[技術] 定義 Swing

Swing def. 1

Swing is a rhythmic style you can apply, in which off-beats are moved forward in time relative to on-beat notes, creating a relaxed, bouncy feel. This offset is calculated based on the currently selected Quantize value. For example, at 100% Swing, with 16th-note quantize selected, a pattern of 16th notes play at a 2:1 ratio; On-beat notes play on beat, and offbeats play as though they were the final 16th-note triplet in a group of three. You can set the amount of swing between 0% (straight timing) and 100% (fully swung).

在Studio One的定義下，swing = 0%代表二連音，swing = 100%代表三連音的第1, 3顆音符

Cubase和FL Studio亦同

“…Cubase uses 0% to represent perfectly straight timing, while 100% equates to triplets.”

16th Swing (%)	定義	六等分		起始位置
0	1:1	3:3		0
25		3.25:2.75	13:11	8.33
50		3.5:2.5	7:5	16.66
75		3.75:2.25	5:3 = 64th	24.99
100	2:1	4:2	4:2 = 32th triplet	33.33

For MIDI and VST-based instruments you'll find each track's inspector has a "MIDI Inserts" pane. Expand it, select a slot and choose "Quantizer" from the drop-down. There you'll find your Swing control. What nice, is that it's non-destructive (works in realtime).

Hey all! Long time Sonar user here. Crossgraded to Cubase 9.5 Pro, have been putting it through it's paces and noticed that the Quantize Swing function percentage reacts differently than I'm used to. In Cubase 0% Swing is a perfect straight beat and 100% Swing is a perfect Swing (a perfect quarter note eighth note triplet). In Sonar, 50% Swing is perfect straight beat and 66% is a perfect swing. Past 66% and up to 100% the Swing becomes Over Swung ( the second note gets closer and closer to the third) Being able to Over Swing is very important and useful for Jazz ride cymbals and EDM stuff MPC style. Under 50% Swing in Sonar

the Swing becomes negative swing. (the second beat gets closer and closer to the first beat) Equally useful for a slight rushing feel for certain parts of a groove.

My feature request is for the Quantize Swing setting to allowing the full range of negative Swing to completly Over Swung. Thanks in advance for your consideration and time!!

Swing def. 2

大部分的硬體鼓機跟著沿用了Roger Linn的定義: 50% = straight, 66% = triplet

同樣使用這套標準的DAW有Logic和Reason

The ‘swing’ function as we now know it – originally known as ‘shuffle’, a term still used by some hardware manufacturers and software developers – was first introduced in Roger Linn‘s 1979 LM-1 Drum Computer. Linn realised that he could approximate the effect of a human drummer playing in swing timing by quantising each drum beat to the nearest step and then delaying the playback of every other  step in the sequencer (to see how Linn introduced his ‘auto-correct’ and ‘shuffle’ features, take a look at the LM-1 manual). But this effect was useful for more than just jazz-style triplet-derived swing timing; different delay times could replicate a variety of lazy, swinging grooves. The longer the delay, the more obvious the effect.

Linn’s system used percentages to express the amount of swing applied to every second step. (At this point let’s assume we’re talking about the most commonly used form of swing in dance music: 16th-note swing.) Those percentages pertain to the degree that every second 16th note is positioned in relation to the beats either side of it. So 50% swing refers to straight timing, where every second step is played exactly half way between the two beats either side of it.

The most common approach (and the system we use in our Beat Dissected features) is the one implemented by Linn back in 1979, where straight timing is referred to as 50%, meaning that the first beat of every pair of 16th notes takes up 50% of the time of those two notes (i.e. the full 8th note). At a 60% swing setting, the first beat would take 60% of that 8th note. You’ll still find that approach in hardware such as Akai MPCs, Korg Electribes, the DSI Tempest and DAWs including Logic and Reason.

The main swing option in Logic dispenses with percentages altogether, offering a choice of six settings instead. In the case of 16th-note swing, these are called 16A through to 16F. The manual defines those settings by swing percentage, using the same convention (50% = straight timing) as Linn:

16A: 50%
16B: 54%
16C: 58%
16D: 62%
16E: 66%
16F: 71%

50% is no swing, meaning that both 16th notes within each 8th note are given equal timing. And 66% means perfect triplet swing, meaning that the first 16th note of each pair gets 2/3 of the time, and the second 16th note gets 1/3, so the second 16th note falls on a perfect 8th note triplet. The fun comes in the in-between settings. For example, a 90 BPM swing groove will feel looser at 62% than at a perfect swing setting of 66%. And for straight 16th-note beats (no swing), a swing setting of 54% will loosen up the feel without it sounding like swing. Between 50% and around 70% are lots of wonderful little settings that, for a particular beat and tempo, can change a rigid beat into something that makes people move. And unlike the MPCs, my new Tempest drum machine makes it very easy to find the right swing setting because you can adjust the swing knob in real time while the beat plays. I first introduced swing – as well as recording quantization – in my 1979 drum machine, the LM-1 Drum Computer.