Try It Out: Stepping Away from Quantize

As the means for making electronic music evolve over time, we tend to quickly get used to the way these tools work - perhaps even to the point where we don't think about it. I realize I have a pretty diverse readership here, but if you make any sort of dance-oriented music, chances are you probably reach for that "quantize" button time and time again without even thinking about it.

And there's nothing wrong with it. I absolutely love the rigid precision of strictly quantized basslines and sequences. But sometimes it's a good thing to step outside your comfort zone a bit and try doing something fundamentally different in your music-making process. So if you tend to use quantize to neaten up your music, try stepping back and turning it off, if only for a bit. Why would you want to do this? Let's have a look...

The Human Element

One of the reasons electronic music is often accused of being emotionless and cold is the perfect timing of every element in the track. When you have a real band playing, even if they're incredibly accomplished musicians, their timing isn't going to be perfect. Each musician will arrive at the same beat within milliseconds of one another (hopefully), but no one hits a note at exactly the same time, and furthermore, the timing between all the notes isn't uniform either. So while the musicians all sound in time when we listen to them play, there are tiny, almost imperceptible variances that create that elusive quality we call 'human' timing. Now, I'm not suggesting you don't quantize anything, but start off slow and try a lead line or a pad or string part and see if you like the way it sounds against the more strictly-timed material. If you can play well enough to pull it off, try playing more parts 'live' and unquantized. It can really lend a subtle, but noticeable 'live' feel that's unusual to hear in most electronic music.

Russian Dragon

Often, when you have an ensemble of real musicians playing a piece, the timing of their playing is different relative to one another. The bassist might lag slightly behind the drummer, while the guitarist, in the midst of his killer solo of doom, speeds a bit ahead of the beat in his urgency. This rushing and dragging against the main beat can have a great effect on how a piece of music is perceived. Rushed timing was common in early punk music and added to the urgency and energy it was known for. Likewise, laid-back, behind-the-beat timing is often heard in classic funk. (It's hard not to wonder if some of these timing issues had to do with whatever the favored drugs were in each particular genre...)

So, even if you have something that is otherwise perfectly quantized, try manually dragging or delaying a MIDI part against the main beat to see how it changes the way the piece of music feels. We're talking about dragging the part backward or forward by only a few milleseconds, so keep it subtle. One very popular application of this in house music in recent years, especially electro house, is to have a punchy, heavily compress snare perfectly on the beat, layered with a handclap sound that lags behind the beat a little bit. It just gives a looser, funkier feel to the beat.

En Masse

Another very cool application for imperfect timing is when you're building up sounds made of multiple layers. Let's say you have a hook in your song that is played by a layer of piano, a layer of synth strings, and a synth bell. With everything quantized perfectly, the three separate layers sound to the listener like a single, unified sound. But, if each of these layers has slightly different timing, it sounds less like a single sound and more like 3 different musicians playing 3 different instruments. You can use this to your advantage to give the impression that your hook is being played by a massive ensemble, thus lending a bit more of an 'epic' feel. It won't work in every case, but it can sound really nice in the right application.

Play It All

Feeling up to a challenge? Try doing a track where nothing but the drum track is quantized. You might think some parts are too fast to play, but you might surprise yourself and what you can do if you just practice a bit (just look at any live performance of the Phillip Glass Ensemble). Maybe what you'll end up with will be garbage, but in the right context, it can sound dangerous, off-kilter, and very unique. And hey, if it isn't for you, our old friend the quantize button will still be there ready for duty.