Even though Live offers a whole bunch of different swing feels in the groove library, I generally don’t mess with them. Instead, I mostly use the one called Swing 16-99 – not because it’s the feel that I use in my tracks, but because it’s the most flexible. Allow me to explain.
When applied to a clip, this groove will create a really over-the-top swing that’s way too much for most types of music. To get it under control, you’ll have to open the Groove Pool.
In the image above, you’ll notice that I’ve dialed back the Timing percentage to 60%. This works just like Quantize (or the Quantization Amount), except for the swing intensity. Instead of shifting the alternating 1/16th notes all the way to the location specified by the Swing 19-99 groove, they’ll just get moved 60% of the way, making for a much more manageable swing feel.
60% is just an example, of course. The advantage to doing things this way is that you can use Timing to adjust the swing by ear until it sounds just right.
