Screen 1: When you open Melodyne on a track or Soundbite, the audio will come pre‑loaded in the Consolidated Window at the bottom.
ARA makes using Melodyne in DP a cinch!
In version 11.2, MOTU added several useful new features to DP. Perhaps the most impactful was support for the ARA (Audio Random Access) protocol extension developed by Celemony. More specifically, DP supports the latest version, ARA2, which dramatically speeds up workflow when using ARA‑compatible plug‑ins such as Melodyne.
As part of the update, DP users get a licence for Melodyne 5 Essential, which provides another option for pitch and time correction, supplementing DP’s existing features in those areas. MOTU also added a Copy Audio to MIDI feature, which integrates Melodyne’s algorithms. In this column, we’ll start with an overview of ARA in DP and then offer tips for using the various audio‑to‑MIDI options.
The ARA protocol allows compatible plug‑ins, such as Melodyne, to instantly access audio data.
How ARA Works
The ARA protocol allows compatible plug‑ins, such as Melodyne, to instantly access audio data. Users no longer need to transfer audio into the plug‑in in real time, as had been the case before the addition of ARA2 support.
For example, if you open Melodyne on a track in DP as an ARA plug‑in, you’ll immediately see the notes of the track’s audio represented in the Melodyne timeline. You can edit pitch, modulation, timing and more from there. If you already own a version of Melodyne 5, you don’t need to install Melodyne 5 Essential. DP will automatically recognise your existing version.
ARA plug‑ins open differently from standard AU or VST plug‑ins. In DP, the process is easy, and you even have several options for opening them. If you’re in the Tracks Window or Sequence Editor, select a track or Soundbite and go to Audio / ARA. From the sub‑menu, select either Set Melodyne on Tracks or Set Melodyne on Soundbites, depending on what you’re doing. When you release the mouse, Melodyne will open across the bottom of the Consolidated Window with the audio from the track already loaded.
Opening an ARA plug‑in through the Audio menu gives you the most options for enabling and disabling ARA on a track or Soundbite. You can even enable Melodyne on non‑contiguous Soundbites by selecting them and then opening Audio / ARA / Set Melodyne on Soundbites. You get the most options if you open an ARA plug‑in from the Audio menu.
You can also enable ARA on multiple tracks by selecting them first, then choosing ARA from the Audio menu. If you’d prefer to open the ARA plug‑in in a separate window, go to Digital Performer / Preferences / Display / Consolidated Window / Open in Consolidated Window, and de‑select ‘ARA Effect’, which is at the very bottom.
Another way to enable Melodyne with ARA on a track or Soundbite is to open the pop‑up menu labeled ARA at the bottom right of each track header and choose Melodyne. The same pop‑up is available from the Track Settings menu.
You can also open ARA on a track from the Track Settings menu. Alternatively, you can right‑click on a Soundbite, scroll down to ARA and open the pop‑up. If you enable an individual Soundbite, that will override the track ARA setting.
Working With ARA
When working with Melodyne or other ARA plug‑ins, it’s important to remember that any edits you make to the notes within it will not be reflected in DP’s waveform displays until you effectively make those edits permanent by applying the Merge Soundbites command from the Audio menu, or using the key command Option+Shift+M on Mac (Alt+Shift+M on Windows).
Until you do, only the Melodyne display will accurately reflect your edits, but they won’t yet show in the waveform display of the Sequence editor for that track. The Screen 2 cluster shows how this works.
Screen 2: The top screen shows several vocal phrases before any edits have been made. In the middle screen, the final phrase was cut in Melodyne, and while you can still see it in the waveform in the Sequence Editor, you won’t hear it on playback. In the bottom screen, the Merge Soundbites command has been applied. This clears the audio data from Melodyne and updates the DP waveform display to reflect the cut.
You can access the new Copy Audio to MIDI command from Edit / Copy Audio to MIDI, or with the shortcut Command+Option+Shift+C (Control+Alt+Shift+C on Windows). That opens the Audio to MIDI dialogue, a small window with several pop‑ups that allows you to select the Conversion Type, Algorithm and Target for your converted MIDI data (Screen 3).
Your success with it will depend on finding the best settings for your source material. Also, remember that audio‑to‑MIDI algorithms work best on notes that don’t slide from one pitch to another. When that does happen, two MIDI notes will get created — one for each pitch. You’ll have to edit the release of one and the attack of the next to make the pitch change sound similar to the audio.
Screen 3: The Copy Audio to MIDI command is located in the Edit menu.
Conversion Types
MOTU recommend choosing Melodyne as your Conversion Type for pitched polyphonic sources. For example, use it on a chordal guitar part or piano part, horn section, or any source where more than one note plays at a time. Once you’ve selected Melodyne, you’ll need to also pick an algorithm. Use Polyphonic Sustain for sources with consistent attacks, such as organs, legato strings, and so on. Use Polyphonic Decay for sources with varied or sharp attacks, like guitar and piano.
Screen 4: The Melodyne algorithms for Audio to MIDI.An example of where the polyphonic Melodyne would come in handy is if you have an audio keyboard part with a good performance but want to change the sound. But what if you’re a guitar player and want to create a chordal keyboard part but can’t play it well enough on a keyboard? You could record the chords on guitar, keeping the rhythm relatively simple, convert it to MIDI and then use it with a piano, organ or synth virtual instrument.
In the DP manual, MOTU advise using pureDSP as the Conversion Type for monophonic sources such as vocals. However, Melodyne also does an excellent job on vocals, so it’s worth trying both. Use Melodyne’s Melodic algorithm on (solo) vocal material.
The third conversion type is Beats. MOTU recommend it for percussive material. However, it doesn’t detect pitch, only rhythm, and you end up with a MIDI track with all the hits on a single pitch. The Beats option thus works well on percussion instruments that create a single pitch, such as shaker, tambourine, cabasa, and the like. You could also use it to convert individual drums from a multitrack drum recording to MIDI, such as kick or snare, as long as there isn’t too much bleed from other drums in the audio.
Screen 5: Here, a tambourine recording has been converted to MIDI notes.
Targets
The target you choose sets the destination where DP will send the converted MIDI data. If you select New MIDI Tracks or New Instrument Tracks, it will create the appropriate track in your sequence, populate it with the converted MIDI data and place it at the top of your Sequence or Tracks window. (DP 11.2 also introduced standalone Instrument tracks, which contain MIDI and don’t require a separate MIDI track.) Another choice is Copy to Clipping Window, which will only be available if you have an active Clipping Window created, either project‑specific or global. Additionally, you can choose Copy to Clipboard and then paste the MIDI data into a track at the time location of your choice.
As when opening ARA data, Copy Audio to MIDI lets you convert a whole track or just a Soundbite. For the former, select the track in the Sequence Editor or Tracks Window and then choose Copy Audio to MIDI. For individual Soundbites, select the one you want to convert first and then use the Copy Audio to MIDI command.
For any of the three conversion types, you’ll see an option in the Audio to MIDI dialogue that says Package in Clips. If you check it, your data will appear in the new track in Clip format, which means it will be in a container ready to trigger from the Clips window (Screen 6).
Screen 6: The difference between packaging the MIDI data in Clips (centre track) and Notes (top track).
If you haven’t yet upgraded to Digital Performer 11.2, it’s highly recommended. Although the version number makes it sound like a relatively unimportant update, the new features you get, including ARA, are very much worth having.
