Hi Butch

Huge fan of your work. I'd like to know your thoughts around quantizing drums in protools. Is this something you tend to regularly do or something you try to avoid?

Thanks in advance.

I like the tracks to be pretty tight, but I always pay a lot of attention to when a drummer sounds good, and try to make grids adhere to the drummer, not the other way around.
That's why I do tempo maps, as well as letting parts of songs freestyle.
I think the degree of quantizing depends on the song, and the drummer.
You have to use your ears, make sure the groove feels right.

Tip: don't look at the computer screen when listening so you can see if a drummer is ahead or behind. Close your eyes....and listen!

Listen!...........now there's a thought!

Posted by Butch=
Tip: don't look at the computer screen when listening so you can see if a drummer is ahead or behind. Close your eyes....and listen!


This is in the top 3 best advice on GS in the last couple of months, I fall into it all the time and forget to listen.

Thank you Butch!!

How do you go about manually making a tempo map? When I'm figuring out a tempo, I always use whatever application I'm using's 'tap' function so I can tap along to the band. How do you do it manually, say like you did with AFI?

I'm very interested in this to.

During rehearsals I use a Tama Rhythm Watch, I'll tap along with the band and note when the tempo feels right.