> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.gridshift.studio/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Humanize

> Re-levels note velocities and audio hits after a groove or phrasing shape, not at random, and without changing the overall level. Mark a clip, press ⌘K, type humanize and pick a shape.

## Open Humanize Dynamics

<video src="/videos/humanize-dynamics-mark.mp4" poster="/videos/humanize-dynamics-mark.jpg" aria-label="The keys clip is selected and Option V shows its velocities, all at one level" title="The keys clip is selected and Option V shows its velocities, all at one level" muted loop playsInline preload="none" />

Mark MIDI or audio clips on the timeline, or open a MIDI clip’s piano roll. Press `⌥V` for [Dynamics Mode](/edit/dynamics-mode.md) to watch the velocities.

<video src="/videos/humanize-dynamics-open.mp4" poster="/videos/humanize-dynamics-open.jpg" aria-label="Command K, type humanize, Return opens the list of shapes" title="Command K, type humanize, Return opens the list of shapes" muted loop playsInline preload="none" />

Press `⌘K`, type `humanize` and press `Return`. The shapes appear as a list, starting at **Medium**.

## Try the shapes

<video src="/videos/humanize-dynamics-walk.mp4" poster="/videos/humanize-dynamics-walk.jpg" aria-label="The down arrow walks the shapes; each one previews on the notes" title="The down arrow walks the shapes; each one previews on the notes" muted loop playsInline preload="none" />

Press `↓` / `↑`, or type to filter. Each row previews on screen and you hear it. Press `⇥` to switch between **Subtle**, **Medium** and **Strong**.

## Apply a shape

<video src="/videos/humanize-dynamics-apply.mp4" poster="/videos/humanize-dynamics-apply.jpg" aria-label="Typing filters to Offbeat, Return applies it, and the ands lead" title="Typing filters to Offbeat, Return applies it, and the ands lead" muted loop playsInline preload="none" />

Land on a shape and press `Return`. `Escape` puts everything back exactly as it was.

## Shape audio hits

<video src="/videos/humanize-dynamics-audio.mp4" poster="/videos/humanize-dynamics-audio.jpg" aria-label="Shift Command E splits the drum loop into marked hits; Humanize Dynamics with Backbeat sets their gains" title="Shift Command E splits the drum loop into marked hits; Humanize Dynamics with Backbeat sets their gains" muted loop playsInline preload="none" />

Select a drum loop and press `⇧⌘E` ([**Split Clips at Transients**](/samples/slices.md)). The hits come out as separate clips, already marked. Open Humanize Dynamics and pick a shape.

## Good to know

* **It follows a musical shape, not chance.** Accents on the backbeat, a phrase that swells and falls away, a chord whose top voice sings. Use it when a part played or drawn at one level sounds flat.
* **The average level stays where it was.** Every note or clip moves relative to its own level, so a shape makes the part neither louder nor quieter and you never re-level afterwards.
* **It works on MIDI note velocities and on the clip gain of audio hits.** With notes marked in the piano roll only those change; with none marked, the whole clip does.
* **Applying is one undo step**, named after the shape (**Humanize Dynamics: Backbeat**). A second shape combines with the first, for example **Offbeat**, then **Comping** on a keys part.
* **A loop with several hits in one clip is skipped**, because it has only one gain. The row says how many loops were left out. Split it at its transients first, and the next Humanize Dynamics acts on the hits.

> **Details**
>
> * **In [Dynamics Mode](/edit/dynamics-mode.md) the notes fill up to their velocity**, so you see each change.
> * **The command lives in the Clips group** as **Humanize Dynamics…**. With nothing to shape marked, the palette says **No Clip** instead; with only audio loops marked, **Only Loops Marked**.
> * **The preview plays where you are.** With the transport running you hear it on the next pass, in place. Stopped, the first bar of the clip plays through its instrument. After `⇥` the row stays put and previews again at the new amount.
> * **The row’s number says what `Return` does.** For MIDI it is the velocity range before and after, as *low–high → low–high*. For audio it is how far the clip gains move, as **clip gain** *lowest…highest* **dB**.
> * **Sampler ignores velocity** in that spot means the track’s [built-in sampler](/samples/sampler.md) has velocity sensitivity at 0 %. The change is not heard until you raise it.
> * **The amount is a level in dB.** It sets how far the note or hit the shape weighs most (or least) moves from its own level: 3 dB for **Subtle**, 6 dB for **Medium**, 10 dB for **Strong**.
> * **Phrasing shapes are MIDI only**, because they read pitches and chords.
> * **On audio the shape moves each clip’s gain**, from where the clip starts in the bar. Clip gain works before the effects and shows in the waveform, so you can adjust any hit afterwards.
> * **Audio shaping is made for one hit per clip**: drum hits, slices, one-shots.
> * **A linked clip is unlinked first**, so the accent on the “2” does not land on every copy. The sample stays on the track.
> * **Near full velocity (127) the shape slides down.** There is no room to push a note louder, so the whole shape moves down until its loudest accent fits, and the accents keep their size.

> **Position in the bar (MIDI and audio)**
>
> | Shape | What it does |
> | - | - |
> | Downbeat | One strong, three medium, the rest lighter |
> | Backbeat | Two and four lead |
> | Eighth Pulse | Loud on the beat, soft on the and |
> | Sixteenth Pulse | One loud, e soft, and medium, a soft |
> | Offbeat | The ands lead: skank, house piano, comping on the off |
> | Push | The last sixteenth before the bar leans in |
> | Tresillo 3-3-2 | Accents on 1, the a of 1 and the and of 2, again from 3: dembow, afro |

> **Phrasing (MIDI only)**
>
> | Shape | What it does |
> | - | - |
> | Lead | Phrases swell and fall away, high and long notes lead |
> | Ballad | Wide phrase arcs, the chord's top voice sings |
> | Comping | Top voice forward, inner voices back, strums fade |
> | Pad | Voicing balance with a slow swell |

> **Amounts**
>
> | Amount | Largest move |
> | - | - |
> | Subtle | 3 dB |
> | Medium (default) | 6 dB |
> | Strong | 10 dB |


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