To Quantize Or Not To Quantize

Finger Drumming Lessons / Courses / Practice
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So I’m upgrading from a 218 to a Launchpad Pro, signing up for the course for the first time, and setting out to learn to play some breakcore. I’m stoked!

I know this will take a while, but my goal is to play fast, mechanical-sounding stuff, probably with some amount of quantization during performance. Probably.

As I begin my Quest, should I spend time practicing with quantization on from the beginning, so I get the feeling of playing ahead of the beat under my fingers?

Or should I avoid the crutch, focus on developing good time, and worry about playing quantized later on?

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I think you can see this as two parallel paths:

  • Developing your sense of time and groove and being able to play a solid drum groove.
  • Making and playjng the music you’re interested in now (no waiting).

You can do both and i think this is the best option here.

Developing a skill like timing and groove “from within” is very useful within the realm of music making. Its also fun to be good at it.

A small example i can come up with for playing fast beats that sound good is that you probably want to breath slow while doing it. That makes it sound better for some reason plus its easier to play.

Anyways… that does not mean you should not make the music you want to make right now, using every tool at your disposal, including quantizing.

So yeah.. i would do some “traditional” practice every day, just 5-10 minutes, get acquainted with it, try to improve a little, understand whats happening there.

And then… after the traditional practice you go and rock out. Pick the best sounding, badass, most mechanical kit ever anf just see if you can play (or record) something fun and awesome in the style that makes you happy.

My guess is the two will feed into each other. Youll probably get better at both of them.

I have yet to meet a musician who says something like “my classical training hurt my death metal skills” or vice versa. Every musical skill helps to develop your overall musicality.

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Doing both does sound like more fun. I’ll try that breathing tip, thanks!

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