How to Quantize a Song in FL Studio

So, if you want to learn how to quantize a song in FL Studio, you have come to the right spot! Quantization is something that everyone in the music industry talks about, and with experience, it is for all the right reasons! Anyone new to the topic might be confused about why is a mathematical term used so frequently in music production. Well, we are here to take you through all the necessary information.

What is Quantization?

Quantization in music production is correcting the timing of notes in a musical track. What quantization does is move the notes from any MIDI instrument to align them so that they match precisely with the grid. This process is also commonly known as autocorrecting.

The process might sound complicated, but it is one of the easiest things to do in FL studio. Read this blog till the end to learn how to quantize a song in FL studio!

Why do I Need To Quantize

Well, you don’t “need” to quantize if you don’t require it. But the agenda behind learning how to quantize a song in FL studio is very simple.

When a human is playing an instrument, each note is not placed perfectly, and there are human errors and a human touch that makes the timing, velocity, and other elements of each note different from each other. This is what makes the music human and realistic.

But sometimes, these elements are not desirable, and the recorded track may sound different from the artist wanted it to. Small mistakes might not matter when there is only one instrument or even when the track is small.

But when things add up, eventually adding up all the small mistakes, the track will sound awful, or at least not what the music producer thought it would sound like. This is where quantization comes in. It makes the notes align with the grid the way you like it. Also, it makes it easy to add other instruments later.

How to Quantize a Song in FL Studio

If you want to quantize a song in FL studio, you have multiple ways. You could do it manually by moving each note by dragging the notes with your mouse and snapping them to the grid lines. The other way is to learn how to quantize a song in the FL studio. Follow the below-mentioned steps to achieve the perfect rhythm you want!

Step 1: Select The Desired Notes

The first step is as obvious as it can get. But we will still take all the steps here to ensure that no one gets confused at the end of this blog.

You can do this by using the select tool on the top of the toolbar and then using it to drag and select the notes you want to quantize.

Step 2: Use the Quantize Tool

You can open the quantize tool by pressing the “Alt+Q” buttons on the keyboard or by going to the tools menu on the toolbar and selecting the “Quantize” option from the drop-down menu.

Just as the quantize tool opens up in FL studio, you will see red lines on your screen. These red lines will be equally placed depending on the note resolution chosen. On the quantize tool dialogue box, you can see different modes-

The Quantize Duration simply aligns the note lengths to the red quantization lines and makes the notes have the same starting and end times.

The Quantize End Time snaps the selected notes to the red quantization lines and makes all the notes have the same end times.

The Leave Duration button, as the name suggests, simply snaps the start times to the nearest red lines while still ensuring that each selected note's length remains the same.

If you want this effect, instead of pressing Alt+Q on the keyboard, you simply press the Shift+Q option.

Leave End Time snaps the start times of the selected notes to the nearest red lines while retaining the note end times as it is.

Note- The Sensitivity Knob on the quantized dialogue box allows you to control how close you want each selected, not to the red line for its start or end time.

How to Quantize a Song in FL Studio with Input Quantization

If you are a music producer with tons of shit to do and don’t want to waste your time repeating the above steps each time you work on something new. You can simply learn how to quantize a song in FL studio with input quantization, and you will be able to quantize as you record your vocals or instrument.

Step 1: Select Snap Settings

The first thing to do if you want automatic quantization is to ensure that you have selected the right snap settings- Select from step, beat or bar.

Step 2: Quantization Settings

Right-click on the record button to select the preferred quantization settings.

Step 3: Record your instrument

Well, record your instrument, and you will see as you are recording FL studio is automatically quantizing the notes. Voila!

Tips and Tricks

Now that you have learned how to quantize a song in FL Studio, you can use these additional tips to improve your quantizing. For more tips like copy-pasting in fl, you can check our blog section to know more.

Quantize Strength

Quantized strength is exactly what its name suggests. The higher the quantized strength, the more precisely your notes snap to the grid points. Which is something not all music producers like. You might want some imperfection to produce human-like music that does not sound digitally produced.

For example: If a note is behind the desired beat by 40 ticks, and if your quantize strength is set to fifty percent, quantization will move the note 20 ticks closer to the beat.

Swing/ Shuffle

Swing is something that many experienced music producers in the industry use from time to time. Also called “shuffle”, the function humanizes the music by distorting the grids instead of moving the notes in the first place. Once the grids are distorted, the quantized notes will snap to them, but because these grids are not evenly placed as before, they will produce an imperfection creating a realistic sound.

Conclusion

Anyone who knows how to quantize a song in FL Studio can use the tools mentioned in this article to make their music sound more human. These things are easy but can significantly impact how everything sounds, and more importantly, quantization will even add life to your music while saving you tons of time if you are a music producer.

♥ - Joseph SARDIN - Fondateur et Sonothécaire de BigSoundBank.com et LaSonotheque.org - Contact