Melodyne editor

Version 2.1.2 adds Mavericks support and improves interaction with all DAWs.

The newly released Version 2.1.1 of Melodyne editor, assistant and essential supports the AAX plug-in interface and, with it, the 64-bit operation of Melodyne under Avid Pro Tools 11.

Improvements

Time ruler zoom
A new feature has been added that allows you to click and drag vertically on the time ruler in order to zoom in/out. This reflects the behavior used by most DAWs. On top of that it means that in one mouse action you can combine the vertical drag (for zooming) with a horizontal drag (for scrubbing).

Selection after having separated notes
After separating a selection of Blobs, they now won’t stay selected anymore. This will speed up the workflow in most cases. If, however, you want to keep the selection, even after adding separations, you can restore the last selection with the respective command from the (right-click) context menu.

New preference for number of Undo steps
In the Preferences you can now limit the number of Undo steps. Before version 2.1 you always had 100 steps available, which could lead to high RAM load when using Melodyne on many tracks.

Less memory load
In addition to the adjustable number of Undo steps, other optimizations further reduce the RAM load for both the 32-bit and the 64-bit versions of the stand-alone program as well as all plug-in formats (i.e. RTAS, AU, VST, VST3, ARA).

New Turkish scales
In the Open Scale menu, many Turkish scales have been added, and you can now switch the mode degree names to Turkish.

Tuning > Interval Display > Units
As an alternative to displaying intervals (in the Tuning column) in cents, you can now choose “Hertz” or (Turkish) “Commas”.

Compare function in the ARA plug-in
When using Melodyne as an ARA plug-in, you can now compare your edited version to the original part.

Please note: this is not the same as the bypass function that your ARA DAW offers. Bypassing the Melodyne plug-in will temporarily remove Melodyne completely from the event FX chain, whereas by Melodyne’s Compare button the DAW will still use Melodyne to adapt the file to the song tempo and only temporarily reset all other edits you made since you started to use Melodyne on that part.

Extended ARA protocol
Due to additions to the ARA protocol you need to update Studio One to version 2.0.6 (or later) at the same time as updating Melodyne to version 2.1.

Bug fixes

Melodyne no longer cuts out on certain parts
A bug got fixed that in rare cases could make certain melodyned parts stay silent upon playback.

Spikes in exported audio
A bug got fixed that could create artifacts in exported audio files (Melodyne stand-alone) or bounced Melodyne tracks (Melodyne as a plug-in).

[Stand-Alone] Key command for Stop
Hitting the Enter key on the numeric keypad works again now.

Using the arrow keys for changing the pitch
A bug got fixed that could lead to wrong results when moving pitches with the arrow keys.

Pitch jumps when using the Correct Pitch macro
A bug got fixed that could make pitches jump unexpectedly when opening the Correct Pitch macro.

Macros being grayed out
A bug got fixed that would gray out the Correct Pitch and Quantize Time macros after returning from Note Assignment mode.

Selecting short notes
A bug got fixed that could prevent short notes from being selected.

Wrong notation of certain notes
A bug got fixed that would cause notes to be displayed at wrong positions in notation view.

[Cakewalk Sonar] Memory optimization
A bug got fixed that would cause too much memory being used in Sonar X, thus making Sonar crash after long term usage.

[Studio One] Melodyne placed in front of transport controls
A bug got fixed that would cause the Melodyne window to open at a wrong position, covering Studio One’s transport controls.

[Studio One] Quantization or detecting transients on Melodyne events
A bug got fixed that would make Studio One crash when trying to quantize an event in Studio One after it was already edited with Melodyne.

[Studio One] Crash when de-activating Melodyne
A bug got fixed that would cause Studio One to crash when deactivating Melodyne in the license window.

[Studio One] Opening many events in Melodyne
A bug got fixed that could make Studio One freeze when opening many events simultaneously in Melodyne.

[Studio One] Audio loops
The Melodyne editing of audio loops in Studio One has been improved now.

Problems with Wacom Intuos 4
The right-click on the Wacom Intuos 4 tablet works again now.

Extended timing tools: With the Attack Speed tool, you can edit the transients that are of crucial importance to the sound – even for each note individually: an important creative tool not only for percussive sounds. In addition, the new Time Handles allow you to shape even the time course within notes, which, for example, makes even more detailed editing of vocal phrasing possible.

True Scale & Tuning: The new scale functions now permit even the editing of Arabic, Indian, contemporary and microtonal music with Melodyne. Countless scales, temperaments and tunings can be loaded, edited in detail or created from scratch. The highlight is the Scale Detective, which is capable of analyzing any piece of music or sample so that even users with no detailed knowledge can transfer the scale and tuning of one recording to another.

Rewire support: Melodyne should be of use to as many producers as possible – regardless of which DAW they work with. For this reason, Melodyne editor now also supports Rewire and therefore allows operation with DAWs that have no plug-in interfaces or were previously incompatible with Melodyne. 

Greater transparency and ease of use through features like keyboard shortcuts in plug-in mode, highlighting of blobs as they play back, and an improved display of the time and pitch grids.

Improvements since Version 1.2.1

[Stand-Alone] Consolidate Audio Files when saving MPDs

When saving a Melodyne Project Document (MPD) all necessary audio files can optionally be saved along in a subfolder. These files are copies, while the original ones remain untouched at their original location. To activate this function check Consolidate Audio Files in the Save dialog.



Vertical grid lines

Depending on the user settings in the time ruler (1/8, 1/16, etc.) you will see respective lines in the Blob background, which allow for easier orientation when moving or stretching Blobs.



Double-click quantization

When you double-click a blob with the Time Tool, the quantization reflects the set grid now.


[Stand-Alone] Re-detect Tempo

With the new Re-detect Tempo option in the Tempo dialog you can go back to the original file tempo at any time – regardless of how many other edits you have done in the meantime.


Installer size

The installers for Mac and Windows are smaller in file size now. In Version 1.2.1 they used to install videos and audio arrangements along with the program. These additional files are not included anymore and can now be accessed online. To do so, follow the links in the Welcome splash screen (which can also be accessed from the Help menu).



Bug fixes

Blob Monitoring

A bug got fixed that made the monitor sound shut off after having moved a Blob up and down for a while.

Exact Copy and Paste placement of Blobs
Blobs always get pasted at the expected position now.
Please note: the target position is always relative to the grid. If the original Blob was placed, say, 10 ms after a grid line, the new Blob will be placed with the same offset to the grid line next to the cursor position. Which grid line is used for this logic is determined by the selected grid resolution (e.g. 1/4, 1/8, etc.). Only if the grid selection is set to Seconds, the pasted note will be placed exactly at the cursor position.

[Pro Tools] Window resize

In Pro Tools the selection doesn't get lost anymore when the size of the plug-in window is changed.

Pitch Inspector with percussive files

With percussive files, the Pitch Inspector fields used to show note names (i.e. C, C#, etc.). This is changed now to offset values (i.e. +1, +2, etc.), matching the Pitch Ruler on the left side.

Inspector Fields

A bug got fixed that made the Pitch Tool Inspectors disappear after having used the Note Assignment mode.

Intended Notes get updated properly

A bug got fixed that made Intended Notes jump to wrong positions when changing the tempo.

Tool tips

Switching the language in Preferences will now be reflected in the tool tips immediately.


Name of the file path

A bug got fixed that made Melodyne crash when the file path for transfers contained umlaut characters (i.e. "ü", "Ä", etc.).


Separations in Note Assignment mode

When trying to remove note separations you had to move the mouse a few pixels to the right of the separation line.


Tool tip for Note Assignment mode

This tool tip was missing.


[Stand-Alone] Multiply Tempo

The list of possible multiplying factors in the Tempo dialog is streamlined now.


[Stand-Alone] Moving the 1 icon in the Time Ruler

Adjusting the first downbeat by dragging or right-clicking the 1 icon now works as expected.

Please note: The right-click option Set Bar 1 to Start of File is only available with constant tempo.


[Stand-Alone and plug-in] Graphical glitches when scrolling

A problem was solved in the 64-bit version on a Mac.


[Stand-Alone] Closing while playing back

Closing the window while playback was running led to a crash.



Known issues and solutions

Buffer size

This isn't a bug, but it probably still needs some explanation: Melodyne editor, assistant and essential prefer to have a large buffer setting. We recommend to set the I/O buffer size to 1,024 samples. Smaller values lead to a significantly higher CPU load.



Should you need to set smaller values, e.g. when doing the headphone mix directly in your computer and not via an external channel strip or mixer, deactivate (bypass) all Melodyne instances while tracking. Switch Melodyne back on when you start editing your new tracks.



Strategies for effective usage of RAM

When running Melodyne in 64-bit mode you shouldn't encounter any RAM related problems. In 32-bit, however, there are a few things you should know:



The RAM consumption of Melodyne editor, assistant and essential strongly depends on the files you are using. With melodic or percussive files you will notice that the editions from the Melodyne singletrack family need even less RAM than, say, Melodyne plugin. But with polyphonic files in Melodyne editor the RAM usage can be higher. We can't, however, give you any absolute numbers in terms of megabytes per minute, since this is strongly depending on the musical content of the files. Here are a few strategies you can use to minimize the RAM consumption:



First off you need to know that during and shortly after every transfer the RAM consumption is higher than a while after the process. Therefore doing multiple transfers at the same time temporarily increases the RAM usage a lot. A workaround for this would be to transfer tracks one after the other.



Often there is no need to transfer each track from the very beginning to its very end. Instead it is much more efficient to transfer only the part you currently want to edit. Even when you end up with having transferred the whole track in the end, you will have lower peak values of RAM consumption when you do it part by part and track by track.



And one last tip on saving RAM: certain DAWs will have a growing RAM usage simply because you are using them over hours. Therefore it's a good idea to save, quit, and restart your DAW from time to time.

Improvements and Bug Fixes:

Blobs turned silent after using the cmd-key

A bug got fixed, that would – depending on the order of your editing actions while using the Cmd-key – make a Blob turn silent. In such a situation you would still see this Blob and hear its monitoring sound when moving it with the Pitch tool. But when playing back the passage, this Blob remained silent, as if it was muted.

Blobs turned silent randomly

A bug got fixed, that sometimes made Blobs turn silent upon playback. They still looked ok, but they didn't sound any more – just as if they were muted.

Edits got lost after dividing a Blob

Now all edits remain properly after cutting a Blob into two halves.

Many Undo steps

A bug got fixed, that could lead to a crash after going back a long series of Undo steps.

Undoing pitch- or amplitude-transitions

Changing the duration of note transitions with either the Pitch tool or the Amplitude tool can now be undone properly.

Handling variable tempo in the DAW

A bug got fixed, that could lead to wrong results when learning a variable song tempo. Upon learning the tempo (via the chain symbol next to the tempo field) you still need to play back the complete passage from your DAW, but the sync is now working properly even when using a complex tempo map in your DAW.

Volume peaks upon Cycle jump

A bug got fixed, that made Melodyne turn too loud for a moment, when the playback was jumping from the end to the beginning of a Cycle (Loop) that was set in the DAW.

Saved window size might not fit on screen

Using a large plug-in window size on a computer with a big screen, then saving the session and opening it on a smaller computer (e.g. a 15" laptop), the plug-in window wouldn't fit on the screen. Parts of the plug-in window (including the resize controls) were "out of reach". Now the plug-in size will automatically adapt to the new screen size.

Navigation in the Select Scale sub-menus

The chosen Scale (Minor, Major, etc.) is now inline with the chosen Root Note, making navigation more comfortable now.

[Pro Tools] Dragging a region across the plug-in

A bug got fixed, that could lead to a crash when dragging a PT region across (or "behind") the Melodyne window.

[Pro Tools] Using special characters in the project path

A bug got fixed, that made Melodyne create a doubled session architecture, when naming your project with certain (non ASCII) characters.

[Nuendo] Help menu crash

A bug got fixed, that could make Nuendo crash after trying several options in the Help menu.

[stand-alone] Selecting a recording folder

In Preferences > Audio > Recording Folder you can now choose where audio gets recorded to with the stand-alone version of the Melodyne singletrack family. (This had been possible in earlier versions already, but got broken in version 1.2.0.)

[stand-alone] Crash when saving an MPD after editing the note assignment.

Certain actions in Note Assignment mode would make Melodyne crash, when you tried to save your work.

More power and performance with 64 Bit

The highlight of Version 1.2 is support for 64-bit operation, which in compatible DAWs brings great advantages: Melodyne can be used on more tracks and process longer transfers as well as being extremely stable in operation. Major gains have been made not only in terms of performance and reliability but also in terms of speed: the detection of the transferred material with Version 1.2 is up to 30 percent quicker – even in 32-bit operation.

Better handling, more DAWs

The handling of transfer storage paths is easier in Version 1.2 and more transparent too. In many DAWs (currently Cubase 5.5, Nuendo 5, Pro Tools LE/MP 8.0.4, Pro Tools HD 8.1), the saving of transfers is even automatic in the current DAW project. The list of DAWs supported by Celemony and tested with Melodyne also includes from Version 1.2 onwards Sonar, Digital Performer, Nuendo and Studio One.

Compatible with each other

Version 1.2 brings comprehensive file format compatibility between Melodyne editor, assistant and essential. The documents of each edition can now be opened in each of the other two editions and edited with the functions and tools the latter provides.

MIDI export in plug-ins

The saving of audio as MIDI notes is a popular creative function in Melodyne editor and Melodyne assistant. It makes it possible, for example, to double a vocal line with a synthesizer sound. With Version 1.2, MIDI export is available not only in the stand-alone but also in the various plug-in implementations of Melodyne editor and Melodyne assistant, the result being for the MIDI data a significant shortening of the path to the DAW.

The update resolves a compatibility problem with the new version 5.5 of Cubase and version 5 of Nuendo as well as offering various minor bug-fixes and optimizations for all three editions.

The free updates improve the sound quality, performance and reliability of the software, optimize numerous functions, and fix a number of bugs.