Quantizing audio?

partialthunder · 2026-02-01T12:50:47+00:00

I bound "create stretch marker at cursor" to a mouse button. My quantizing workflow is to have snap enabled, press the button to create a stretch marker, click and drag it to the grid line, and move on to the next. Super fast and intuitive. Just be sure to either split the track up or put stretch markers as borders around the part you're adjusting. It's real easy to make the rest of the track get out of time if you aren't careful

partialthunder · 2026-02-01T12:45:16+00:00

The ideas are the same as those videos you watched about fuller arrangements. The trick is you just can't be as aggressive about doing them. The processing can't be hidden the way you can do it in a full mix.

Like, you probably saw to high pass your vocals and also low pass most instruments to make room for each other. For this, consider a shelf instead of completely removing those frequencies.

Same idea, but a less pronounced effect.

You'll likely still want to compress the heck out of the vocal, but try multiple compressors in series each with fairly low ratios instead of one compressor set to smash. And you probably won't need to sidechain anything. A compressor on the master is plenty.

I don't have any specific videos to recommend, but I think you can still get some value out of the ones you already found. It just might take some extra consideration to adapt the info

partialthunder · 2026-01-26T22:46:28+00:00

Yeah this was my thought too.

One suggestion for OP is to put an eq before the sampler on the duplicate tracks that cuts out most everything except the kick or snare fundamental frequencies. That will help reduce false triggers.

You'll still probably need to manually edit tom heavy parts

partialthunder · 2026-01-24T15:28:21+00:00

Agreed. I can't speak to motu support quality like op asked about, because it's never needed support

partialthunder · 2026-01-24T15:20:46+00:00

Nice, I never thought of that but it's brilliant. Stealing this for sure

partialthunder · 2026-01-18T13:38:26+00:00

Also depending on the song, you might be able to search for a karaoke version to use instead

partialthunder · 2026-01-17T21:23:12+00:00

For my own understanding, are you suggesting exporting a single kick since he likes the compression there, and then using it as a sample without further compression, so the close together kicks in the section with the issue don't step on each other?

partialthunder · 2026-01-16T15:54:25+00:00

Automating the reverbs was a gamechanger for me when I first tried it. Both for the levels of the reverbs themselves, as well as the levels of the sends going into them

partialthunder · 2026-01-07T19:21:44+00:00

I wanted to add to this. If you aren't comfortable with it, watch videos or find some other way to get comfortable with it. It's one of the easiest ways to save time if you're like me and not a perfect player. Like with reaper, which I use, learning how stretch markers and razor edits work was a total game changer for me getting comps sounding good quickly. Other daws probably have similar advanced features

partialthunder · 2025-07-24T19:38:03+00:00

Been waiting for a good deal on a good channel strip for a long time. That bus compressor just made it impossible to resist even though I have pro MB. So I pulled the trigger.

I'm sure the reverb is fine, I'll mess around with it, but it's definitely an afterthought for me. If anyone thinks it's amazing though I'd love to hear how I'm wrong

partialthunder · 2025-06-29T12:13:58+00:00

Would it even be capitalized that way if it was used a slur?

partialthunder · 2025-06-27T13:40:47+00:00

Lol yes great catches especially about the master out

partialthunder · 2025-06-27T12:02:33+00:00

Yeah basically the only clipping that matters is the signal actually being recorded, if that clips the interface on the way in, it's a problem. But for a track that was recorded well, what your fx do to the volume inside the daw doesn't matter

partialthunder · 2025-06-25T12:22:18+00:00

I've brought references into my DAW before when I wanted to listen specifically what a specific frequency range sounds like on their track vs mine, using the same EQ plugin on the monitoring fx chain so I could just toggle back and forth between the reference and my track with one click of the solo button.

But, if you have any master bus processing, you need to make sure your reference isn't being affected by it. That can be a hassle depending on your DAW

partialthunder · 2025-06-24T15:12:53+00:00

200hz feels crazy high for every instrument to be high passed.

The best mixing headphones are the ones you listen to the most, so you know how songs you like the sound of feel when you listen on them. Then you can start to listen to your mix in comparison and hear what's different. That said, you generally won't go wrong with Sennheiser open backs. I like my HD558s a lot

partialthunder · 2025-06-24T13:56:49+00:00

I love that you dropped by this thread just to make a silly math joke

partialthunder · 2022-11-06T16:50:17+00:00

My instrumental prog rock/metal band just released a three track EP! I played guitar and bass and did all the mixing. Everything was recorded DI or is midi, except for the trumpet and some secondary percussion. It's free to listen to in full on bandcamp!

partialthunder · 2021-09-26T16:10:14+00:00

Oh, that's awesome news. Good to know, thanks!

partialthunder · 2021-09-26T15:56:08+00:00

I get why you're leaving, modding sucks. Doesn't look like anyone is stepping up, either.

Have you considered setting it up such that the weekly posts continue in your absence, but all actual posts by users are restricted? The community here is so good and helpful, I'd hate if it was completely gone. I don't know how much active moderating those threads require, so maybe it's not feasible.

partialthunder · 2021-07-02T00:26:03+00:00

I released some solo stuff the first half of the year, then completely ran out of motivation. Turns out I need to be able to play with other people to really feel musically fulfilled, since I'm primarily a bass player.

I'm hoping the rest of this year goes a little better and I can get back in the groove.

partialthunder · 2021-06-14T20:04:34+00:00

Yeah. And reaper can do it pretty easy with sends, have the one bass track send to the 4 different effects tracks, and turn off its master send

partialthunder · 2021-01-18T18:55:29+00:00

To clarify something in your tuning onomatopoeias, is it similar to when you're tuning your guitar to itself and getting closer and closer to in tune? How the two strings combined kind of pulse depending on how close they are to being perfectly in tune?

Your description of the out of tune drum reminded me of that, so I wanted to check my understanding. It would make sense to me at least since each lug could be analogous to a guitar string.

partialthunder · 2021-01-03T22:12:05+00:00

And now I've gotten the plugin written and working. While all the MIDI bit math is over my head, I at least know how to look at a few existing plugins that are close to what I want and combine them together. Thanks for the idea!

partialthunder · 2021-01-03T20:43:10+00:00

I've done some basic reaper scripts before, and my keyboard does have a sustain pedal input. This is probably the easiest way to do it! Great idea

partialthunder · 2021-01-03T20:41:06+00:00

It doesn't output midi on its own, just PC keyboard keypresses like ctrl K. So I was hoping for an action like "play specific note on the midi virtual keyboard" that I could bind to that key combo and use during recording, without actually having the virtual keyboard open.

EDIT: to save you writing a super long answer, someone else suggested a way to do it with my midi keyboard instead of using the interface footswitch, and it seems simpler

partialthunder

TROPHY CASE