A question about "Quantizing" in FL Studio
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- KVRist
- 346 posts since 26 Sep, 2009
Hey Guys i have a question about my workflow but am not that great explaning things so here it goes. Im trying to make Miami Vice style music in FL Studio and my tracks are all off beat, out of sync, etc.. Im a bit confused on the "Quantize" settings in FL Studio. I know that most DAWS have like a 1/16 setting that lines everything up to the grid correctly but FL does not have this setting. In this video at 21:04 the guy is doing what im trying to do with my midi keyboard but when i do this in FL Studio everything just sounds terrible..Is there another DAW that can Quantize what im inputting in the Piano Roll better than FL? Can someone please help a beginner?
- KVRAF
- 19899 posts since 16 Sep, 2001 from Las Vegas,USA
Good Lord that video is ancient. Takes me way back......The early days of Computer Aided Music Composition and Midi were exciting times indeed.....
Oh and the answer to your question can be found on the ImageLine forums:
http://forum.image-line.com/viewtopic.p ... e+settings
Oh and the answer to your question can be found on the ImageLine forums:
http://forum.image-line.com/viewtopic.p ... e+settings
nucleon wrote:At default time division settings, a step is 1/16 of a bar, a beat is 1/4 of a bar. So there is 4 beats in a bar, 4 steps in a beat.
1/6 step = 1/96
1/4 step = 1/64
1/3 step = 1/48
1/2 step = 1/32
Step = 1/16
1/6 beat = 1/24
1/4 beat = 1/16
1/3 beat = 1/12 (1/8 Triplet)
1/2 beat = 1/8
Beat = 1/4
Bar = 1/1
Last edited by Teksonik on Tue Jan 01, 2013 1:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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- KVRist
- 125 posts since 19 Nov, 2011 from Massachusetts
Ok first go into the piano roll and press F1 For the manual for the piano roll.It covers quantizing and etc inside the piano roll.There is a magnet looking icon in the top left corner inside the piano roll that allows you to edit the grid to 1/6 beat 1/2 beat etc.And there is the same snap to grid option next to the bpm and also inside the playlist.When you put on it on 1/6 and then quantize its basically adjusting the notes on the grid so they can groove and have a more humanize feel(velocity)while fitting into the 1/6 grid.Sometimes this works or you might have to take some time finding the right grid or quantize option.Turning off the grids and adjusting notes a bit can help make patterns groove more as well.Also there are many options for quantizing.When you quantize click on the folder you should see inside the quantizing folder misc snap and riff machine.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 346 posts since 26 Sep, 2009
I think for what im trying to do the "Step" snap is what i think i need. However i dont understand why there are 4 possible places to make all these settings! (Main, Piano Roll, Playlist & Event Editor). I just want to auto quantize what i input with my midi keyboard.
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- KVRist
- 125 posts since 19 Nov, 2011 from Massachusetts
There is no auto quantizing thing in fl studio.It easy enough to record score and automation then quanitize and edit after.There are quick commands for quantizing which makes it faster and simpler.I think the top one is a global snap for all grids but every grid has its own snap to grid.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 346 posts since 26 Sep, 2009
Ok i thought every DAW had an Auto Quantize feature that automatically snaps all the Midi data to the nearest grid??? Well can someone tell me what the best DAW is for Auto Quantizing Midi data like the fella in the video above? I dont care what daw it is i will purchase it as long as it snaps everything i input on my midi keyboard correctly.
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experimental.crow experimental.crow https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=6258
- KVRAF
- 6895 posts since 9 Mar, 2003 from the bridge of sighs
I'm not at my machine , at the moment , so I can't check , but I seem to recall a ' record to step sequencer ' option...Froqqer wrote:There is no auto quantizing thing in fl studio.It easy enough to record score and automation then quanitize and edit after.There are quick commands for quantizing which makes it faster and simpler.I think the top one is a global snap for all grids but every grid has its own snap to grid.

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- KVRian
- 584 posts since 12 Jul, 2007 from Sweden
If there is a record to step sequencer I'd love to use it. I'm eagerly awaiting any more info. 
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experimental.crow experimental.crow https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=6258
- KVRAF
- 6895 posts since 9 Mar, 2003 from the bridge of sighs
still not at my machine , but the google reveals this :suecae_sounds wrote:If there is a record to step sequencer I'd love to use it. I'm eagerly awaiting any more info.
http://www.image-line.com/support/FLHel ... nsport.htm

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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 346 posts since 26 Sep, 2009
@suecae_sounds yes theres a "record to step sequencer" option just right click on the record button and click on "record to step sequencer" that way you can record live steps into it. Im just having a hard time quantizing in the piano roll correctly. Everytime i do it messes everything up.
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experimental.crow experimental.crow https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=6258
- KVRAF
- 6895 posts since 9 Mar, 2003 from the bridge of sighs
the step sequencer and the piano roll are two different ways of looking at the same thing ...ls1xxx wrote:@suecae_sounds yes theres a "record to step sequencer" option just right click on the record button and click on "record to step sequencer" that way you can record live steps into it. Im just having a hard time quantizing in the piano roll correctly. Everytime i do it messes everything up.

- KVRian
- 977 posts since 16 Jan, 2012 from UK
midi quantising can be done in any daw, it's a function, not a qualitative thing. the number of options and features will vary of course.
as much as i like Ableton, it's midi is pretty plain and it doesn't float my boat, in fact i have been doing a lot of swapping midi files in and out of other programs.. if you bear with the (at first strangeness) of the FL piano roll, it is, imo, up there with the best. i also used cubase a lot and i think it goes without saying it has as many features as you could probably want. but it's a headache for the novice. i tried studio one and i thought that was pretty good... but really they are all much of a muchness and very similar in must daws. i guess you could call it the paino roll paradigm.. :?
perhaps not : )
as much as i like Ableton, it's midi is pretty plain and it doesn't float my boat, in fact i have been doing a lot of swapping midi files in and out of other programs.. if you bear with the (at first strangeness) of the FL piano roll, it is, imo, up there with the best. i also used cubase a lot and i think it goes without saying it has as many features as you could probably want. but it's a headache for the novice. i tried studio one and i thought that was pretty good... but really they are all much of a muchness and very similar in must daws. i guess you could call it the paino roll paradigm.. :?
perhaps not : )
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- KVRian
- 932 posts since 14 Dec, 2014
Beyond having "normal" quantization, Ableton has something called "grooves", which is kind of a grid-less quantization to a pre-recorded pattern (the "groove"). It not only quantizes timing, but also velocity.ls1xxx wrote:What about Ableton Live? How does the Midi Quantizing in that one stand up to others?
Since that pattern does not have to be regular at all, you can quantize to any crazy pattern you may come up with, far more flexible than normal quantization.
Most people use it for "humanizing" (fitting a repetitive regular pattern to a irregular "funky" one), that's why people forget it is actually quantization.
You can control how much the timing and velocity will be quantized, and it has randomization functions as well.
You can apply "grooves" to audio too, Ableton is probably the only DAW that can quantize an audio drum loop without slicing.
And it is done non-destructively, so it can be removed or tweaked on the fly.
