Old 10-12-2020, 02:33 PM   #1
Joe Miller
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Default Realtime quantize per MIDI track

Hi,

There's a feature present in a handful of other DAWs that Reaper is still missing quite surprisingly. I notice a lot of work has been done to improve Reaper's midi since I last tried to use it in earnest, however the midi quantize feature in Reaper is still very 'offline' and archaic.

In both Logic and in Pro Tools, you can define a realtime midi quantize including how strongly to apply up to 100%, and swing variables such as setting the notes to 53% on 16th like an MPC swing for example.

In those DAWs this is not a destructive process, and it is not applied to the midi played in by the performer during record. It's a flexible realtime quantize calculated 'just in time' before the sequence plays, and is adjustable in realtime so you can audition different strengths or swings while the track is playing. They also allow for different quantize settings for every track, not just an overall DAW quantize state.

In Reaper the quantize window will 'audition' the settings on the currently selected track, but you have to apply this to the region's data. You cannot flip from one track to another and see different realtime quantize settings per track. Unless I'm missing something, it appears that if you hard-code a special quantize like 57% swing on a midi track and then go away and do other quantize functions on other tracks, there's no box or page to remind you of what was applied to that initial track. In the other DAWs this is a flexible visible state you can interrogate for any track.

Would it not be preferable to have a track level quantize like in those other DAWs? I find it strange that there is a dedicated Midi Track Controls panel when you right click on a track, but no dedicated Quantize in a similar location, I would have thought that Quantize features would be used ten times as much in practise. For me, the current system where quantize has to be invoked on the actual midi editor window with the Q button, and bringing up a floating window that can only temporarily preview quantize is a bit of a mess and to be honest is a major block for me to be able to replace the other DAWs I would genuinely like to walk away from!
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Old 06-09-2022, 12:58 PM   #2
MonkeyBars
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Reaper's MIDI quantize UX leaves a lot to be desired.

However, you're wrong that quantize is destructive only in Reaper. If you press "OK" in the Midi Editor Quantize dialog, quantize gets applied but nondestructively.

Reaper actually offers more granularity than other DAWs in that you can select individual notes and nondestructively quantize them. The issue arises as you point out when the user wants to know which notes are quantized in what way, and work from the previous value – since when the user opens the quantize dialog, the last settings are set, not the last settings on the selected notes. This makes sense, since it wouldn't actually be possible to display the last settings if the notes were all quantized to different values previously. However that's no help if you want to adjust from the previous settings; instead, the user simply loses them.

+1 MIDI quantize needs a UX overhaul. There is a reason other DAWs don't do nondestructive quantize on selected notes – I can't think of a good UX to track the quantize amount on individual notes. The script API has zero visibility into any quantization settings so it can't be solved manually that way.
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Old 02-02-2023, 06:28 AM   #3
reelmusicboston
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I'm surprised there aren't more threads about this. Dialing in a quantize setting was something I did fairly often in Logic, and not having saved settings per item/track seems a potential workflow interrupt. Maybe after the grouping and comping systems revamps (which are/will be amazing), the powers that be could look the quantizing system.
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Old 02-02-2023, 06:55 PM   #4
skylar_battles
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+1 was dealing with this working with swing quantize in the midi editor
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Old 02-03-2023, 01:48 PM   #5
reelmusicboston
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And while on the topic of improving the Midi Editor, it would be great to have a realtime indication of midi note position. The js_midi_inspector is cool, but it only updates after you release the note, not as you drag it..which is a drag. And it would also be nice to be able to either scroll or drag values in the list editor.
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Old 02-04-2023, 06:46 AM   #6
skylar_battles
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Also with swing it’s often almost easier to program the beat straight, whether it be audio or midi, and then to use the groove tool and label what groove you used somewhere so if need be you can apply it to other items.
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