I know there are several different options to quantize in Cubase VST, you should experiment because of the options, but I will tell you it will come close to how the MPC corrects if you either over quantize or use the iterative.......
THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CUBASE QUANTIZE
OVER QUANTIZE
Steinberg say 'this type of Quantize is the most plain musical one', as it moves the notes to the closest Quantize value. But it should be able to detect chords. Steinberg also claim that it will detect whether you consistently play behind or ahead of the beat. This Quantize can be selected from the keyboard by pressing Q - an indication that it is seen as the most important?
NOTE ON QUANTIZE
This is a simpler version of the above, which simply shifts the start of notes to the nearest Quantize value, keeping note lengths intact. You can access this Quantize by pressing W.
ITERATIVE QUANTIZE
This is one of the exceptions to the rule about being able to undo Quantizing, as it works in stages. It moves the notes towards the selected Quantize value according to a strength parameter that you set in a dialogue box. You can also exclude certain notes by setting a number of ticks (between 0 and 96) that a note can differ from the Quantize position without being moved. You can keep using this iterative Quantize in successive passes, moving notes nearer and nearer the Quantize value - this is why Undo doesn't work completely, as it only goes back to the previous stage of Quantization. Iterative Quantize is accessed from the keyboard by pressing E.
ANALYTICAL QUANTIZE
This is an approach to Quantizing to use with complex input, perhaps on solos, where you may have mixed straight notes, triplets and fast runs of short notes. Here you can use a Quantize value, but it should not be too tightly set, and should merely be near what the the particular phrase might need.
MATCH QUANTIZE
Match Quantize is very different from the other varieties, in that it is accessed from the Toolbox in the Arrange Window by using the Q Tool. Effectively this form of Quantize applies the feel and timing of one Part (which may itself be quantised in some way) to another part. First select the Q Tool, then use it to drag the ‘feel’ Part onto the Part you need to Quantize. If the ‘feel’ Part is shorter than the affected Part then the Quantize feel is repeated to the end of the affected Part.You can still use a Quantize value - this enables you to set a filter on how much of the feel is applied.
GROOVE QUANTIZE
This is not design to correct errors, more to create rhythmic feels, and it allows you to set up your own ‘maps’ for quantizing. The grooves are found by accessing ‘Groove Quantize’ from the Functions menu and moving onto the ‘right pointer’. In College some are already installed on the hard disk, from the DNA library. DNA Grooves are derived from analysis of the feel of live recordings, giving a timing template plus a number of Motions - variations on the basic groove for different purposes. DNA Grooves can be bought separately. One setting in which they are found is on floppy disks accompanying drum loops played live on sample CDs - they help to give sequenced bass or chord parts a feel that works with the sampled drums.
Editing or creating grooves is an intensely analytical activity which may be filed under the category of ‘Advanced MIDI Headbanging For Rainy Days With Nothing Else To Do’ and is therefore left out of this! If you desperately want to get into it, find a manual (and perhaps an anorak)
FREEZE QUANTIZE
This is not a Quantize type. Instead, it is an instruction to make whatever type of Quantize you have used permanent. It is something you could use, for example, if you were going to transfer your work to another piece of MIDI sequencing software as a MIDI File - remember that different programs will use different Quantize algorithms, and you may want to preserve the feel that you have in Cubase.
While it makes the Quantize permanent, it can be undone in the sense that you can undo the last thing you did in Cubase, such as deleting a Part, by selecting Undo from the Edit Menu or Pressing
Command + Z - but only while it is the last thing you did.
