Logic 9 Flex Time Quantizing Etc (Possibly going insane) HELP! Urgent!

[seanxfitz]

Hi all, long time lurker first time poster here, I've read a bunch of threads on quantizing with Logic 9 and I'm doing everything to spec but I just cant quite get this stuff sounding right (I think), so heres the issue:

As soon as I turn flex view on and set my tracks to slicing, the cymbals immediately go to shit. No flex markers placed or anything, the sound just gets fucked up, like choppy and digital-ish or something. Now it's gotten to the point of me listening to this so much that I'm unsure if this is actually happening or if I'm just perceiving it as such.

Here are samples of the left overhead, first untouched:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/44345799/HostageOH%20Reg.mp3

Now with flex time engaged:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/44345799/HostageOH%20Flex.mp3

Now am I nuts or does it sound like garbage?

The only thing I can think is that its a CPU problem or something, like I don't have enough ram for it to prepare all the slices and crossfades. However, I'm running a 2011 MBP with 4 GB of ram etc etc, so that would be at least somewhat surprising to me.

Another issue is, say the drummer didn't hit the kick and cymbal at the same time (as he does a few times in the next bit) when I go to quantize it gets dicey. Do I move the kick by itself and forego the kick flam thing, or do I just move it as is and keep the shittily played cymbal-kick flam?

Also, if I choose to ignore that shit and go ahead and edit it anyway, the cymbals get (further) totally shot by the quantization, heres a full mix of this bands intro song after quantization:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/44345799/HostIntroDrums.mp3

(I also realize the OHs are somewhat phase-y, my b)


I need these (9 relatively short hardcore songs) to be at least in decent shape come Sunday. Any and all help is appreciated.

Fitz

 

[infectdsniper]

im not sure how editing in logic 9 works but you just have to be careful about where the cuts are being made. i would suggest keeping your cuts close to the next transient. and with the flam i move everything based on where the snare or cymbal is and then move the kick in place separately. but i normally have the low end taken out of my overheads so its not to noticeable.

 

[MartijnPaauwe]

I think you are better off if you're using 'Polyphonic' mode in the Flex editor instead of Slicing. I just tried it out (because i never used Slicing mode before) but in Polyphonic mode when you move the selected transient (and if you created flex markers before and after the transient you want to move) it stretches the transient before the one you just moved. In Slicing this leaves a little gap there so you here some kind of flamming, in Polyphonic it does not, thus sounding way better to my ears when editing drums.

Hope this helps you

 

[Charlie E.]

What I do is edit everything to the kick, snare, and toms. Then to fix cymbals that come in before the kick/snare I simply make a new flex marker where the cymbal hit starts and move it forward so that the waveform isn't interrupted.
From your example it sounds like you're gonna have to do that a lot to the hi hat as well.

Also, I read an article that recommends removing some samples from room mics so the transients line up better with the close mics. To compensate for this they add a sample delay that matches the amount of samples removed. Perhaps you could try this with your OH's and see if it helps.

 

[B36arin]

Welcome to flex editing drums. I haven't listened to the clips as my internet is really slow right now, but my experience with slicing mode is that it always fucks up the cymbals. For that same reason I never edit drums in Logic anymore

 

[freakkguitarist]

i highly recommend to ditch flex editing for heavy duty drum editing, polyphonic mode doesnt seem to mess with the cymbals as much as slicing mode, but i found that all the trouble flex gave me, i could have just slip edited the whole song by hand. but also.... theres absolutely brilliant reaper editing workflows around here, its what i use if im not doing it by hand. another thing you can try is to use slicing mode to cut up your drums, then just use the quantize option in the event editor (i think) then go back and fill all the gaps by hand (as the "Shuffle regions left within selection" doesnt seem to work...for me atleast)

 

[Machinated]

if they are sounding glitchy, try restarting logic. a weird thing it sometimes does.

if it still does it, try it in 64 bit mode.