Tick to MS Calculator for MIDI and DAW Timing

Timing error occur in a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) when the musical event dont align with the expected beat of the song. Timing error can happen when the notes played via MIDI sound earlier than they should, or if the sampled sound dont match up with the arrangement of the song. These types of errors happen due to a mismatch between the tick grid used by the sequencer and the millisecond that the audio engine use to play the sound.

To avoid these types of error, it is essential to understand the relationship between the tick grid and the milliseconds used by the DAW. The concept of tick was used when creating MIDI to allow for compact description of the musical events. MIDI dont use the concept of time for these compact description.

Why Timing Errors Happen in a DAW and How to Fix Them

Each quarter of a note is divided into a number of pulses. The number of pulses per quarter of a note is referred to as the pulse per quarter note, or PPQ for short. Different type of sequencers use different value of PPQ.

For instance, older system may use 96 or 480 PPQ, but moddern DAWs typical use 960 PPQ. The tempo of the song determines the relationship between ticks and milliseconds. For instance, if the tempo is set at 120 beats per minute, each quarter of a note will last for 500 millisecond.

If the PPQ is set at 960, each tick will be slightly more than half of a millisecond. If the tempo or PPQ value are changed, however, the relationship between ticks and milliseconds will change. A calculator can compute the number of milliseconds for a given number of ticks based off the PPQ and tempo settings.

The tempo map for a session is another factor to consider when calculating milliseconds from ticks. Sessions can contain numerous tempo changes. If long region of MIDI are sequenced with different tempos, using the base tempo for calculation will result in inaccuracies of the timing of the events.

Using a tempo map to determine the relationship between milliseconds and ticks will result in accurate calculation of timing of events in the MIDI sequence. Another factor that has an impact upon the calculation of milliseconds to audio sample is the sample rate. For instance, sample rate of 48 kHz indicate that there are 48 thousand samples per second, or 48 samples per millisecond.

If aligning musical element to specific points in a sequence, the rounded value of the number of samples per point is essential to ensure that musical element land in the desired location. There are rounding option in the calculator to make sure that the number of samples calculated align with expectation of the audio engine. The value of the note that are to be played in a session relate to the PPQ of the session.

For instance, in a piano roll editor, if the grid shows sixteenth note, the number of ticks that are required to play those sixteenth notes relates to the PPQ. If the PPQ is 960, then each sixteenth note will have 240 ticks. However, if the PPQ is 480, the same sixteenth note has 120 ticks.

Using a reference note value, the number of ticks that take place for a specific type of note can be viewed. This information is useful for anyone trying to translate a groove from one sequence to another, or for anyone creating automation feature within the DAW. Finally, swing have an impact upon the calculation of milliseconds to ticks.

Swing features a percentage offset that is applied after the conversion of milliseconds to ticks. The swing offset will impact the calculated time in which each note should play. The calculation software sets the swing after the determination of the number of milliseconds for each note.

This allows for the decision to be made as to whether the groove should become bake in to the MIDI file or remain a variable for the DAW to adjust. To avoid timing error, there are several step that a DAW user can take. First, the PPQ of the source file should be remembered.

Second, the tempo map should be reviewed prior to applying the calculations to long region of MIDI data. Third, any rounding of samples should only occur at the stage of exporting the audio from the DAW. Following these step will help to ensure that the relationship between the data stored by the DAW and the audio that is heard by the listener is maintained.