Introduction

Greetings to my fellow classmates at Coursera.com! My name is Jimmy Nguyen and Im a student at Wesleyan University from San Francisco. I am taking this class because Ive had a strong interest in modern music production for a while and have been trying to figure it out for a few years without any proper instruction. From my fiddling with my friends copy of FL Studio every other weekend, I have learned a few tips about production that I would love to share with you all. In this lesson, I will be discussing some tips on how to quantize efficiently. I will also be using FL Studio 9 on a Windows 7, 64 bit computer as the basis for my examples.

What is quantization?
Remember from the lesson that quantization is fixing MIDI data onto a predetermined grid. The grid divisions depend on your DAW, but it is often easy to figure out how to divide the grid into quarter notes (crochets), eighth notes (quaver), or whatever you need. In application, this means adjusting the MIDI data of your performance, for example Loudons electric bass, so that it is in sync and on time with the rest of the track. Through quantization, we can sync a MIDI data so that they fit with the global track. In a word: it is fixing our tempo.

Rules of Quantization
When quantizing in your DAW: 1. Set your grid first. Usually, this will be the smallest note or metric value you used in your performance. 2. Adjust the quantization strength as you see fit. The grid determines what metric value your MIDI data will be subject to. In other words, the grid is a division of time. So if you choose your grid to be a beat, then it will divide the MIDI track into quarter notes (crochets). A good rule of thumb is to select the value of the smallest note value in your performance. So if you used at the smallest a 16th note, use a 16th note division. This rule is not hard and fast, so dont be afraid to trust your eyes and experiment with divisions as per your needs. The quantization strength determines how strongly the MIDI data will be pulled onto the grid. If you choose a high strength, say the maximum you can have, all notes will go directly onto the grid with no exception. This is good for performances that require exact timing, such as an accompaniment or a drum kit. Dance and electronic music in particular benefit from such a timing, because the genres rely heavily on regular and powerful beat divisions. So fit the quantization strength to your needs: make it weak to retain a human feel, or make it strong for a robotic and precise performance.

Quantization in Action
1. Bring up the piano roll if it isnt already on the screen by pressing ViewPiano Roll, or by using the shortcut F7.

2. Now, select the quantize by clicking on the arrow on the left cornerToolsQuantize, or simply by using the shortcut Alt+Q.

3. By default, FL Studio selects sixteenth note, or beat divisions. To change this, click on the folder icon and navigate to the Snap folder. In this folder, we may pick bar, beat, half-beat, etc. subdivisions as needed. FL Studio also offers swing grids and other specialty grids, but we will not get into that today. For the purposes of this tutorial, we

will be using the default quantization, as this performance uses 16th notes as the smallest metric value.

4. Now we set our quantization strength. This song was recorded for a dance track lead, and I want the lead to be precise as possible. When I recorded, however, there were some performance mistakes.

The circled red notes are off tempo, because they cross the grid ever so slightly. This, I perceive, is a very small but significant mistake. So, I want to select the strongest strength. In FL Studio, this is the sensitivity option. I turn this all the way up.

5. So were already seeing progress. The previous circled notes have been aligned to the grid. But the sensitivity option only affects how strongly the next two important settings function: start time and duration. Start time affects how closely the start of a note aligns to the grid. So if I raise it all the way up, the third and fourth notes will align perfectly to the grid. Duration, on the other hand, affects how closely the end of a note aligns to the grid. So if I raise it all the way up, the ending of the note will align perfectly to the grid. Lets raise both all the way up and see what happens:

If you compare this picture with previous pictures, you will easily notice that the beginning and end of each note in our MIDI score aligns perfectly to the grid to produce a performance exactly and robotically on time, as desired. As Loudon has remarked, it is up to you to decide how you want to quantize the notes. FL Studio offers the option to quantize the beginning and end of every note in the piano roll according to the grid that you set. Check with your DAW to learn how your DAW might deal with quantization.

Auto-quantization
I am under the impression that many modern DAWs offer auto-quantization. In essence, auto-quantization, or record quantization, is a feature of modern DAWs that allows your DAW to quantize your recording as you play. WIth auto-quantization, every note you input with your MIDI controller must conform to the grid you set. This way, you reduce editing time by having your performance align to a grid that you set ahead of time for a perfect performance. The downside to auto-quantization, however, is that it will often produce the robotic performance we were going for in our example. Sometimes, your production may require human variation. While out of the scope of this tutorial, modern DAWs such as FL Studio will offer humanization tools to randomize note durations and timings to provide an artificially human performance. Setting up autoquantization in FL Studio is very easy. On the taskbar at the top of FL Studio, you will find a drop-down menu that will allow you to pick a grid to auto-quantize your recordings. In this drop-down menu, you may pick whatever grid you want so that your next recordings will conform to your grid. Always be aware of your grid before you record so that you save time and headaches should your performance require a stricter or more lax grid, or none at all.

Conclusion
So we have learned what quantization is and how to do it in FL Studio. I understand that your DAW may not be FL Studio. For those out there with a different DAW, it is up to you to find out how to quantize in your own DAW, but all the principles represented in this tutorial will be the same in any DAW. Always remember: (1) quantization is fixing your MIDI data to a grid that you set; (2) set your grid before quantizing; (3) set your quantization strength as necessary.

I hope this tutorial was helpful in helping you understand how quantization works and how to apply it. See you next time.