Celemony MELODYNE ASSISTANT User Manual
assistant
user manual
2
Melodyne assistant user manual
Melodyne assistant user manual rev 2
This documentation refers to Melodyne assistant 1.2.
Authors: Uwe G. Hoenig, Stefan Lindlahr, Alex Schmidt
Translation: Ewan Whyte
Layout: Saskia Kölliker
Celemony Software GmbH
Valleystr. 25, 81371 München, Germany
www.celemony.com
Support: support@celemony.com
The manual and the software described therein are supplied under formal licence.
They may be used and copied only under the conditions of this licensing agreement. The data contained in the manual only serves for information purposes
and may be changed without prior announcement. The information contained in
the manual does not constitute a legal obligation of Celemony Software GmbH.
Celemony is not responsible for any eventual faulty or inaccurate information contained in the manual. The manual and any parts thereof must not be reproduced
or transmitted without the prior and explicit permission of Celemony Software
GmbH.
Melodyne, Celemony and DNA Direct Note Access are registered trademarks of
Celemony Software GmbH. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Apple, Mac and Mac OS are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered
in the United States and other countries. Windows is a registered trademark of
Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries.
AMD is a registered trademark of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Pro Tools and
RTAS are registered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the
United States and/or other countries. ASIO and VST are registered trademarks of
Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.
© Celemony Software GmbH München, 2010
All rights reserved
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Melodyne assistant user manual
Content
Content
Installation and Activation ........................................................................7
Melodyne assistant Introduction .........................................................12
For those in a hurry: Melodyne assistant in 10 minutes ...........19
Loading, transferring and saving audio
Transferring audio material to Melodyne assistant Plugin ........................................26
Plugin and the host The Transfer button Performing multiple transfers Playback
regions
Loading and saving audio in Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone ..................................29
Menu command ‘Open …’ Menu command ‘Open Recent’ Menu command ‘Revert to
Loading files by drag-and-drop Menu command ‘Save’ Menu command ‘Save
Saved’
MPD format Saving MIDI files
As ...’
Recording audio in Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone ...............................................34
Audio and recording settings Setting the tempo The metronome and starting/stopping
the recording
Saving MIDI .......................................................................................................38
Audio-to-MIDI Saving MIDI Standard MIDI File
Displaying, navigating and playing back audio
Playback, navigation and zooming ........................................................................41
Window size Playing back blobs Playback and scrubbing using the Bar Ruler The
Scroll and Zoom tools
Activating and setting a cycle range ......................................................................46
Defining and moving the cycle range Adjusting the cycle limits
Select display options .........................................................................................48
Auto Scroll Show Pitch Curve Show Note Separations Show Blob Info
Show Intended Notes
Punching in and out, and canceling a recording
Scroll bars Scrolling and zooming using the mouse and keyboard
Show Notation Show Playback Regions (Plugin only)
Checking and editing the note detection
Checking and editing the note detection within melodic material .............................54
The Note Assignment Tool Changing note assignments Editing note separations
Checking and editing the note detection within rhythmic material ...........................59
The Note Assignment Tool Editing note separations
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Melodyne assistant user manual
Content
Setting the Time Grid and the Pitch Grid
Time Grid selection .............................................................................................62
Activating/Deactivating the Time grid Mesh widths and the dynamic grid Relation of
notes to the grid
The [Alt] key for grid-independent movement
Defining the Pitch Grid, Scale and Reference Pitch................................................65
The ‘No Snap’ and ‘Semitone Snap’ grid options Choosing a tonality and scale
Moving notes to scale tones with a double-click
movement
Selecting a reference pitch
Use of the [Alt] key for grid-independent
Selecting and copying audio notes
Selecting notes ...................................................................................................70
Standard selection techniques Snake Selection Selection using the Note Ruler
Selection commands in the menu
Copying notes .....................................................................................................75
Copying notes Pasting notes with and without target selection The significance of the
Time Grid when pasting notes
Editing notes using the Macros and Tool
Correcting intonation with the Macro ....................................................................80
Edit only selected or all notes Opening the Correct Intonation macro Pitch centers and
pitch drift
Include notes already edited manually
Correcting timing with the Macro ..........................................................................83
The intended position and the anchor Edit only selected or all notes Opening the
Correct Timing macro
Include notes already edited manually
The groove references and the intensity of timing correction
Working with the Main Tool ..................................................................................88
Modify pitch Modify timing Modify note lengths Edit note separations
Editing pitch ......................................................................................................92
Selecting the Pitch Tool The Pitch Grid and fine-tuning Solo and contextual monitoring
Pitch quantization by double-clicking Pitch transitions The Reset-Pitch… command set
Editing pitch modulation and drift ........................................................................96
Selecting the Pitch Modulation and Pitch Drift tools Editing pitch modulation and drift
Shifting formants ................................................................................................99
Selecting the Formant Tool Shifting formants Editing formant transitions
Editing amplitude and muting notes ...................................................................103
Selecting the Amplitude Tool Fine and coarse amplitude adjustment Editing amplitude
transitions
Muting and unmuting notes
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Melodyne assistant user manual
Content
Editing timing ..................................................................................................106
Selecting the Timing Tool Modify timing Modifying note lengths Correcting timing with
a double-click
Editing note separations ....................................................................................110
Selecting the Note Separation Tool Setting, moving and deleting note separations
Special functions of Melodyne assistant Plugin
The real-time controllers ....................................................................................112
The real-time parameters Pitch, Formants and Volume Automation Selecting the
control range and resetting to the midpoint
Adjusting to tempo variation in the host ..............................................................114
The Chain icon Constant or Varying Tempo? Playing tempo changes through
Stretching/compressing audio to reflect tempo changes
Managing transferred audio files and assigning missing files .................................118
The storage path for transfers Deleting unused files Reassigning missing files
The Preferences of Melodyne assistant Plugin .....................................................122
Language of the interface Frequency of the reference pitch Checking for updates
Special functions of Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone
Matching the Time Grid to the audio ...................................................................124
Set Bar 1 to start of file The Tempo window in Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone
Multiply Tempo
Define constant Tempo
The Preferences of Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone .............................................128
Language of the interface Frequency of the reference pitch Checking for updates
The default path for transfers
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Melodyne assistant user manual
Welcome!
Many thanks for your interest in Melodyne assistant and a warm welcome to the
circle of Melodyne users!
Melodyne is at home in all the great studios of the world and has for years been
appreciated for its intuitive editing possibilities and the high quality of its sound.
In actual fact, there must be very few professional productions in recent years
in which Melodyne, at one point or another, has not been used – whether for
unobtrusive correction, for the generation of second voices and variations, or for
the creative restructuring of audio material. What does that mean for you? Simply
that as a Melodyne user, you are in the finest – the most illustrious, even! – of
company.
Melodyne assistant stands squarely in the tradition of the other products from
Celemony, but has been redesigned and reprogrammed from the bottom up. As a
result, Melodyne assistant is faster and more powerful than any previous Melodyne
edition, yet sounds better, and is already armed for all the technical revolutions of
the coming years.
We at Celemony have worked hard to make Melodyne assistant as pleasant to use,
as powerful, and as useful as possible. We really hope that Melodyne assistant will
make your life in the studio easier, be a delight to use, and inspire you to greater
heights of creativity. Let us know how you like it and what we could improve. And
don’t hesitate to contact us if anything doesn’t work quite the way it should – at
www.celemony.com we’re always there for you.
We hope your work with Melodyne assistant will be productive and that you’ll have
fun with it at the same time!
Kindest regards,
all at Celemony
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Melodyne assistant user manual
Installation and Activation
Installation and Activation
Installation and Terminology
Melodyne is extremely easy to install: just launch the installation program (either
from the program CD or the download) and follow the onscreen instructions. The
whole installation takes, at most, a few minutes. Before using the program, however, you must register and activate Melodyne. Here is a brief explanation of the
terminology:
Serial number: Your serial number represents your license for Melodyne and
determines which Melodyne edition you possess and to which functions you are
entitled.
Registration: Registration involves the creation of a myCelemony account linked
to your serial number. To register you must enter certain personal details and state
whether you wish to receive a newsletter from Celemony and, if so, what type. If
you purchased Melodyne from our web shop, the registration is already complete.
Activation: Once registered, Melodyne must be activated before it will run. We
offer, as standard, a computer-based activation for two computers, and, as an
alternative, the transfer of your license to an iLok.
Before we come to the details of the activation procedure, we should take a quick
look at the installed software and its characteristics.
Melodyne “singletrack” – and what that means
In the course of the installation, Melodyne is copied as a plug-in into the relevant
plug-in folders and as a stand-alone program into your program folder. The plugins are called, quite simply, “Melodyne”, and the stand-alone implementation:
“Melodyne singletrack”. You may be puzzled by this name – after all, your edition
of Melodyne has a different one: “Melodyne editor”, “Melodyne assistant” or
“Melodyne essential”.
From Version 1.2 onward, however, these three editions of Melodyne are delivered
as a single program package. It is only your serial number (your license) and the
activation triggered by it that determine which edition in fact runs from the installed program. Since the identity of this is not known prior to the activation, and
since it is not possible to change the program name subsequently, all the plug-ins
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Melodyne assistant user manual
Installation and Activation
bear the name “Melodyne” and all the stand-alone editions “Melodyne singletrack” (to distinguish them from the multi-track ‘Melodyne studio’).
The name of the current edition is displayed between the tools and the macros in
the user interface. You may need to increase the size of the Melodyne window to
see it.
The common program code primarily serves to make full compatibility between
the Melodyne editions editor, assistant and essential possible. It is no problem
to open in Melodyne assistant or Melodyne editor a project begun in Melodyne
essential, and work thereafter with the expanded function set of the larger edition. It works the other way round as well: a project begun in Melodyne editor
can be loaded into one of the smaller editions, played back and edited using the
functions available there. It is only when Melodyne editor’s DNA functions for the
editing of polyphonic material have been used that the document created can
merely be played back but not edited in a smaller edition. When this occurs, we
say Melodyne is running in ‘Playback Mode’.
Melodyne also runs in Playback Mode when it has been installed but not activated. It is still possible to open and play back all existing documents in such
cases, but you cannot edit them. Playback Mode can be very useful when you
want to pass on a project, as it allows you to play back tracks edited in Melodyne
– without having to bounce them first – on a computer on which Melodyne has
either never been activated or has subsequently been deactivated. Playback Mode
can be used at any time – without registration, activation or even an Internet connection.
The common program code also allows you, when working with a smaller edition
of Melodyne or an installation that has not been activated, to switch to Melodyne
editor’s Trial Mode. In Trial Mode, you can use Melodyne editor’s entire function
set for a limited amount of time. When this trial period expires, Melodyne reverts
to the original license or switches to Playback Mode. You can only take advantage
of the free trial period once on a given computer. To register, and each time you
launch Melodyne editor during the trial period, you will need an Internet connection.
The common program code also makes it possible to upgrade at any time, and
without a fresh installation, from Melodyne assistant or Melodyne essential to
Melodyne editor. It is enough for this purpose simply to purchase a license for
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Installation and Activation
Melodyne assistant user manual
Melodyne editor and then activate it – all of which can be done with a few clicks
in our Web Shop.
Important Information Regarding Activation
The first time you launch Melodyne, the Activation Assistant appears. If you
purchased your Melodyne from our Web Shop, a single click in the Assistant is
all that is required and your Melodyne will be activated and ready to use. If your
Melodyne came in a box, the Assistant will guide you through all the steps that
are necessary for registration and activation. The activation is performed on line.
If your computer is not connected to the Internet, the Assistant will propose a
method of activating the program offline.
You can reach the Activation Assistant whenever you need to via “License ...”
in Melodyne’s Help menu. All the options offered by the Assistant are explained
in the Assistant itself. The following sections explain how these options relate
to one another as well as providing important background information regarding
activation. Please read them through carefully as they are concerned directly with
such questions as when, why and how often you can install and use Melodyne on
computers.
Two computer-based activations: Melodyne activation is, by default, computer-
based; in other words, the activation is tied to the computer upon which it is
performed. A Melodyne license entitles you to activate and use Melodyne on
two different computers simultaneously, such as your studio computer and your
laptop. The activations are managed and granted by our server. You will see how
many activation credits you have at any given moment in your myCelemony account as soon as you log in.
Deactivating a computer: We allow you complete control over the allocation of
your activation rights by allowing you the option also of deactivating computers. Suppose, for example, that you have already activated Melodyne on two
computers but wish to use a third one temporarily. No problem: all you have to
do is deactivate one of the computers currently activated. This will free up one
activation credit, which will then be transferred to our server. You can use this
then to activate the third computer. If, later, you wish to go back to your original
pairing, just deactivate the third computer and reactivate the one you deactivated earlier.
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Melodyne assistant user manual
Installation and Activation
So our server provides you with two activations that you can share freely between
your various computers. This makes it very simple, for example, to switch to a new
music computer. Instead of having to worry about whether or not you will be entitled to activate Melodyne on the new computer, you just deactivate the old one,
thereby automatically freeing up an activation credit for the new one.
This possibility also means, however, that you need to act in a carefully considered way! The activations are intended exclusively for you and are tied to your
customer account. Do not, therefore, give away an activation to a third party.
Please bear in mind also that the procedure for removing an activation from a
computer can only be performed on that computer. If you no longer have access to
an activated computer, the activation, as far as you are concerned, is lost. This is
something you need to bear in mind, for example, before selling or throwing away
a computer upon which Melodyne is active. Be sure to deactivate Melodyne first!
You have nothing to worry about, on the other hand, if all you are doing is changing or formatting your hard disk in order to reinstall the operating system. Your
activation in this case will not be lost. The first time you launch Melodyne after
doing either of these things, it will contact the Celemony server, which will recognize the computer at once and reactivate it—without this costing you an activation
credit.
The iLok alternative: Melodyne editor and Melodyne assistant (but not Melo-
dyne essential) can, as an alternative to the computer-based activation system
described above, be activated using an iLok copy-protection dongle (for more
information, visit www.ilok.com). This procedure involves transferring your
Melodyne license to your iLok account, from which you can then download it to
your iLok copy-protection dongle. With the iLok dongle, you will then be able to
activate and operate Melodyne on any number of different computers, but only
on one at a time: that is to say, only on the computer in which the dongle is
inserted.
However, before opting for iLok activation, please bear the following in mind: the
iLok system can be used as an alternative to (but not parallel with) computerbased activation. Once you have switched to the iLok system, you will not be able
to obtain any further computer-based activations. It is not possible to go back
to computer-based activation once you have made the switch to iLok. If you do
opt for iLok activation, you will obtain *one* Melodyne license for *one* iLok
dongle that can be used at any given time on *one* computer only – whereas the
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Installation and Activation
Melodyne assistant user manual
computer-based activation method affords you the possibility of running Melodyne
on two computers at once.
One further point: if you are selling Melodyne, you cannot just transfer the license
to the iLok account of the purchaser; instead you must contact our support.
Besides saving you money, as you normally would have to pay to transfer a license
from one iLok account to another, this system allows us to create a myCelemony
account for the purchaser, which we would otherwise be unable to do. If you
were to perform the transfer yourself, the license would remain tied to your own
myCelemony account.
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Melodyne assistant user manual
Melodyne assistant Introduction
Melodyne assistant Introduction
About this manual
This manual deals with the actual operation and use of Melodyne assistant. You
will find information about the installation and activation of the program in a
separate document.
We know no one likes reading user manuals. It’s far more exciting just to dive in
and pick up the essentials as you work. So as not to bore you unnecessarily and
as far as possible reduce your error rate as you investigate Melodyne assistant,
we have condensed the essence of everything worth knowing into a short section
that you will find at the end of the introductory chapter: ‘For those in a hurry:
Melodyne assistant in 10 minutes’. Inveterate hater of user manuals or the most
wised-up of pros, we do still urge you to read this section, because at the end of
the day, it will cost you more time not to read it than to read it.
For those of you that are rather more receptive to user manuals, we would like at
this point to draw your attention to what else here is on offer:
This introductory chapter contains, in addition to the crash course already men-
tioned, a few general explanations that should help to give you a better picture
of the operation and possible applications of Melodyne assistant.
In the ‘Guided Tours’, we describe step by step various procedures for working
with Melodyne assistant from loading or transferring audio files to the reduction of pitch drift or vibrato and much else besides. This is where you can look
things up if there’s something particular you want to know or can’t for the time
being remember how something works.
Fuller information on Melodyne assistant can be found on the support pages of
the Celemony web site (www.celemony.com), which you can access directly from
the Help menu inside Melodyne assistant. You’ll find there our Help Center with
numerous video tutorials on the operation of Melodyne assistant, more detailed
information as well as the latest tips and workarounds for problems. In our forum,
you can benefit from the experience of other users and exchange ideas. And if
ever you’re still stuck for an answer, you can reach us any time via the web site or
directly by e-mail at support@celemony.com.
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Melodyne assistant Introduction
Melodyne assistant user manual
Melodyne assistant Introduction
What Melodyne assistant is and what it’s for
Melodyne assistant allows you edit and display different types of audio material –
such as vocals, saxophone, flute or even drum loops and percussion – in a highly
musical way. What’s special about it is that Melodyne recognizes the musical
tones in the audio data and displays them on pitch and time grids. This is far
more informative than the kind of display of amplitude values along a time axis
offered by typical sample assistants and audio sequencers. With Melodyne assistant, you don’t just see which parts of a recording are loud and which quiet, you
see where tones begin and end as well as the pitch of each. That is – obviously – a
huge difference.
Melodyne assistant Plugin
It is possible not simply to observe but also to seize hold of and modify the tones
displayed. If a tone is flat, for example, you can drag it to the correct pitch; if it’s
too short, you can make it longer; if it’s too quiet, you can make it louder; and
much else besides. But as well as being a highly sensitive tool for correcting and
optimizing your recordings, it also offers you the possibility of profoundly altering
your audio material, restructuring it, and creating from it something new.
Melodyne has for years enjoyed an outstanding reputation for its editing of lead
vocals, since corrections can be made in a musical and intuitive manner and are
virtually undetectable by ear. And what works for this most critical of disciplines,
works wonders as well with other instruments. Once you’ve worked for a while with
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Melodyne assistant user manual
Melodyne assistant Introduction
Melodyne assistant Introduction
Melodyne assistant, you’ll realize that aside from the correction of errors there’s a
wealth of other valuable applications for you to discover. A few examples:
the creation of second voices or entire ensembles simply by copying the original
track;
the introduction of melodic variations when phrases are repeated;
correcting and reconciling the timing of drums and bass;
tidying up rhythms or using quantization techniques to alter them;
creating breaks and variations in drum loops;
manipulating the tonal characteristics of material of all kinds by formant
shifting;
and standard disciplines like pitch-shifting and time-stretching, too, of which
Melodyne assistant offers complete mastery and outstanding sound quality into
the bargain.
With Melodyne assistant you can edit monophonic (lead vocals, sax solos, flute...)
and rhythmic/unpitched audio material (such as drum loops, percussion, ambient
sounds and noise). These illustrations should give you an idea of what audio material looks like in Melodyne assistant.
Melodic material in
Melodyne assistant
Rhythmic material in
Melodyne assistant
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Melodyne assistant Introduction
Melodyne assistant user manual
Melodyne assistant Introduction
The willful use of ‘unsuitable’ material or editing of suitable material in ‘inappropriate’ ways can yield a multitude of interesting effects. Melodyne offers you
the highest possible sound quality and authenticity for ‘normal’ audio editing, but
that’s not to say rewarding results can’t be obtained through the creative misuse
of its functions, by transforming radically the sound or structure of the original
track. Have fun experimenting!
Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone and Plugin
Like many software synthesizers, Melodyne assistant can be operated either as a
plug-in in a host application (an audio workstation like Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase,
Live, etc.) or standing alone as an independent program. For this reason, during
the installation several implementations of Melodyne assistant are saved to your
hard disk: one or more plug-ins in formats suitable for your operating system as
well as the independent application Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone.
In terms of core functions, there’s no difference between the plug-in and standalone implementations of Melodyne assistant: both offer exactly the same editing
possibilities for your audio material. In terms of conditions of use, workflow and
certain ancillary functions, however, there are differences.
Handy for experimenting:
the automation-capable realtime controllers in Melodyne
assistant Plugin
In this introduction, where we say ‘Melodyne assistant’ we are talking about
functions common to both implementations, and only when we are talking about
functions relevant to one implementation alone are the names ‘Melodyne assistant
Plugin’ or ‘Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone’ used. Melodyne assistant StandAlone, for example, offers a simple recording functionality that Melodyne assistant
Plugin does not, since in the case of the latter it’s the host that’s responsible for
recording.
Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone
Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone works in principle like a perfectly normal sample
editing program: you load an audio file via the menu or by drag-and-drop, edit
it until you are satisfied, and then save the new version. Before overwriting the
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Melodyne assistant user manual
Melodyne assistant Introduction
Melodyne assistant Introduction
original, Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone automatically makes a safety copy of it.
The input and output in the case of Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone are as a rule
an audio file on the hard disk.
If you want to continue the editing of an audio file or change it at a later date,
you can save your data in Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone in a special Melodyne
file format that stores the original sound file and the current state of your editing
separately. What you have, in effect, is a non-destructive file format that avoids
the program having to analyze the audio file all over again each time it is loaded.
When you have finished editing, you can save the results to a normal audio file
that you can then use in any other software.
Since Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone works like a sample assistant, you’ll probably use it most often when you want to edit one or more samples divorced from
a specific song project. The advantage is that Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone
launches faster than your host. And besides, there’s no sense having to concern
yourself with the functions of the host and the transfer from it of audio to Melodyne assistant Plugin if you aren’t even editing the samples in the context of a
song.
Fully integrated
into your DAW,
Melodyne assistant Plugin
lets you work
swiftly and
easily
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Melodyne assistant Introduction
Melodyne assistant user manual
Melodyne assistant Introduction
Melodyne assistant Plugin
If you’re working on a song in a DAW and want to edit with Melodyne passages
from one or several tracks, Melodyne assistant Plugin is the instrument of choice.
When the installation process is complete, you will find this implementation of
Melodyne assistant among the audio effects plug-ins (not the instrument plug-ins)
of your DAW. After opening Melodyne assistant Plugin on an audio track, transfer
the passages in question to the plug-in, so that you can see and edit them there.
Transferring the audio in this case is like recording the passages in question in
Melodyne assistant Plugin. Later, when it comes to playing back the track, the
transferred passages will be played back by Melodyne assistant Plugin and the
rest from the original track i.e. by your DAW.
Melodyne assistant Plugin therefore works in harness with your DAW, and the two
remain perfectly in step, which provides the ideal preconditions for undertaking and checking editing within the context of the song. You can open as many
instances of Melodyne assistant simultaneously as your computer’s RAM and
processing speed will allow. When you have finished working on a track, you just
save the results with the render or bounce function of your DAW, insert the resulting audio file into the original track and then remove Melodyne assistant Plugin
from it altogether.
Detection first, editing later – the governing principle
How does Melodyne assistant manage to find the tones in audio material? The
answer (or the crux of it) is this: through its analysis of the material. As soon as
audio is loaded or transferred to Melodyne assistant, it examines the entire file
and seeks to detect the tones within it. This process takes place, mark you, not
as but shortly after the file is loaded or the transfer complete. The time required
depends upon the processing power of the computer.
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Melodyne assistant user manual
Melodyne assistant Introduction
Melodyne assistant Introduction
As soon as you open
or transfer a file,
Melodyne assistant
detects the notes in
the material – only
this makes possible
the unique editing
possibilities the program affords
The need for this analysis explains why Melodyne assistant cannot operate as a
real-time effect like a reverb or an echo: only when the analysis is complete can
the tones be displayed and the unique functions of Melodyne used. These, of
course, do work in real time: every alteration you make to the audio tones in Melodyne assistant can be heard instantly – with no delay.
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For those in a hurry: Melodyne assistant in 10 minutes
Melodyne assistant user manual
For those in a hurry: Melodyne assistant in 10 minutes
For those in a hurry:
Melodyne assistant in 10 minutes
The following section delivers in a nutshell everything you need to know in order
to make successful use of Melodyne assistant. The rest of the introduction contains more detailed information on each of the points addressed.
In this document, where we use the term [Command] key, we mean the key on
the Mac described either as the ‘Command Key’ or the ‘Apple Key’: on a PC it is
marked [Ctrl]. The other keys used have the same names on the Mac as the PC.
Stand-alone or Plugin
You can use Melodyne assistant either as a stand-alone application or as a plug-in
in any compatible host. There you will find Melodyne assistant Plugin among the
audio-effect plug-ins (not the instrument plug-ins); you use Melodyne assistant
in the same way as an audio insert effect not as an instrument plug-in. You will
find Melodyne assistant Stand-alone after the installation in the Programs folder
directly on your hard disk. This implementation can be used like a sample-editing
program: you launch the application, open a file, edit it, and save.
Transfer
The equivalent in Melodyne assistant Plugin to the stand-alone application’s
loading of a file is the transfer of passages you wish to edit from the host track;
each passage is played back in the host and recorded simultaneously by Melodyne
assistant Plugin; only then, after a short pause as the material is analyzed, is it
ready for editing. The plug-in does not operate in any conventional sense like a
real-time insert effect.
Activate the Transfer key in Melodyne assistant, play the desired extract of the
track in the host and, when it’s finished, stop the playback in the host. You can
transfer several extracts from different parts of the host track.
Replace Ranges
During playback after one or several transfers, those passages that have been
transferred to Melodyne assistant will be played back by Melodyne assistant; all
other parts of the original track by the host. From the View menu, choose ‘Show
Replace Ranges’. All sections or regions that will be played back by Melodyne
assistant (as opposed to the host) will now be marked. Such regions can be
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Melodyne assistant user manual
For those in a hurry: Melodyne assistant in 10 minutes
For those in a hurry: Melodyne assistant in 10 minutes21For those in a hurry: Melodyne assistant in 10 minutes
extended simply by dragging their borders with the mouse. To shorten a playback
region, delete a few blobs and select ‘Set Replace Ranges to Notes’ from the
context menu of the Bar Ruler.
Detection and algorithms
The audio material must first of all be analyzed by Melodyne assistant so that
notes within it can be detected and later edited. Melodyne assistant can edit
monophonic (melodic) and rhythmic/unpitched material. It is Melodyne assistant
itself that decides, based on its own analysis, what type of material it is. You can,
however, manually select a different playback algorithm to force the program to
reanalyze the material. This can be useful if the material has been interpreted in a
way that makes it unsuitable for your editing needs. You might wish to switch from
algorithm to algorithm anyway, simply to experiment with different representations
of the material Melodyne assistant affords.
Select the other algorithm from the Algorithms menu to force a reinterpretation
of the material.
DNA Direct Note Access
In the case of polyphonic material, DNA Direct Note Access offers you access
even to the individual notes in chords. Please bear in mind that DNA is designed
for individual tracks with polyphonic instruments (guitar, piano etc.) and divides
up notes according to their pitch – not according to the instruments producing
them. So if two instruments play the same tone at the same time, one blob only
is available for editing; this represents the mixed sound of the two instruments.
The clean editing of polyphonic material often requires prior manual editing of the
detection as explained in the next section.
Editing the detection
With melodic material, a tone may occasionally be confused with the same note
an octave higher or lower. Before editing such material, you need to reassign these
notes correctly; otherwise tonal artifacts could be produced when the material
comes to be edited. Select the Note Assignment Tool, which is set slightly apart
from the others, to switch to Note Assignment mode. To quit Note Assignment
mode, simply select some other tool.
The Note Assignment Tool switches to Note Assignment mode where notes
detected on wrong pitches can be moved to their right pitches.
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The waveform icon beside it switches from the original sound to the Monitoring
Synthesizer, of which it is also the volume control. The Monitoring Synthesizer
makes it easier to discern whether or not the assigned notes correspond to those
actually played.
In Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone, [Shift]+[Spacebar] switches the playback
between the original sound and the Monitoring Synthesizer. In Plugin, [Shift]-
double-click in the Bar Ruler has the same effect.
User interface and navigation
All the detected tones are displayed as blobs in the editing area. The size of the
editing area can be altered and the blob display zoomed and scrolled.
To resize the window (also in Plugin), drag the bottom right corner
Hold down the [Command] key and drag the editing background to move the
area displayed
Use the Mouse Wheel to scroll up and down or else (holding the [Shift] key) left
and right
Press [Command]+[Alt] and drag in the editing area to zoom the display
horizontally and/or vertically
Press [Command]+[Alt] and use the Mouse Wheel to zoom both axes
simultaneously
Press [Command] and double-click to zoom in on a blob or the current selection
Press [Command} and double-click in the editing background to zoom back
Drag the Scrollers to move the display horizontally or vertically
Drag the ends of the slider to zoom horizontally or vertically
Pull the left- or right-hand ends of the horizontal slider as far as they will go to
increase the length of the section displayed (important in the plug-in e.g. when
you have only transferred the first four bars and wish to confine navigation to
this area but wish to insert something at Bar 20)
Double-click the scrollers to zoom horizontally or vertically on all notes
The slider in the bottom right corner governs the size of the blobs
Playback functions
In Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone, the usual Transport Keys are at the top left
of the window. You can scrub through the material in the Bar Ruler and start the
playback by double-clicking on the Bar Ruler in the desired place. The same is
possible, provided the host is stopped, in Melodyne assistant Plugin. It is not
possible to control the host’s playback functions from within Melodyne assistant
Plugin.
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For those in a hurry: Melodyne assistant in 10 minutes23For those in a hurry: Melodyne assistant in 10 minutes
Playback functions in Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone and Plugin (when the host
is stopped):
Click in the Bar Ruler to position the Playback cursor
Double-click in the Bar Ruler to start playback from the place you click
[Alt]-double-click anywhere in the Bar Ruler to play back the current selection
With most hosts, pressing the [Spacebar] stops the local Plugin playback
Use the [Arrow] keys to select and play the next/previous blob.
Click in the Bar Ruler to stop the playback and position the playback cursor
Click and drag in the Bar Ruler to begin scrubbing
Playback functions in Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone:
[Spacebar]: Play/Pause
[Alt]+[Spacebar]: Play the current selection
[Numeric Keypad Enter]: Play
[Numeric Keypad Null] x 1: Stop
[Numeric Keypad Null] x 2: Return to previous start position
[Numeric Keypad Null] x 3: Return to the beginning of the file
Tempo box: Drag the old, or type in a new value, to alter the tempo and stretch
the audio. You can also type in percentage values in this box
Cycle Mode
Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone and Melodyne assistant Plugin both offer a Cycle
Mode. With Melodyne assistant Plugin, you can only activate Cycle Mode when
the host is stopped.
Drag horizontally in the lower part of the Bar Ruler to define the Cycle Zone
Double-click in the cycle zone to toggle Cycle Mode on and off
To move either of the cycle locators, simply click on it and drag
Drag the center of the Cycle Zone to move the entire zone to the left or right
If active, the selected Time Grid influences the position of the Cycle Locators
Holding the [Alt] key as you drag the Cycle Locators causes the Time Grid to be
ignored
[Shift]+clicking near a Cycle Locator moves it to the designated position
[Shift]+double-clicking anywhere in the Cycle Zone moves the locators to the
first and last selected blob. [Shift]+[Alt]-double-clicking sets them exactly to
the selected notes
Note selection
Blobs in the editing area can be selected using all the standard techniques: clicking, [Shift]-clicking, marquee/lasso/rubber-band selection, etc. In addition, the
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edit menu offers a sub-menu with a variety of selection commands. To make a
selection, use one of the following techniques:
Standard techniques such as clicking, [Shift]-clicking and lassoing to select
and deselect notes
[Shift]-click and then drag the mouse to enter Snake Selection mode
Select notes by clicking or dragging in the Pitch Ruler; double-clicking selects
notes with the same name in all octaves rather than simply at the pitch clicked
In the Pitch Ruler also, you can [Shift]-click or [Shift]-drag to add or remove
notes from the selection
In the Edit menu, you will find the usual ‘Select All’ command but also a sub-
menu with special selection commands
Copying and pasting
Melodyne assistant allows you to cut, copy and paste blobs. If prior to pasting a
blob (the ‘source’ blob) you select another (the ‘target’ blob), when you paste,
the former will replace the latter. If no blob is selected at the time of pasting, the
source blob will be pasted at the cursor position. If, however, the blob was offset
from the grid prior to copying, it will be offset from the playback cursor after pasting and by the same amount; if you want the insert point and the cursor position
to coincide exactly, set the Time Grid to ‘Seconds’ prior to pasting.
Macros and tools
The pitch and time correction macros (reached via the buttons in the top right
corner) can be applied to a selection. If no tones are selected, the macro in question operates on all the notes. Manual editing is performed using the tools in the
Toolbox. The tools are in some cases context-sensitive, offering different functions
when moved over different parts of a blob. For finer adjustment, hold the [Alt] key
when changing parameters. You can also open the Toolbox by right-clicking in the
editing area.
The shortcut [Command]+[Up/Down Arrow] applies the main function of the
selected tool to the selected blob. Hold the [Alt] key to change the values by
finer increments.
The following chart provides an overview of the functions of the various tools,
indicating how these vary depending upon which part of the blob is clicked or
dragged and upon whether you single- or double-click. The shape of the mouse
pointer provides a further indication of the function a given tool will perform in a
given context.
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Melodyne assistant user manual
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For those in a hurry: Melodyne assistant in 10 minutes
Single-click Double-click
TOOLS Left
Main
Pitch
Pitch
Modula-
tion
Pitch Drift
Formant
Amplitude
Time
Note
Separation
move start shift pitch/
move start move whole note move end quantize to intended
Middle
(main function) Right Middle Right
position
shift pitch create pitch
set modulation switch between
set drift switch between
shift formants set formant
set amplitude set amplitude
PART OF BLOB
move end insert/delete note
transition
transition
transition
separation
(top of blob)
quantize to nearest
semitone
current and none
current and none
no formant shifting formant transition
mute/unmute amplitude transition
position
insert/delete note
separation
activate/deactivate
pitch transition
off/on
off/on
insert/delete note
separation
Tempo functions
Next to the Tempo box, there is a button that opens a tempo dialog. Both the box
and the dialog have distinct functions in Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone and
Melodyne assistant Plugin.
Plugin: the Tempo in the box is merely a display; it cannot be adjusted because
the tempo is determined by the host. When the tempo in the host changes, you
should open the dialog and tell Melodyne assistant Plugin about the nature and
intent of the change: Have you simply selected a new constant tempo or is a
gradual tempo change (e.g. a ritardando) intended? In the latter case, you need to
play through the passage containing it to Melodyne assistant so that it can learn
about the tempo progression. In the Tempo dialog, you can also select whether
or not time-stretching and time-compression should be applied to audio to take
account of tempo changes.
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For those in a hurry: Melodyne assistant in 10 minutes
Melodyne assistant user manual
For those in a hurry: Melodyne assistant in 10 minutes
Stand-Alone: dragging the value in the Tempo box or typing in a new one alters
the tempo and the audio is time-stretched or -compressed accordingly. If, instead
of this, you simply wish the grid beneath the blobs to change (without influencing
the audio tempo), use the Tempo dialog. Usually if you want to change the grid
resolution, it will be because the tempo detected is either twice as fast or half
the speed of the tempo you prefer; or because slight variations in tempo by the
performer have led to a varying tempo being detected, when a strict tempo was
intended. Changing these settings in the Tempo dialog has no audible effect; it
simply allows you to optimize the grid for the editing to come, such as when you
move notes with the grid active and apply quantization.
Saving and making permanent your editing
In Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone, you save your edits in the standard manner,
as a new audio file in the same format as the original file. The original file is
retained as a backup. If you want to continue editing a file at a later date, choose
‘Save As’ from the File menu and the format ‘Melodyne Project Document’. This
format saves the editing separately from the original audio file Πno need for a
fresh analysis of the latter to be conducted each time it is opened. In Melodyne
assistant Plugin, it is not necessary to save your work manually, as this is done
automatically by the host project. If you want to render permanent the content
from Melodyne assistant Plugin as an audio file, you must use the bounce/render
function of your host.
Keyboard shortcuts not displayed
in the menus of Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone
Stop: [Numeric Keypad Null]
Play: [Numeric Keypad Enter]
Main Tool: [F1]
Pitch Tool: [F2]
Formant Tool: [F3]
Amplitude Tool: [F4]
Time Tool: [F5]
Note Separation Tool: [F6]
Open pitch correction macro: [Command]+[Shift]+[P]
Open time correction macro: [Command]+[Shift]+[T]
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Melodyne assistant user manual
Loading, transferring and saving audio
Transferring audio material to Melodyne assistant Plugin
In this tour, you will learn how to transfer audio material to Melodyne assistant
Plugin as well as the fundamentals of its use.
Before any editing can take place, audio must be transferred from the host
track to Melodyne assistant Plugin
The transfer-readiness is activated with the Transfer button; any number of
extracts from any part of the host track can be transferred
In the areas where material has been transferred, it is Melodyne assistant
Plugin that is heard during playback; in all other places, the host track
SUMMARY
The playback regions for Melodyne assistant Plugin can be indicated in the
display and edited in the Bar Ruler
Transferring audio
Open in your host (i.e. your sequencer or DAW) the project you wish to edit.
Load Melodyne assistant Plugin as an audio insert effect in the audio track containing the material you wish to edit. Position Melodyne assistant Plugin above
any insert effects you may be using in the track – if in doubt, put it in the first
insert slot. For the analysis (or ‘detection’) to achieve the best possible results,
Melodyne assistant needs to be given as dry and clean an input signal as possible.
Move the playback cursor in the host to a point before the beginning of the passage you wish to edit with Melodyne assistant.
Click the ‘Transfer’ button at the top left of the Melodyne assistant window to
prepare it to accept the transfer.
Press Play in the host to transfer the material, which Melodyne assistant will
import automatically. Press Stop when the end of the passage you wish to edit
is reached. Stopping the host playback automatically brings to an end Melodyne
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Melodyne assistant user manual
Loading, transferring and saving audio
assistant’s transfer readiness . You can also interrupt a transfer in progress at any
time by clicking the Transfer button.
If you wish, you can transfer to Melodyne assistant further passages from different
parts of the host timeline. Clicking the Transfer button during playback by the
host toggles Melodyne assistant’s Enable Transfer function on and off, enabling
you to transfer only the passages you wish to edit. In other words, you can punch
in and out, as the playback proceeds. Alternatively, as you reach the end of each
of the passages you wish to transfer, you can stop playback by the host, find
the start of the next passage, transfer-enable Melodyne assistant again, restart
playback by the host, stop it again, and so on. If you wish, you can just transfer
the entire track to Melodyne assistant or even several tracks simultaneously to
multiple instances of the plug-in.
Replace Ranges
During playback, those passages that have been transferred to Melodyne assistant
will be played back by Melodyne assistant; all others by the host. In other words,
wherever it has material to play back, Melodyne assistant’s signal replaces that of
the host.
From the View menu, choose ‘Show Replace Ranges’. All the passages that will be
played back by Melodyne assistant (as opposed to the host) will now be marked.
Such regions can be extended simply by dragging their borders with the mouse.
To shorten a playback region, delete a few blobs and select ‘Set Replace Ranges
to Notes’ from the context menu of the Bar Ruler.
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Loading, transferring and saving audio
Related topics
Checking and editing the note detection within melodic material
Checking and editing the note detection within rhythmic material
Working with the Main Tool
Managing transferred audio files and assigning missing files
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Melodyne assistant user manual
Loading, transferring and saving audio
Loading and saving audio in Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone
In this tour, you will learn how to open and save audio files in Melodyne assistant
Stand-alone and which data formats can be used.
Files can be loaded from the File menu with ‘Open’, ‘Open Recent’, or ‘Re-
vert to Saved’
Files can also be loaded by dragging and dropping them onto the program
icon or directly into a window
The first file loaded into a window determines the tempo
When you save for the first time, the ‘Save As ...’ dialog opens, from which
you can select a format for the new file; on subsequent occasions, the file
will be stored automatically in this format
The Melodyne Project Document format saves your edits separately from the
SUMMARY
audio files and is recommended for saving provisionally when you are not yet
finished working on a document
The MIDI File format creates a Standard MIDI file, in which all the notes in
Melodyne assistant are represented by MIDI notes
Opening files using the menu
Choose ‘Open’ from the File menu of Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone and navigate in the file selection box to the desired audio file. Select this, confirm your
intention to load it, and the file will open.
The ‘Open Recent’ sub-menu offers direct access to the last twenty documents
loaded. Simply select the desired entry and the corresponding document will open
(provided it has not been deleted from the hard disk or moved to another location
in the meantime).
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Loading, transferring and saving audio
If you have already saved an edited document, you can revert at any time to the
most recently saved version by selecting ‘Revert to Saved’, in this way discarding
any changes you have made since the file was last saved.
Opening files by drag-and-drop
If Melodyne assistant Stand-Alone is already open, you can drag an audio file into
the empty window Melodyne assistant displays when first launched (or that you
yourself have created by choosing ‘New’ from the File menu). An outline will appear, allowing you to drag the file to exactly the desired position in the Time Ruler.
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