Odds are, your beat is quantized to a particular timing. This basically means that your sounds are aligned to a precise timing, giving the beat a very unnatural and technical feel, most likely lacking “feeling” and “groove.”

Quantization is defined as the process of aligning a set of musical notes to a precise setting. This results in notes being set on beats and on exact fractions of beats. Most software programs come equipped with a Quantization feature, so that you can align recorded MIDI notes perfectly with a click of a button.

For example, let’s say that you have manually recorded the hi-hats to a beat through your software program and a MIDI controller. After recording, you notice that the hats are not perfectly on-time to the beat. Some notes are a bit off. The quantization feature on your software will allow you fix these timing errors with the click of a button, snapping the mistimed notes into the right timing.

The quantization feature is very useful for certain styles of music. Trance and techno music has a definite, repetitive groove in which quantization is used on most instruments. Some modern electronically produced Hip-Hop and R&B music may used a quantized kick, hats, or snare. But what happens when we want to electronically record music with a more natural swing to it?

There are a couple ways to achieve a more natural sounding groove. The first way is to simply record your track as precisely as you can, and disregard the Quantize feature. You see, when you make a recording, even if you think you performed it perfectly, there are very minute, natural human errors in velocity and timing that help contribute to a natural-feeling production. You will have a developed a groove that would be non-existent if you were to quantize.

The second way of establishing a more natural groove is to record the notes, quantize them, and then move each note VERY slightly with your mouse to the left or right (be sure to turn the “snap” feature off!”). This will enable you to make a customized groove, allowing you to have control over each note to establish the exact feel you want.

I hop you understand a little bit more about note quantization and can apply the concept (or unapply the concept!) from your beats!

So long for now,

Tim Adamek
Open Minds Entertainment LLP