In a

music sequencer A music sequencer (or audio sequencer or simply sequencer) is a device or application software that can record, edit, or play back music, by handling note and performance information in several forms, typically CV/Gate, MIDI, or Open Sound Cont ...

and

MIDI clock {{No footnotes, date=January 2020 MIDI beat clock, or simply MIDI clock, is a clock signal that is broadcast via MIDI to ensure that several MIDI-enabled devices such as a synthesizer or music sequencer stay in synchronization. Clock events are sen ...

, pulses per quarter note (PPQN), also known as pulses per quarter (PPQ), and ticks per quarter note (TPQN), is the smallest unit of time used for sequencing note and automation events. If the resolution is too low (too few PPQN), the performance recorded into the sequencer may sound artificial (being quantised by the pulse rate), losing all the subtle variations in timing that give the music a "human" feeling. Purposefully quantised music can have resolutions as low as 24 (the standard for

Sync24 DIN sync, also called Sync24, is a synchronization interface for electronic musical instruments. It was introduced in the early 1980s by Roland Corporation and has been superseded by MIDI. Definition and history DIN sync was introduced in t ...

and MIDI, which allows triplets, and swinging by counting alternate numbers of clock ticks) or even 4 PPQN (which has only one clock pulse per 16th note). At the other end of the spectrum, modern computer-based MIDI sequencers designed to capture more nuance may use 960 PPQN and beyond. This resolution is a measure of time relative to

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

since the tempo defines the length of a

quarter note A quarter note (American) or crotchet ( ) (British) is a note (music), musical note played for one quarter of the duration of a whole note (or semibreve). Quarter notes are notated with a filled-in oval note head and a straight, flagless ste ...

and so the duration of each pulse. The resulting PPQN per MIDI-Clock is thus related to the TimeBase in Microseconds defined as 60.000.000 x MicroTempo =

Beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

References

External links

PPQN Timing Calculator

Explanation on Sweetwater
MIDI {{electronic-music-stub

References

Further reading

External links