Applying rhythmic tools to wrong materials or at wrong settings produces useful unexpected results

Quantization, slicing, and beat-juggling effects have intended uses, but applying them in unintended ways generates patterns and timbres unavailable through correct use. Quantizing sixteenth-note material to quarter notes collapses melodic runs into chords. Recording at a very fast tempo and then slowing down produces quantized results at positions that were never intentionally played. Slicing ambient pads or field recordings at arbitrary marker positions creates new rhythmic structures from non-rhythmic material. Beat-juggling effects applied to pads create rhythmic textures from static material.

Examples

Play a fast melodic run at 200 bpm. Quantize to quarter notes. Slow to 100 bpm. The ‘chords’ that result were never intended and reflect the original run’s harmonic content in compressed form.

Assessment

Take one tool you use routinely for its intended purpose. Apply it to a ‘wrong’ material or with an extreme setting. Document the most musically interesting unexpected result.