Pitch Correction...

A client of mine has decided to have some pitch correction done on some of his songs he recorded with me a few years ago.  I have done some of them already with V-Vocal and it seemed to work OK...but there are places where it sounds like it's running through a phase shifter.

I have read that several of you have Melodyne and say it's very transparent.  Well...I just bought the Melodyne Editor.  Haven't got the download info so I don't have it yet.  But I'd like to ask...does Melodyne work similarly to V-Vocal where you can just split the track into a small clip and add the plugin?  I downloaded the manual and it says something about "recording" the part into Melodyne in real time.

Just curious as to how you guys use Melodyne.

Thanks garrigus...!  I was hoping it would work that way.  I'm anxious to get it and try it out.

I use Melodyne Editor (ME) in 3 main ways.

They all start this way:  Add ME to the FX bin of the audio track. Click the transfer/capture button in ME and hit playback in Sonar. 

1. let it run to the end of the audio. I capture the entire track. ...then use the automatic pitch and drift to let ME do it automatically.... not the best way to do it.

2. let it run to the end of the audio. Now use the manual controls working through the song one phrase at a time.... once you get the hand of this it does not take log to do a track. 

3. If you hear something not right in one place.... place the time line marker in Sonar just before the event that needs fixing.... set capture and play through it and stop it. Since it a very small section, the calculation and display is very quick. Make correction manually. 

I will also highlight the track or clip and do a "process audio> apply effect" to ME. It's "destructive" but I didn't want the old version out of tune so I don't bother to keep it. 

My latest song in the songs forum ( Footsteps in the hall) had ME run on the lead vocal using both 2 & 3 above with "process audio> apply effect" used on both. 

If you are looking a clean artifact free correction ME is the one to use.  I only use the features I need.... I  know that ME can do so much more than I use it for. I also used it to fix fiddle and mando track on the same song. In poly mode I used it to remove a note from a chord to change the chord color. 

Handy tool. 


Oh yeah.... some advice. Take it one step at a time and SAVE YOUR PROJECT after every major step.  After the capture, before you begin the edit.... let it calculate and finish... then SAVE..... after editing the verse.... pause and SAVE..... and move through the song in that manner....SAVE often.  

It doesn't crash or glitch very often but it will do it every now and then (on my system...which is a pretty rock solid system).... and ME is the only plug that does this. So when pitch correcting, I simply save often. It actually did glitch on the song mentioned..... I thought I lost the project, but I had saved it and simply reloaded it from the cakewalk directory.... it did not show in the "quick load" list.  I lost 10 minutes of work..... not a big deal....and it may not do that with you.... but SAVING on a regular basis is just good practice regardless. 

I heard that the lower levels of Melodyne are not better than V-Vocal and that you have to upgrade to get a better response? Is this true?

Thanks Craig...that's a good tip to remember.  I got to play with Melodyne a little tonight...but I've got a lot to learn yet.  I can tell from watching a few youtube videos on it that it's a very powerful piece of equipment, but I can't do much more than basic pitch changes so far.

garrigus


Yep, you can do it that way...

1. Split clip.
2. Add Melodyne to clip fx bin.
3. Click Transfer button in Melodyne.
...

 
Scott, are you sure about the clip fx bin part?
 
As far as I know, putting Melodyne in the "Clip FX bin" was never officially supported ... although it did work well up through plug-in version 1.0.2.0.  But starting with plug-in 1.0.3.1, it no longer worked for me, in the clip fx bin.
 
Because I much prefer working on a clip basis, I'm therefore frozen in to plug-in 1.0.2.0, and have never advanced beyond there.
 
When Editor 1.x came out, I tried the demo, but still no-go with clips.
 
When Editor 2.x came out, I tried that demo, but it always immediately crashed for me, and Melodyne tech support was of no help.
 
So, if you're really saying that Editor 2.x can work in the clip fx bin, I will re-visit that demo, and see if I can get it to run, without immediate crashes.
 

Another unsung use for Melodyne is the amplitude tool. This is great for fixing Bass where one note really is louder than others (or higher octaves are MUCH quieter than lower ones.)

Simply lasso the desired notes and raise/lower volume as needed. You can also select by clicking on the note names on the left to select all instances of that pitch. 

This makes bass sound more consistent and I do it before trying to compress it. SO much easier than trying to use volume automation. 

In the clip bin - is the ONLY way I use melodyne, and it has worked a zillion times in X1 and now X2 without fail since I bought it. I am now using editor. Editor has a unique feature which I use with instruments - like say a rhythm guitar player is playing chords and one note is off in a particular chord. Record again? Nope, switch to polymorphic mode in melodyne, reach in and edit the bad note! I kid you not. It's Friggin amazing. Again, ONLY the editor version can do this, not assistant, essential etc. And don't forget to change from melodic to polymorphic when you are working with multiple notes at the same time, such as piano or rhythm guitar.

tparker24
garrigus 

Yep, you can do it that way... 

1. Split clip.
2. Add Melodyne to clip fx bin.
3. Click Transfer button in Melodyne.
... 

Scott, are you sure about the clip fx bin part?
   
So, if you're really saying that Editor 2.x can work in the clip fx bin, I will re-visit that demo, and see if I can get it to run, without immediate crashes.
 

Hey Thomas,


Yep, it's working in the clip fx bin. Although, I tested that on my laptop, which is still running Melodyne editor 1.1.8. So they must have fixed it in one of the point updates. And I'm pretty sure it works with 2.x as well.


Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - http://garrigus.com
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar ProAudioTutor video tutorial series: http://garrigus.com/?ProAudioTutor
* Publisher of the DigiFreq free music technology newsletter: http://digifreq.com/?DigiFreq
* Publisher of the NewTechReview free consumer technology newsletter: http://newtechreview.com/?NewTechReview

Unless I missed it, no one mentioned the "timing" function in Melodyne. It works very transparently, and I've used it to tighten-up bass tracks on occassion.

That's a great idea Craig, I'll have to give this one a try.

tparker24

Scott,
 
I'm glad it works for you.  Just be aware that Melodyne does not support using it in the clips bin:
 
http://www.celemony.com/cms/index.php?id=host_faq
 

  2. Melodyne in your DAW --> Sonar --> [Track Insert vs. Clip based]
 
Melodyne works as a track insert. Operation as a clip based effect or calling it up in the Process menu are not supported. Only use Melodyne editor, assistant or essential in the FX Bin of an audio track. This will give you the benefit of a tested feature set including blob monitoring.

Of course, "not supported" doesn't necessarily mean it doesn't work.  But if it stops working (like it did for me), you may be out of luck.

Hey Thomas,


Weird... it definitely works. I've done it.  This was in X2, so if it's working now, I would think it would keep working for the foreseeable future, unless Cakewalk (or Melodyne) changes something. Oh, well.. as long as it's working at the moment. I don't leave Melodyne in the project anyway. I always bounce after editing, so I won't lose anything from past projects.


Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - http://garrigus.com
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar ProAudioTutor video tutorial series: http://garrigus.com/?ProAudioTutor
* Publisher of the DigiFreq free music technology newsletter: http://digifreq.com/?DigiFreq
* Publisher of the NewTechReview free consumer technology newsletter: http://newtechreview.com/?NewTechReview