Product Reviews

The most common reaction when musicians first encountered Melodyne was one of jaw-dropping amazement. The idea that the pitch and time of audio files could be rendered as malleable as MIDI files, and that notes could be dragged into new positions and shapes with the mouse, while preserving the timbre and character of the sound, was nothing short of mindblowing.

The basic premise of Melodyne is still amazing. However, with the sheer quantity of new features crammed into version 2, Celemony has simultaneously expanded Melodyne's potential and broadened its appeal while further refining its core functions. The studio edition reviewed here is aimed at professional users. It has support for unlimited tracks, editing of stereo files, direct input in Mac OS X, and sample rates up to 192 KHz, and resolution up to 32 bit.

Straight away, having imported and recorded a collection of files to test, we were pleased to discover just how much Melodyne's mixer has been improved. Where once it was rather austere and limited, it has now evolved to the point where Melodyne could realistically be the only software many musicians need.

The 32-bit mixer now has scaled faders and meters, can include track names and is further equipped with inserts, EQs, auxiliary sends and a Group Tracks option. The EQ section offers gain, frequency and bandwidth knobs, controlling high shelf, low shelf or peak options. A nice touch is the Show EQ Graph option, in which you can grab and edit the EQ curve graphically.

Cross that bridgeVST and Audio Units effects are now supported, although effects only work in OS X. The MelodyneBridge is another major innovation in this release. Basically, this acts as a conduit for passing audio between Melodyne and another application, allowing Melodyne to act as a plug-in. Thus the user can

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edit files without having to launch Melodyne separately. Again, this is an OS X-only feature.

Melodyne "hijacks" the audio selected for attention in the main sequencer, effectively dropping in and out at the start and end of the chosen phrase, substituting the sequencer's audio playback with your new edited version. In our tests, it worked seamlessly. We liked the fact that although the two apps are synced, Melodyne can play back independently; ideal during the editing process.

MIDI In and Out are supported, along with real-time audio to MIDI conversion, MIDI sync and SMPTE display (the latter three features are OS X only). With MIDI I/O, you can edit and play Melodyne from a MIDI keyboard, and single notes or entire tracks can be transposed for quick pitch-shift fixes. MIDI playback of detected melodies is also possible, with all pitch, amplitude envelope, pitch bend and controller data retained. Remote control of Melodyne's operations is also possible, with support for Generic, Mackie, Logic and Radikal SAC controller types. The Generic option worked fine for us, using an Oxygen 8 keyboard to control playback and master volume.

These developments boost the appeal of the program hugely. However, there has also been a considerable amount of tinkering underneath the hood which is just as important. Among these tweaks are the new Local Sound Synthesis and playback algorithms, giving outstanding sound quality; optimised melody detection and batch detection options; better editing, pitch and navigation tools; marker and region options; improved quantising; support for triplet notes; more file export options, including ReWire and Group tracks export; parallel track copying; smarter paste functions and dozens of other welcome improvements.

The final mixWe encountered a few minor bugs, such as autoscrolling of the Arrange window occasionally not working if we attempted to edit anything during playback. Spaces wouldn't always register when naming tracks in the mixer and typing a track name would occasionally trigger a shortcut. Playback could disappear if we changed a track from mono to stereo and we crashed the program by trying to raise the amplitude of a guitar phrase above 0dB.

This is a brilliant program and a major release. Anyone who has an earlier version of Melodyne should upgrade immediately. If you haven't tried Melodyne, download the online demo immediately.