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Are you doing this by hand with your mouse or do you prefer keyboard or pad? Is it worth while to try to calculate the shift and velocity in a break and then quantize it to your beat?

I place every beat by hand, but then I'm a bit of a sucker for 1/16 grids and quantisation...

futures_untold wrote:I place every beat by hand, but then I'm a bit of a sucker for 1/16 grids and quantisation...

That's what I'm doing. I guess if it ain't broke don't fix it

Well, it depends if you're worried about generica djs or not. If your beats aren't dead on, djs with no skill (or desire to really dj) may be less likely to play your tunes. (imo)

But using off kilter beats works when in the context of a whole song. If a beat is 'off' at the same place in every loop or phrase, then it will sound right overall.

It all depends........

why do you place them by hand if a sequencer does ti way quicker? do you do alot of the grid?

Well, I build beats using the paino roll as opposed to tapping them out on a trigger pad or keyboard. Also, I'm not keen on the step sequencers that old groovebox style machines have.

Placing each individual hit by hand means I can build the beat how I hear it in my head, not how the sequencer is constraining me to work. Quantise & shuffle are just two tools available for ensureing every thing is tight or lose respectively...

Ifyaknowamean?

I get ya... maybe i'll try it some time... get some more rolly hi hats going...

Good.

I'm happy that your happy

I use step sequencers for alot of my beats unless a particular sample sounds better slightly in front or behind of a beat in which case I turn the grid off and do it by hand that way.

Using free hand without a grid is also good for creating weird drum rolls or percussion fill type things aswell.

Step sequencer is generally fine for basic kicks, snares and hi-hats though!

I use a mixture of all three. Generally start by placing a few key hits with the mouse, add things like hi-hats with the mpd to get a more human feel, and then tidy everything up with quantization/shuffle. Then spend the next 6 hours repeating the process, adding hits, fills, tweaking the timing on this hit, tweaking the velocity on that one etc. until I'm bored, delete the whole thing and start again.

Actually, maybe I shouldn't be giving advice...

i tend to push elements back or forward using the track delay in ableton live, as well as global swing.

james fox wrote:i tend to push elements back or forward using the track delay in ableton live, as well as global swing.

how do you use global swing in ableton?

jsilver wrote:

james fox wrote:i tend to push elements back or forward using the track delay in ableton live, as well as global swing.

how do you use global swing in ableton?

It’s on the top next to tempo. Each clip can be selected to be affected by it in 8ths or 16ths etc. If I use it I usually have it on 16ths as its more subtle. I hate forgetting it’s on, then hand placing beats only to discover it’s swinging my swing and I’m stuck with the global tempo. Depends what effect you’re going for, but I’d rather spend a long time by hand getting a couple of bars or more exactly as I want than going for the one size fits all approach. I like elastic beats. If that’s not already a genre, please don’t steal it and do it better.

i draw it in then shift the bits i want to be swingy by hand.