By Filter can be helpful in picking out all the notes of a specific note number and falling on a certain beat.

Yanked out the first two suggestions because I'd usually do live input (or use premade programs that are more live feel then edit them). Gonna focus on dealing with rigid parts.
 
3. Noted. If I can figure out some efficient selection and/or tabbing to note and/or Event Inspector input procedures then I might be able to speed things up a bit. This is the type of thing that's holding me back really. I'm not sure of good ways to select before applying various techniques (and I'm sketchy on the techniques themselves. However your point #5 may be something I should really figure out (select by filter). I opened that up recently (I think based on your suggestion on another topic) and was overwhelmed but it may be a good solution if I can figure it out.
 
4. This does give me an idea. Maybe I can add some timing dynamics to the rhythm section simply by making subtle changes in the Tempo View. Like simply going up a BPM or so (or in finer increments like 120.7 and such) could give the drums a bit more feel overall. I already have audio tracks laid down so those would remain static of course but that's fine. The other MIDI parts would follow the changes as well though which is undesirable BUT something like MIDI bass is easier to deal with than drum tracks. Essentially I could do this in increments where just subtle tempo changes makes the drums wobble a little to give it some human feel THEN I can go through and get all OCD on things from there. Just the little bit of wobble might make a huge amount of the material better/more natural saving a ton of manual work.
 
5. Definitely going to bone up Select By Filter.
 
Thanks.

Bristol_Jonesey
Another approach Beep.
 
Select all the kick drum notes in the prv.
 
Go back to the Track View & right click to select Process Effect > Midi Fx > Cakewalk Fx > Midi Velocity
 
Click the little square button above the Randomize box and type a small number in the Amount box - you said a variation of 3 would suffice so that's a good starting point.
 
Leave the Tendency value at 0 - this way notes will be randomized either side of where they currently sit.
 

Excellent. I had forgotten about the MIDI FX. Never used them before and this is definitely a good excuse to try it out. Now can these effects be "bounced" like audio effects can? I'm thinking I could tweak the MIDI effects by section, get a section sounding good, bounce it (and then manually tweak anything extra needed) and move on to the next section.
 
This is actually a great idea but I'd definitely want to work through it in sections as opposed to having the effect apply for the whole piece.
 
Thanks.

John
I have found that some synths and sample players are bettter at this than others. BFD3 for example is far better at making the drums sound real vs any other drum sample player I know. 

Definitely which is why I want to kind of wail on it from the DAW angle in the PRV as opposed to relying on internal randomize/humanize/antimachine gun features. Those of course are also kind of an "all or nothing" type scenario with little control over individual sections/hits.
 
Cheers!

This is a process effect - click the Ok button and your changes are applied directly to the midi velocities
 
If you don't like it, or want to try different parameters, undo it and start again.
 
Once you're happy with the kick, do it again with the snare & hat.
 
I like to treat toms individually but, because there are relatively fewer tom hits than the other 3, it's not too onerous to consider each individual hit and adjust their velocities by hand. Ditto for cymbals.
 
I try to (don't laugh) think like a drummer and decide which hits in a given phrase should be played harder or softer within a particular phrase.

Bristol_Jonesey
This is a process effect - click the Ok button and your changes are applied directly to the midi velocities
 
If you don't like it, or want to try different parameters, undo it and start again.
 
Once you're happy with the kick, do it again with the snare & hat.
 
I like to treat toms individually but, because there are relatively fewer tom hits than the other 3, it's not too onerous to consider each individual hit and adjust their velocities by hand. Ditto for cymbals.
 
I try to (don't laugh) think like a drummer and decide which hits in a given phrase should be played harder or softer within a particular phrase.

Cool.
 
So I'm just trying to really get this to custom fit what I'm envisioning. Something like this...
 
Select a row of notes (like the kick).
 
Select a Time Range (in the timeline) so only the kick hits in that time range are selected
 
Do the process effect.
 
Have the effect only apply to the notes in that row within the selected time range.
 
.....
 
I have no idea if that is how it works or if those are the correct steps but something like that would be ideal.
 
Also... I made sure before my body totally when to crap on me I spent some time playing drums (a few years in a metal band and just screwing around with anyone that wanted to jam). It was really good for learning how to "think" like a drummer which translates well to my programming either via pad controller or direct input using the PRV. I didn't create this part though and can foresee having to do such tweaks regularly in the future so I gotta get my head wrapped around all the possibilities.
 
Extremely helpful stuff, as usual, Jonesey.
 
Cheers.

Select a row of notes (like the kick).
 
Select a Time Range (in the timeline) so only the kick hits in that time range are selected
 
Do the process effect.
 
Have the effect only apply to the notes in that row within the selected time range.

 
That's it - you've nailed it

Bristol_Jonesey

Select a row of notes (like the kick).

Select a Time Range (in the timeline) so only the kick hits in that time range are selected

Do the process effect.

Have the effect only apply to the notes in that row within the selected time range.

 
That's it - you've nailed it

Awesome!
 
Beep brain make good thing for change. Unga unga!
 
;-)

For me piano roll is where i do all the humanizing. Note by note. Hit by hit. It takes some time before you get used to it but after a while you get up to speed. Im thinking mostly of velocity here. Timing takes time. But putting the drums a little back makes it groove.