How much swing?

aciduss · Post by **aciduss** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 8:11 pm

Hi, thank you all for your comments, very refreshing.

I did had Ableton's groove in mind when posting, since is my main DAW and don't have any hardware drum machines.

I am doing heavy research / experimentation on this subject just trying to find how can i arrange sounds in a funky groovey housey way, the way it makes people shake their head / ass. I am getting closer...

i dont think we're talking about the swing in ableton, i always turn it off by default also.
some sort of swing or shuffle is pretty much fundamental to house and techno. ( i dont mean quantising, i'm just talking about groove. )
when i think of swing, i think of it as something which makes you move your as.s, it doesnt just have to be 16ths, it can be swing at any level, at bar level.

How is it then that you manage to groovelize your tracks with swing turned off? Just shifting sounds here and there? I am not lazy i just find it hard sometimes to imagine how should i place a sound to make it sound like inside my head.

thanks again

brooksmosher · Post by **brooksmosher** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 10:01 pm

prussell wrote:none.
that is to say, in Ableton i always turn swing off by default; once in a great while if an element doesn't sit correctly i'll try it as a fix, but it usually doesn't work for me.

+1
the swing feature in Live (at least up to Live 6) doesn't feel right to me. maybe it's too perfect, which is why i like hardware sequencers - they tend to have more character to the feel of their timing. i think the best swing i've ever gotten was from an ASQ-10 i used to own.

anyways to the OP: there aren't any rules - experiment.. . try different things and use your ears, not a formula. if you're using Live i suggest getting your hands on Guru or something and using that for setting up a swing.

prussell · Post by **prussell** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 3:56 am

+1 back at ya.....

Dusk · Post by **Dusk** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 3:10 pm

Have some parts straight and some shuffled. Conflict can be fun.

Phase Ghost · Post by **Phase Ghost** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 3:56 pm

tone-def wrote:I just move the midi notes forward and backwards until it sounds funky.

Exactly.

Although, on drum machines it may be necessary since most are limited to 1/16 notes. For example, in Logic I always set the snap grid to 1/32 and if I need even more precise between note placement I hold command (or is it option) down and slide the note where I want it. Using a computer daw is nice because each note can be placed perfectly on beat, off beat, whatever.

wmayhem · Post by **wmayhem** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 4:43 pm

I'm testing Ableton Live 8 beta and the new groove templates (can extract/assign grooves and apply different grooves to different midi/audio clips and assign their strength) - It rocks.

tone-def · Post by **tone-def** » Wed Mar 18, 2009 3:05 pm

aciduss wrote:
i dont think we're talking about the swing in ableton, i always turn it off by default also.
some sort of swing or shuffle is pretty much fundamental to house and techno. ( i dont mean quantising, i'm just talking about groove. )
when i think of swing, i think of it as something which makes you move your as.s, it doesnt just have to be 16ths, it can be swing at any level, at bar level.
How is it then that you manage to groovelize your tracks with swing turned off? Just shifting sounds here and there? I am not lazy i just find it hard sometimes to imagine how should i place a sound to make it sound like inside my head.

It will come to you over time.

soapz · Post by **soapz** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 11:38 pm

I just want to ask something obvious but I have never known. Speaking purely on a non-musical level.. When you put swing/groove setting on in ableton. All that is happening is you are changing the pase of the timeline as it goes along the midi notes, yes? And this is why is makes the midi notes sound like they are hitting late/early? So it is exactly the same as manually moving the midi notes forward or backwards individually?