With the release of 2022.9, Pro Tools finally has ARA functionality. For many Pro Tools users ARA is something they don’t have experience of and not all Pro Tools users have necessarily used Melodyne before. This is something Celemony, the makers of Melodyne, are aware of as they have produced a comprehensive guide for Pro Tools users, taking us from first steps through the whole product in detail. Even if you have used Melodyne before these are worth a watch.

First Steps In Melodyne

In this first of the series, product specialist Rich Crescenti guides the new user through getting started with Melodyne. The user interface, the tools and the integration with Pro Tools.

To illustrate how useful these videos are here’s a breakdown of some of the content in this first video:

For the newcomer to Melodyne - What are the blobs and what are the lines?

• Blobs represent the sound in terms of amplitude and the overall pitch as detected by Melodyne.

• The Line represents the instantaneous pitch at any moment in time, indicating bends and vibrato.

The Tools

• Move Tool - moves the contents of the Melodyne Editor

• Scroll Tool - increases/decreases Vertical and Horizontal zoom

• Main Tool - The equivalent fo Pro Tools’ Smart Tool. Changes function depending on where in the blob you point: In the centre it functions as a pitch tool. At the sides it functions as a timing tool. At the top it functions as a separation tool, splitting the blobs.

You can access the timing and pitch grids to constrain events horizontally or vertically using the note icon in the top right for timing or the clef Icon in the top left for pitch.

When you grab a note with the Main Tool you hear a short loop of that sound which changes pitch as you drag it up and down. Exactly where in a blob you grab the note influences the pitch of the synthesised note you hear when dragging blobs on the piano roll.

Melodyne automatically chooses the analysis algorithm appropriate for the material but, much like Elastic Audio (which can’t be used on a track at the same time as Melodyne in Pro Tools) you have the option to manually select your preferred algorithm. With the analysis complete, in Melodyne Essential you can edit:

• Monophonic voices and instruments

• Edit the Rhythmic Instruments like drums and percussion

• Edit mixed material in terms of time stretching or transposing them

Watch the video and you’ll see what a thorough job Rich does of orientating the new user with a piece of software which many of us just dive into and as a result might find frustrating.

Pt 2: Zooming, Navigating, and Playback

In this video Rich covers the basics of navigation in Melodyne and the related new features in Pro Tools using ARA. First he explains the various ways to access and resize the Melodyne window in Pro Tools. Next, he demonstrates the ‘Follow Selection in DAW’ and ‘Zoom to Selection in DAW’.

Pt 3: Comparing, Clearing and Rendering

In this video Rich covers bypassing, clearing, and rendering edits in Pro Tools when using Melodyne and ARA. First he discusses the ways to know if Melodyne is already on a track, and how to tell if the clip has been edited. Next, he demonstrates how to bypass Melodyne on a clip, an entire track, or across the whole session using the new ‘Compare’ function.

Pt 4: Clip-Based Workflows

In this video about the new Melodyne ARA integration in Pro Tools, Rich covers changes for existing users and integrating the new workflows and methods into sessions that already have Melodyne on tracks. He then illustrates the new clip-based workflow and how the clip boundaries in Pro Tools now work with Melodyne as well as how ARA makes editing using Melodyne so much easier.

Pt 5: Comping

In this video Rich covers comping audio tracks in Pro Tools using Melodyne with ARA. He demonstrates how comping and tuning can now be part of the same process. He then discusses how to use Melodyne with multiple playlists within Pro Tools, and how the solo button controls them.

Handy Shortcuts For Melodyne In Pro Tools:

• Shift+Ctrl+A - Open Melodyne Editor

• Ctrl+Opt+8 - Set Melodyne Editor to maximum height

• Opt+8 - Open/Close Melodyne Editor (Number Pad or Alphanumeric)

• Option+double-click the horizontal scroll bar at the bottom of the Melodyne editor - Zoom entire clip