I’m not sure exactly what you are referring to... humanizing, I know what you are talking about but I don’t really recall using the term. If you want to call using the Quantize and Swing Quantize functions “humanizing”, then I can offer some thoughts to help you hear what the technology does.

First, humans really do try to play in time. We can’t, but not from a lack of trying. So that’s why “humanize” is a troublesome word (for me) and if I did use it I’m sure I expressed by problem with the term. Humans interpret music, this becomes clear when you attempt to *document* a musical performance.

This is the phenomena best illustrated by step entering a musical score into a Sequencer... if it is played exactly as written it sounds stiff, lifeless, without feeling. The sheet music is a documentation of a song, and if played exactly as written, it can come off stiff, lifeless, without feeling...

So what is it a human does when they perform music? It’s a combination of playing around with dynamics, placement, etc., as important as when you play is when you leave silence, *duration*. Scores of small details separate one player from another, interpretation. It’s real, it’s allusive to nail down, and not easily boxed up and delivered by technology.

Now that said, Swing and Swing Quantize get into the aspect of note placement, which is an important component to this “thing” we are trying to emulate. When applying these knowing *where* to listen is the key. When a Quantize setting seemingly does nothing, it is likely because no notes meet the requirements outlined by the setting you’ve made.

Let’s start with a “sheet music” stiff backbeat: kick on the 1 and on the 3, snare on the 2 and the 4, hihat closed on each quarter note beat.
Applying eighth note or sixteenth note Swing to this drum groove, will do nothing at all, because there are no notes that meet the criteria for 8th or 16th note Swing.

Change the closed hihat to eighth notes, then applying eighth note Swing will delay the even numbered eighth notes... making the eighth note pattern lilt along... nothing about the kick and snare change in response to the Swing Offset because the time slots they occupy are not effected. And applying sixteenth note Swing will still do nothing to this hihat because no note events meet the criteria to be offset.

However, change the hihat to do a sixteenth note pattern and now the 16th note Swing Quantize will delay the even numbered 16th events thus giving the Pattern more of a “feel”.

When you don’t hear a particular setting make a difference, ask yourself: Do I know/understand what the requirements are for this (Quantize) Offset to be effective? Am I attempting to Offset events that do not occur?
If no Note is in the shifted time slot, then you will hear no effect. Swing Quantize acts on specific timing slots.

You can turn a straight groove into a shuffle, if, and only if, you have enough of the time shifted slots occupied.
Our original kick 1-3, snare 2-4, hihat 1-2-3-4, will not shuffle.

But increase the hihat activity, filling more of the timing slots,...
Instead of just a single stroke for the kick drum, fill more of the time slots with a double hit... the Quantize and the Swing Quantize will play with the distancing of the hits (this gives it more to work with in developing a “feel”).

Setting the Quantize Value to 160 (eighth note triplets) will make a straight groove shuffle... if there are enough eighth note events to shift.

Listen to drummers, pay attention to the “ghost” notes, where they double up on the Kick drum, snare stick bounces, dynamics on the hihat, these make a huge difference to “feel”. Swing is not just placement, it’s velocity, too. And duration... yes, it is subtle, you betcha.

The MOXF Pattern Mode has a GROOVE GRID feature which lets you setup an Offset grid where you can advance or delay any of the time slots of recorded MIDI events ... it basically divides the measure into 16 time slots, you can shift any of these time slot forward or back. This allows you to sit the back beat (2-4) slightly behind the beat... it also allows you to mess with the Velocity of notes - that other component of “feel”. A hihat Pattern is more interesting to your ear when the velocity varies... if all the velocities are equal, your ear/brain quickly dismisses it as “canned”, it’s too stiff, it’s lifeless, it’s withour “feel”. But place some accents and even perfectly Quantized, the hihats take on a feel of sorts.
From the main Pattern screen press [F2] GROOVE

The Groove Grid is a one measure template that allows you to adjust where each timing slot occurs... shift them 120 clock ticks (that’s equivalent of a 16th note) forward (early) or delay (behind) the beat.

The Grid Groove function makes it possible to adjust the pitch, timing, length, and velocity of notes in a specified track via a 1-measure 16th-note grid to create “grooves” that would not be possible with precise sequencer-like programming. The Grid Groove function affects playback without actually changing the sequence data.

Now just as important as the time position of the notes are the Velocity of the swing notes (basically controlling where the accents occur). Adjusting accents, of course, will depend on what you are attempting to accomplish in this “groove”. Sometimes de-emphasizing the swung note is important, sometimes accenting the swung not is the thing... your mileage will vary.

The GATE Time parameter does not (by default) work on unedited Drum Kits - but will work on ‘normalʼ Voices.*

*Gate Time (or duration of notes) does not work on drum kit Voices because usually drum kits are setup so that they ignore NOTE-OFF messages. Because a drummer cannot hold a note, you normally want the entire drum sound to occur without having to hold your finger on the note (as you would with a piano, for example). Drum envelopes complete the sound even if you play staccato. The parameter is called “Receive Note Off” and is typically set to OFF on Drum Keys.

The GROOVE function is designed to allow you to setup a Groove template. the shifting you do is applied, non-destructively to each measure as it passes. You can think of the data being sifted through this grid prior to going to output. When you like what you have you can re-write the EVENT LIST in one of two ways:

1) Use the NORMALIZE PLAY EFFECT JOB (Track Job)
2) Place the Track in OVERDUB record.

Either of these will re-write the Event list track data and zero out the GROOVE grid.

Thanks for the topic, hope it helps.

Hi Phil
Thanks for the answer. "Humanizing" is unfortunately the most common term for "Natural Feel"

A couple of Things you mentioned. I want to make sure of. Where they are on the MOXF edit screens(I could have been looking at the Wrong screen 4 Adjustments. LOL).
"Swing Quantize" and "Swing" I find swing in the Arp Edit Section. But I do not think I have ever seen "Swing Quantize". I assume the "Gate" is the Knob And....?

There is the straight Quantize which corrects notes to the nearest selected value, (this also has a “Strength” setting to control how strictly it is applied) then there is Swing which is a special form of the Quantize function that specifically delays the even numbered events of the selected Quantize value.

So although listed as just “Swing”, it is really a Quantize template that affects only specific events (every other event of the selected Quantize value).

The Arp “Play FX” work to adjust the phrase data stored in the Arp. It does not work on MIDI events recorded on a track, instead it works on the live Arpeggio data BEFORE it is recorded to the Sequencer.

The GROOVE GRID works on MIDI event data recorded to tracks of the sequencer... it can be used non-destructively or you can do what is called NORMALIZE PLAY FX... this rewrites the MIDI data on the track to reflect the Groove Grid offsets that you created, then it resets the Grid.

The Groove Grid is a Quantize template that you can create. You basically can offset timing, note value, gate time, and velocity of each 16th note time slot... at first it may cause you to wonder how it can be used... but say you want to sit the backbeats 2 and 4 just slightly late, (that’s a “human” thing drummers do... they hit the snare just off (late), it’s subtle, it’s a “feel” thing. The Grid can be used to delay the 5th and 13th sixteenth time slots... to accomplish this. How many clock ticks late? It’s a feel thing that varies with what the whole ensemble is doing...and the tempo, etc.,

And since it’s initially, non-destructive you can mold the template settings until you “feel” it’s right.