Sonar x2 producer midi advice please.

Jay C

Jay C

New member
my drummer has started recording track with the vdrums into superior drummer. so far the 2 songs he's done have been quantized by me. i know that can make them sound too on time so kind of fake. i'm just wondering what are acceptable levels of give with timing? and is there a way to quantize but not exactly to the grid?
 
is there a way to quantize but not exactly to the grid
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yes, i think the term Sonar uses is 'Strength' - adjusting this determines how tight the quantise will be

point to ponder - i was discussing midi quantising and adding human timing errors with a drummer friend of mine, and he remarked that it was funny, because drummers are always trying to do the exact opposite - play every beat perfectly on time, with precise velocity/volume. so as drum machine tech tries to become more human, many human drummers aspire to being more like machines

as a rule i'll use 100% strength for drums and then go back and add in my 'errors' and flams etc. afterwards. other instruments can wash around the beat as they need to without getting lost because the beat is always solid

my old Sonar has a 'Human Quantise' function, i assume later versions do too - this is probably the one you want to experiment with first
 
I'm also using SD 2 with V-drums.

I agree to quantize the kick on it's own for sure.

For that matter, if you can segregate each drum instrument to it's own track, you can do separate quantizes for each.

For instance, cymbals are the least likely to need it, but the kick almost always.

Myself, I would want the snare to have very little or no quantizing at all - but do editing note by note, as most snare hits for me are pretty good just where they are.

I have Sonar X2a but not sure how to do this, as I've never tried - you may have to use CAL scripts.

For me, now using Cubase 7, there is an option to 'Dissolve Parts', and it separates them into their own tracks automatically for this & other reasons.
 
You don't need to separate the drums into different tracks as it's the Midi you'll be quantizing, not audio, and you can do all this from the comfort of the PRV.

Just select the note/kit piece you're interested in by clicking on the virtual keyboard in the PRV that corresponds to your chosen kit piece. This will select all the hits associated with that key/kit piece allowing you to quantize them all simultaneously.

You could if you want, make separate Quantizing "passes" for different parts of the song so that your choruses are tighter than the verse for example
 
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