• SONAR
  • Quantize Advice (p.3)
2015/06/02 15:44:41
shawn@trustmedia.tv
David I would say that your problem is OPERATOR ERROR. There's no manual I know of for that...Sorry!

Love Your Brother,
 
Shawn

2015/06/02 16:43:53
brundlefly
I often run into the situation that I need to quantize something like mixed 16ths and 16th triplets. In that case, you have to quantize to the greatest common tuplet value, 32nd triplets. But with smaller quantize resolutions, you're more likely to run into problems if your timing was loose or everything was late, causing some notes to move the wrong direction.
 
At that point you usually need to use some combination of manual tightening and quantizing sections or maybe even creating a clip to use as a groove-quantize reference. At some point, though, you have to carefully analyze what's going on musically so that you understand where you need to get to.
 
I'll usually start be setting a snap value in the PRV, and seeing whether everything is close to a gridline. If not, I know I need to go lower. When I get to where it looks good, and I'm at a value that makes musical sense, I'll quantize to that resolution (usually only to 50-75% strength), and have a listen. If only a handful of notes moved the wrong way, I'll Undo, see where they should have gone, and drag them a little closer to the target before re-quantizing.
 
Undo is your friend here. Another trick I use is to repeatedly alternate undo/redo as I scroll through the track, watching how things move in the PRV to help find the trouble spots that need special attention. If something moves a lot further than everything around it, either the resolution is too high or it needs a manual timing adjustment.
 
If you have to resort to quantizing sections, I recommend working 4-8 bars at a time, and using Save As (or Save a Copy) to save versions like "My Song - Q'd Thru 32". This way you can easily revert if you find later that you really hosed something halfway through.
2015/06/02 18:07:33
synkrotron
Manual quantizer here, pretty much. I never bother with the groove stuff and I'll either a) fully quantize and leave it (it is computer music after all), b) fully quantize and then go into PRV and individually "nudge" notes slightly out of time or c) don't quantize at all and manually tweak each and every note.
 
It is time consuming, for sure, but I don't like the results from groove quantizing and I end up checking and tweaking anyway.
 
I like the nudge tool and I'll set mine to quite a low value (nudge 1 is 2 ms).
 
I will also set my snap intensity to a couple of notches off light.
2015/06/03 14:22:38
polarbear
Thanks everyone. This is a lot of helpful info here. I definitely agree that there's no definite answer, it's all a matter of the situation and what that music needs, but a lot of this will be very helpful in attempting to fix my quantizing issues the next time they come up, rather than just getting stuck moving all my notes around for an hour haha.
 
2015/06/03 15:27:55
brundlefly
Feel free to PM me any time to get help with a specific quantizing challenge.
2015/06/04 18:22:34
stevec
2015/06/05 01:57:59
synkrotron
stevec
And just to throw another option out there...
https://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=SONAR%20X3&language=3&help=Plug-ins.3.html#1630168
 

 
Hmmm........ Makes me realise how much I'm missing out on when it comes to the tools provided 
 
Thanks for posting that, and not just for the quantize tool either...
2015/06/06 09:44:49
stevec
synkrotron
stevec
And just to throw another option out there...
https://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=SONAR%20X3&language=3&help=Plug-ins.3.html#1630168
 

 
Hmmm........ Makes me realise how much I'm missing out on when it comes to the tools provided 
 
Thanks for posting that, and not just for the quantize tool either...


 
You're welcome!
© 2026 APG vNext Commercial Version 5.1

Use My Existing Forum Account

Use My Social Media Account