subtlearts
but there may be some wonky pitch artifacts as, in effect, the delay time is changing mid-operation.

This makes me think of the Nomad effects which try to emulate analog stuff. I'll try that one next. Overloud also has a delay I could test in tempo sync. Melda Productions probably had a good one too.

Guys, I have been giving the tempo tools in Melodyne 4 Studio a workout.  I have to say, Melodyne's tempo manipulation is INSANE!!!!  Also, if you have plug-in that doesn't play nice with varying tempo, Melodyne does an incredible job flattening the tempo to a constant, so then you don't have to worry about tempo changes, because you don't have any!  And the whole project sounds perfect, with no artifacts.
 
 

I must be thinking of this backwards.  What I would like to do is take live recordings (which usually include clean bass and kick tracks that Melodyne can easily recognize), and use that to line up the measures in Sonar.  I don't want to stretch the live sound, or alter the live recording in any way.  I want the measures in SONAR to line up with the music so that I can add some MIDI tracks or other audio tracks with the measures matching the music.
 
Is something like this possible?

cparmerlee
I must be thinking of this backwards.  What I would like to do is take live recordings (which usually include clean bass and kick tracks that Melodyne can easily recognize), and use that to line up the measures in Sonar.  I don't want to stretch the live sound, or alter the live recording in any way.  I want the measures in SONAR to line up with the music so that I can add some MIDI tracks or other audio tracks with the measures matching the music.
 
Is something like this possible?

It should be, yes.  Melodyne can detect the tempo (and does so better than anything I have ever seen before).  From there, you can export the tempo as a midi file (it's like a click track generated from your original audio).  You should then be able to bring that midi data into your Sonar project and use "Fit to Improvisation" to get all your measures and beats aligned.
 
Where Melodyne really shines is with audio without apparent transients.  It understands the notes and melodies and can detect tempo from that.  All other products I've seen rely on transients and do very poorly when there are not significant transients to detect.  From my experience so far, the tempo detection and manipulation is bordering on miraculous.
 
I will be testing using Melodyne to pick up the tempo and performing a Fit to Improvisation in the next couple of days and will report back with my experiences.  So stay tuned...
 
Bill.

One trick that can be helpful when changing in the tempo of a project you have been working on in Sonar is to set clip and track Time Base to Absolute from Musical.
 
For clips, you can simply ctrl+a and go to the clips pane in the track inpector and ctrl+click it to change the setting for all clips.
 
Tracks and buses must be set 1 at a time. Be careful not to miss one. If you miss one, the location of track and bus automation may shift and skew over the music.
 
It would really help if there was a macro that would change the entire project to absolute time.
 
You do not need melodyne to alter your project tempo to fit your performance, but Melodyne might make it easier. I haven't done with Melodyne yet.

I am still confused.  It seems to me some of the above discussion talks about audio artifacts that are created when applying a tempo map because that causes stretching of the material.  That sounds almost as if some people are wanting to use the Melodyne tempo map on flexible (rubato) music to turn the music into rigid timing, as if done with a click track.  I want to do the opposite.  I want the flexible music to remain (no stretching, no artifacts), but I want the SONAR measures to line up with the flexible music.
 
I know there is a very tedious manual procedure to do this, as I tried that a year or two ago, but it was a real PITA.  If Melodyne is able to automate this, that would open up many possibilities for me.

No. I would not try to use it to flatten the tempo of a live performance.
 
I'm talking about importing a good tempo map which is handy.
 
I'm also pointing out that some Tempo-Sync'd effects basically mute and restart every time the tempo changes. If you have tempo map that is continuously varying, the effects produce unmusical sounds (glitchy). Some pop and click.
 
That was my message. This is not just the case for importing tempo maps from Melodyne. It is any time you have a continuously varying tempo.

gswitz
some Tempo-Sync'd effects basically mute and restart every time the tempo changes. If you have tempo map that is continuously varying, the effects produce unmusical sounds (glitchy). Some pop and click.

OK.  I get it now.  Thanks.
 
But wouldn't that be considered a bug?

I thought it was a bug when I first discovered it. The makers of the VSTs do not seem to. The problem exists over lots of plugins and companies. When the device is tempo sync'd and the tempo changes it either mutes quickly and comes back at the new tempo or it pops and clicks as it jumps to the new tempo. The result sounds awful (see examples above).
 
But I think it's kind-of a limitation of the delays. If I could imagine how it might work, I would basically create a new VST instance at the new tempo, fade out the old one and fade in the new one. Then the results of the two delays would merge together at the new tempo. This wouldn't be a big deal if tempo changes were infrequent. When they are , it could create a garbage collection issue if not a memory issue. Also, melting the two delays together at varying tempos could sound goofy too.
 
I'm not sure there is a perfect way to handle it. The most important thing is to recognize it.
 
5 years ago, I thought it would be great to create tight tempo maps of my projects (and I regularly did). I did this largely for the purpose of adding tempo sync'd delays but also for adding synth work. 
 
I have since really stopped doing this. I now just measure the projects tempo roughly at a high point in the project and use that tempo for tempo sync'd delays.

@BRuys

I can't wait for your report as the Melodyne Studio videos look like some kind of "black magic" - I was thinking this when a NAMM interviewer said they would have been burned as witches in the Middle Ages!!!

I am also curious about the multitrack within Melodyne and how this integrates with Sonar

During this interview the Celemony guy indicated that the audio tracks showing in Melodyne are the DAW (eg Sonar) audio tracks?

Is this really the case? Can you open Melodyne Studio as a plugin in Sonar and work on multiple audio tracks simultaneously? Eg to do the "copy tonal footprint from one track and apply it to another" trick?

This seems too good to be true - especially as it looks like if you already have an Editor version the upgrade price is $149!!!