Quantizing

Quantizing is the process of adjusting the placement of MIDI notes in time. Most often this is due to the performance not being as rhythmically accurate as desired. With many modern styles of music, the tolerance for rhythmic placement is very small. It needs to be tight. With MIDI data, it is possible to adjust every note in the performance to achieve perfect timing, if that is desired. Even multiple notes within a chord can be individually adjusted for timing.

The Quantize panel is the place to set up how events will be quantized. It offers many choices and adjustments to the basic quantize grid value. The Quantize panel can be accessed from the Edit menu or by the button in the key, list, and drum editors. (See Figure 11.13.)

Figure 11.13 The Quantize panel set to straight 16ths.

In order to quantize MIDI events, select one or more events, MIDI parts, or lines in the list editor, choose quantizing settings, and press Quantize on the Quantize panel. You can always change the quantize settings to alter the timing again and again till you are satisfied with the timing.

The key editor also has a Quantize tab, which contains all of the same features as the Quantize panel plus a couple more. (See Figure 11.14.)

Figure 11.14 The Quantize tab in the key editor.

In this tab, you can set up quantizing parameters and apply them to your selection in the same fashion as the Quantize panel. You can also quantize the ends of notes and their duration with the same values.

Reset Quantize

Nuendo keeps the originally recorded position of MIDI events regardless of how many times they have been quantized or what settings were used. You can return MIDI events to their original positions by resetting the quantize values that have been applied. To do so, press the Reset button at the top of the tab. (See Figure 11.15.)

Figure 11.15 The Quantize Reset button.

It is essential to understand that requantizing events with different settings does not change the underlying data. This makes it possible to tweak quantize settings on a very fine scale without the added step of having to undo any previous quantizing in order to return to the original data.

Freeze Quantize

Once you have achieved the ideal timing of MIDI notes, you can alter the underlying data to reflect the new positions for the selected MIDI events permanently. When you freeze the current MIDI event positions, they become the actual positions of the events and are saved that way. Any further quantization will be applied to these new positions.

Note As MIDI data is altered, the editors will display the altered positions of MIDI events even if the underlying data has not been frozen. This allows you to visually confirm the edits you have made. Reverting the data to the original values will cause the display to update as well.