Everything you need to know about…
Celemony Melodyne 4
At Inta Audio, we are as passionate as you are about music software. The best plug-ins can elevate your studio to new heights, giving you unimaginable control and power over your music. Enter Celemony Melodyne – a truly indispensible Swiss Army Knife of audio editing that we believe every studio should have.
What is Melodyne 4?
First released in 2001, Melodyne quickly became one of the most popular and invaluable plug-ins available and its popularity certainly hasn’t waned in the 16 years that have followed. With more awards under its belt than an Olympic champion, it represents an essential component of many high-end studios across the world.
At its core, Melodyne offers the most detailed and precise pitch correction on the market, allowing for the sort of intricate adjustments completely beyond the realms of other correction software. Melodyne takes the digital pitch data encoded in your vocal recording and displays it graphically in an instantly user-friendly and musical format which can be pulled, moved, tweaked and twisted to provide both sweeping and minute alterations of pitch. Just grab the note and you can easily adjust pitch, vibrato, volume, timing and more!
And it’s not just for vocals either – any audio file can be processed through Melodyne, allowing you unparalleled pitch and voicing control for all of your live instrument recordings. The ability to move notes and change durations makes it an invaluable tool for rhythmic editing too!
Why does my studio need Melodyne 4?
Not even the best vocalist or performer can nail a perfect performance every time, and a single badly pitched note can ruin an otherwise immaculate take. Before Melodyne, getting every pitch exactly as you wanted it was a matter of equal parts luck and skill, but with Melodyne in your studio’s arsenal, the pitch of every note is entirely under your control. And Melodyne’s incredible tools, you’re not just restricted to editing pitch – you can also correct timing errors, shift dynamics and even modify the vibrato of your notes!
Polyphonic multi-track note editing allows you to record polyphonic sources (such as piano/guitar chords, a string quartet or a main vocal with backing vocals) with the ability to isolate and edit each individual note! This sort of single-note chord editing has long been reserved for MIDI data only, but Melodyne now makes it entirely possible with audio files too.
Don’t let its incredibly detailed functionality fool you – Melodyne has been designed to be not only easy but also musical to use. Its under-the-hood algorithms have been designed to understand and interpret audio musically, identifying the relationship between notes intelligently and presenting it in an easy-to-manipulate format. Experimenting with your audio has never been so much fun. And you don’t need a PhD in Sound Engineering to operate Melodyne – it really is that simple to use!
It can be used either as a standalone application or as a plug-in (VST, AU, RTAS, AAX) for use in your DAW software.
Will I receive a boxed copy of Melodyne 4?
Melodyne 4 is not sold as a boxed product – like most software nowadays, the installation files are downloaded directly from the manufacturer’s website. After your order has been placed, you will receive a serial license code via email for the software and instructions on how to download and register the software that you have purchased. Please note that these codes are generated and sent manually, so orders placed outside of our opening hours (Mon-Fri 9-5) will be processed when we are next open. As such, if you order at the weekend, please note that your code may not be sent until Monday morning.
Which version of Melodyne 4 is right for me?
Melodyne 4 comes in four flavours – here’s a short guide to help you identify the key differences so that you can find the perfect version for your studio. And remember, if you decide at any point that you want more power and features, Celemony offer a range of attractive upgrade options too:
Melodyne 4 Studio – £529
This is the complete Melodyne experience, offering everything you could possibly need for corrective or creative work on your audio tracks. Studio can be used simultaneously on an unlimited number of tracks for the ultimate control over every aspect of your music thanks to polyphonic multi-track note editing. This feature – which is exclusive to the Studio edition – allows you to work with individual pitches in polyphonic textures, such as chords and soloists accompanied by backing singers. Studio is also the only version to feature the Sound Editor, which offers tools designed to improve the timbre and texture of tracks.
Perfect for larger studios and professional commercial applications, the creative options open to you are limitless.
Melodyne 4 Editor – £299
The Editor edition offers almost all of the key functions found in Studio, but dispenses with multi-track note editing, meaning that only individual tracks can be edited. As such, if you’re looking to edit solo instruments or vocals, you should have everything you could possibly need with Editor, but if being able to modify individual pitches within chords or ensemble performances is key, Studio is definitely the way to go. Also missing is the Sound Editor, which offers tools designed to improve the timbre and texture of tracks.
Editor still represents the majority of features available in Melodyne and, provided the above omissions are not important to you, may well be the prime version of the software for your needs.
Melodyne 4 Assistant – £185
Assistant is the compact version of Melodyne, offering many more features than the entry-level Essential whilst remaining more streamlined than Editor. Like both versions, it doesn’t support multi-track polyphonic editing or the Sound Editor (both features that are exclusive to the full Studio edition) but offers far more editing options than Essential, such as vibrato, pitch drift, formant and quantization editing controls.
The perfect choice for those looking to work exclusively with monophonic and rhythmic audio material without the need for more advanced, precise controls.
Melodyne 4 Essential – £79
This is the entry-level Melodyne, offering an incredibly low-priced starting point into the world of Melodyne. Featuring the multi-purpose ‘Main Tool’, Essential allows for basic but effective editing of pitch and timing, foregoing the more advanced features of other versions such as vibrato control and polyphonic editing. You can modify the pitch centre, position and duration of notes but for more precise editing – including more advanced rhythmic editing tools for percussive tracks – you’ll need to opt for one of the more advanced versions of the software.
Ideal for those who need only the most basic editing options, or as a springboard to learn the basics before heading deeper into the world of Melodyne.
Upgrading Melodyne 4
Celemony offer a range of options for those looking to upgrade to a more advanced version of Melodyne 4 – or to crossgrade from previous Celemony software – at a reduced price.
Inta Audio offer an exceptional selection of special offers for users looking to upgrade to Melodyne 4 – you can find which upgrade options are available by clicking here.