STOP SLAVING, START MELODYNE
We first met the three people behind Munich-based Celemony at NAMM 2001. Peter, Carsten and Hildegard had started Melodyne development in 1997 after Peter, a trained astronomer and musical instrument maker [wood smith with full workshop and guitar maker to be exact], began pondering the question: What is the sound of a stone? Peter's obsession led him to break with the conventional wisdom about what sound was. He evolved an algorithm that treated sound as timeless and Melodyne was born.
When I first saw Melodyne with my friend, music producer Mischke, we were stunned that you could drag a single vocal syllable up a semitone and leave the rest of the performance intact. We were further dumbfounded by the fact that you could not tell the difference. We both recognized that we were witnessing a sea change in the music technology revolution that first brought is MIDI in 1983. We both asked if we could buy Melodyne then and there - on the spot, we needed it that night.
Melodyne offers this same degree of free control to audio editors. You can sing a phrase into Melodyne, and then adjust each pitch individually while leaving other pitches alone. In this way, Melodyne is not just a pitch shifter, it is a Piano-Roll/Key Editor for audio. Going far beyond pure pitch tinkering, Melodyne allows you to create performances from the raw audio material. The normal CUT/COPY/PASTE functions allow you to copy pitches and super impose them on other material or just use them to create a 3-part harmony. Extraction of pitches allow the licks of a Jazz saxophonist to be imposed on a vocal scat. Rhythmic extraction means that the groove of a bongo player can be put on vibes or that swing on the hi hat transported to the vocal.
Melodyne does this without noticeable audio degradation. It is a spectacular breakthrough in what we have come to imagine a software tool can do.
WHAT DOES MELODYNE DO?
MELODYNE 3, THE POLYPHONIC GENERATION
Melodyne3 offers a new algorithm that allows any type of audio material to profit from Melodyne’s unique editing functions and sound quality, in other words, Melodyne is no longer limited to the editing of melodies but can handle homophonic and polyphonic textures. Melodyne3 also offers fully automatic analysis of the audio material, powerful macros for the correction of intonation and timing errors, and numerous improvements in the user interface. Melodyne3 is not only capable of doing far more than its predecessors; it is also faster and easier to use.
MELODYNE CONNECTS TO YOUR SOFTWARE
Melodyne Bridge: This is a small effect plug-in that connects to Melodyne and runs inside your favourite applications: ProTools, Cubase, Sonar, DP, etc... How does it work? Let's assume you have a vocal track that you want to fix up, insert the Melodyne Bridge as an 'Insert Effect' on that track. This allows for the track to be digitally recorded in sync over in Melodyne. Switch to Melodyne and edit the audio to perfection. When completed, switch back to your other program and set the plug-in to 'Listen' to the Melodyne version of the track. It's easy and smooth. Tutorial 1 | Tutorial 2 ReWire: Melodyne can be run as a ReWire master or as a ReWire slave. This allows you to connect Melodyne with your favourite application and live inside the interface to which you are accustomed: like Reason, Live, ProTools, etc... ReWire Tutorial | FAQ
We first met the three people behind Munich-based Celemony at NAMM 2001. Peter, Carsten and Hildegard had started Melodyne development in 1997 after Peter, a trained astronomer and musical instrument maker [wood smith with full workshop and guitar maker to be exact], began pondering the question: What is the sound of a stone? Peter's obsession led him to break with the conventional wisdom about what sound was. He evolved an algorithm that treated sound as timeless and Melodyne was born.
When I first saw Melodyne with my friend, music producer Mischke, we were stunned that you could drag a single vocal syllable up a semitone and leave the rest of the performance intact. We were further dumbfounded by the fact that you could not tell the difference. We both recognized that we were witnessing a sea change in the music technology revolution that first brought is MIDI in 1983. We both asked if we could buy Melodyne then and there - on the spot, we needed it that night.
THE NEXT AUDIO EDITING PARADIGM
This was the same level of amazement I experienced when I first saw a guy record a phrase into a MIDI sequencer and watched him erase unwanted notes, quantize them, eliminate bad ones and transpose a few to create harmonies. This open ended ability to sculp a performance was a truly something new. This allowed musicians the ability to create performances that were previously not possible for them. Say what you want about this revolution, good or bad, it opened up the doors to music creation to thousands of musical people who could, for the first time, be band leader to the virtual band in their PCs.Melodyne offers this same degree of free control to audio editors. You can sing a phrase into Melodyne, and then adjust each pitch individually while leaving other pitches alone. In this way, Melodyne is not just a pitch shifter, it is a Piano-Roll/Key Editor for audio. Going far beyond pure pitch tinkering, Melodyne allows you to create performances from the raw audio material. The normal CUT/COPY/PASTE functions allow you to copy pitches and super impose them on other material or just use them to create a 3-part harmony. Extraction of pitches allow the licks of a Jazz saxophonist to be imposed on a vocal scat. Rhythmic extraction means that the groove of a bongo player can be put on vibes or that swing on the hi hat transported to the vocal.
Melodyne does this without noticeable audio degradation. It is a spectacular breakthrough in what we have come to imagine a software tool can do.
WHAT DOES MELODYNE DO?
- Unique note-by-note editing of vocal tracks
- Superlative note-by-note time-stretching
- Superlative note-by-note pitch-shifting
- Correct or quantize intonation
- Correct or quantize timing errors
- Create harmonies
- Reduce or enhance vibrato
- Convert Audio performances to MIDI data
- and much more...
MELODYNE 3, THE POLYPHONIC GENERATION
Melodyne3 offers a new algorithm that allows any type of audio material to profit from Melodyne’s unique editing functions and sound quality, in other words, Melodyne is no longer limited to the editing of melodies but can handle homophonic and polyphonic textures. Melodyne3 also offers fully automatic analysis of the audio material, powerful macros for the correction of intonation and timing errors, and numerous improvements in the user interface. Melodyne3 is not only capable of doing far more than its predecessors; it is also faster and easier to use.
MELODYNE CONNECTS TO YOUR SOFTWARE
Melodyne Bridge: This is a small effect plug-in that connects to Melodyne and runs inside your favourite applications: ProTools, Cubase, Sonar, DP, etc... How does it work? Let's assume you have a vocal track that you want to fix up, insert the Melodyne Bridge as an 'Insert Effect' on that track. This allows for the track to be digitally recorded in sync over in Melodyne. Switch to Melodyne and edit the audio to perfection. When completed, switch back to your other program and set the plug-in to 'Listen' to the Melodyne version of the track. It's easy and smooth. Tutorial 1 | Tutorial 2 ReWire: Melodyne can be run as a ReWire master or as a ReWire slave. This allows you to connect Melodyne with your favourite application and live inside the interface to which you are accustomed: like Reason, Live, ProTools, etc... ReWire Tutorial | FAQ
PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS
MELODYNE |
UNO 1 |
CRE8 3 |
STUDIO 3 |
AUDIO EDITING |
. |
. |
. |
Pitch |
yes |
yes |
yes |
Time |
- |
yes |
yes |
Sequencer |
- |
yes |
yes |
Tracks |
1 |
8 |
unlimited |
Resolution Bits|kHz |
24|96 |
24|96 |
32|192 |
Non-Destructive |
- |
yes |
yes |
AUDIO MATERIAL |
. |
. |
. |
Melodic |
yes |
yes |
yes |
Rhythmic |
yes |
yes |
yes |
Polyphonic |
- |
- |
yes |
Audio to MIDI |
- |
yes |
yes |
melodyneBridge* |
- |
yes |
yes |
ReWire |
yes |
yes |
yes |
Multi-License |
- |
- |
yes |
*VST, AU, RTAS, DirectX
|
. |
. |
|
Melodyne is a stand alone application. It is available for Macintosh and the PC. Melodyne supports VST, AU, RTAS, DirectX, ReWire, Sound Manager, CoreAudio and ASIO2 for sound I/O and many audio formats (WAV, AIFF, SD2, SND, AU) at up to 32 bit and 192 kHz.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Macintosh: PowerMac G3 (optimized for G5), Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later and 512MB of RAM (1GB or more recommended), 73MB of hard drive space.Windows: Requires Windows XP and a Pentium II 400 processor and 512MB of RAM (1GHz CPU speed and 1GB RAM recommended), 32MB of graphic RAM and 65MB of free hard drive space.
MELODYNE STUDIO Superb audio tool for adjusting pitch, time, level, vibrato, . . .
Melodyne Studio is the ultimate tool for turning audio [up to 32-bit 192Khz] into an elastic medium where you can freely adjust time, pitch, amplitude and even vibrato. Melodyne does this with remarkable quality that blurs the line between reality and super reality. Best of all Melodyne is not an island, it's ready to work within your world, whether it be in Cubase SX, Logic, Pro Tools, Digital Performer, Live or Reason.
MELODYNE CRE8 Superb audio tool for your project studio.
Melodyne forever changed the boundaries of what an audio editing tool can do. It is the most powerful audio technology we've ever seen. Melodyne Cre8 is the affordable little brother of Melodyne Studio. It possesses practically all the astounding editing power of Studio except limited to mono tracks, 8 virtual tracks, 24-bit 96KHz audio.
MELODYNE UNO Single-track audio editor for your project studio.
Melodyne UNO offers you the celebrated Melodyne technology in the most compact and affordable format. Melodyne uno dispenses with the multi-track Arrange window of the larger versions of Melodyne and operates like a normal sample editor. All you do: is load in a file, edit it, save your work, and you’re done. There couldn't be a simpler or more intuitive way to benefit from Melodyne’s unique editing possibilities.
SOUND LIBRARY The horn section in your computer.
The MSL horn section contains around 1,300 first-class phrases and licks which were specially conceived for use with Melodyne technology. They have been recorded in highest musical quality and meticulously optimized for Melodyne – so you can start right away. And if a sample does not fit into your arrangement yet, you can reshape it with Melodyne, adjust tempo and key, vary the timing or create completely different melodies.
MELODYNE PLUGIN The fastest way to perfect text.
Melodyne plugin integrates the most important of Melodyne's functions directly into a host sequencer. Correct pitch and timing, quantize audio, restructure melodies and more. It has never been so easy. Supported interfaces are VST, AU and RTAS. Crossgrades (from Auto-Tune, Waves Tune et al.) and Loyalty Offers (Melodyne plugin for half the price) are available and even a free Melodyne plugin for registered users of Melodyne studio! With the ultra-flexible Melodyne plugin, editing audio becomes fast and easy.