Quantizing and Timing of Drum parts - is hardware MIDI superior?

[andygandiva]

If i record in MIDI with my Roland TR-08 to Ableton it is behind the bars (to the right) and slightly varied. Is it more musical to use hardware drum machines timing which is slightly behind the beat (and varied it seems) vs. quantizing all the way left to the bars in Ableton? I made music for years without hardware, now I have some hardware products, including Roland TR-08, and it lays in MIDI slightly behind the bars.

Yes/No, or it depends. Or does it not really matter which you choose, it's how you tine/ groove around the beat that's created with the bass/rest of music that matters? https://ibb.co/BBYr6bq

[andygandiva]

https://ibb.co/BBYr6bq

[jlgrimes]

If i record in MIDI with my Roland TR-08 to Ableton it is behind the bars (to the right) and slightly varied. Is it more musical to use hardware drum machines timing which is slightly behind the beat (and varied it seems) vs. quantizing all the way left to the bars in Ableton? I made music for years without hardware, now I have some hardware products, including Roland TR-08, and it lays in MIDI slightly behind the bars.

Yes/No, or it depends. Or does it not really matter which you choose, it's how you tine/ groove around the beat that's created with the bass/rest of music that matters? https://ibb.co/BBYr6bq

I'd say for tightness, software would be better.

But something can definitely be said about inaccuracies of the 808 making it more organic.

[Digital Larry]

I have the same issue with my Beatstep Pro recording MIDI over USB. "Better" depends on your creative goal. While I couldn't hear a huge difference in my overall track before and after quantizing, I've also learned (by tracking guitar and bass relative to drum patterns) that my ear is not super sensitive to slight timing differences.

As far as I know, the concept of "pocket" or "feel" in a drum track is largely based on the relative timing of the snare to the kick drum. So, shifting the entire drum track relative to the other presumably quantized material in a piece doesn't affect the pocket, it just makes the drummer sound late.

For my own projects I am quantizing recorded MIDI, and if I want to shift things around as a creative decision, then I do that.

[TLW]

A lot of people seem to have issues with the current Roland drum machines and timing variations caused by its MIDI sync.

With hardware MIDI instruments there’s usually a very slight lag compared to the clock in Live (or any other DAW). This is because it takes time to send the clock to the synth and it takes the synth time to create the sound after it works out when to make the sound. It’s usually less noticeable in sequencers and synths that use sequencers but everything that’s MIDI controlled take a few milliseconds to decode the MIDI even from its own sequencer or keyboard. Which is why some people prefer voltage controlled hardware because not having to process MIDI means it lags less. MIDI chords are also always slightly arpeggiated because MIDI is a serial protocol so only one MIDI note can be sent at a time.

Live’s track delays are there to let you try to automatically compensate for any delays caused by hardware and there’s always the option of quantising after recording or using warp. There’s also a setting in preferences that can be used to tweak MIDI timing to get it to align with the tempo but it’s a global setting so not much use if you have several synths and their timing delays aren’t the same - and they usually aren’t.

Usually plugins timing is reliable so long as they accurately report their status to the DAW. Hardware is trickier to work with, but some of us prefer how it sounds and its user interface.