My drums feel stiff. Should I quantise them harder?

A lean is not an error

Timing that is off the grid comes in two kinds.

• A consistent offset. The snare is 10 ms late on every backbeat, or the hats are always slightly ahead. This is feel. It is what a drummer means by playing behind or on top of the beat, and it should be left alone.
• Random spread. Hits land early and late by different amounts with no pattern. This is loose playing, and it is the part quantising helps.

Measured against the grid, the first shows up as an average offset and the second as spread around that average. A part with a steady offset and little spread is a good pocket. Quantising it to 100 percent throws the pocket away.

When the part is stiff

• Quantise by less. A strength of 50 to 75 percent pulls notes toward the grid and keeps some of the original placement.
• Add swing to the hi-hats or percussion and keep the kick on the grid.
• Vary velocity. Accent the beat, drop the off-beats, add quiet ghost notes on the snare. A drum part with one velocity sounds mechanical however it is timed.
• Move one element. Slide the snare or clap 5 to 15 ms late, or the hats a few milliseconds early.

When the part is loose

Quantise the element that is scattered, usually the kick, to the grid it was aiming for. Then listen to whether the others now sound wrong against it before touching them.

In Zammoth

The engineer measures a part's timing against the grid as three numbers: how far it sits ahead or behind on average, how much it scatters around that, and how much it swings. That separates a lean from loose playing before anything is moved:

Quantize is ⌘U on a MIDI clip, with the grid, strength and swing in the clip menu. A groove template changes the feel at playback and leaves the notes where they are, so it can be removed again. See the manual on grooves.