Melodyne and Ableton Live: adjust to tempo variation

[Joe Henwood]

I have a track which raises it's BPM at the last chorus via global tempo automation. There is a ton of vocal takes and I've recorded it with the BPM increase so that I don't need to have warp on the tracks (as well as being more natural it sounds better and I don't have to warp it individually to match BPM increase).

Melodyne works fine on the vocals up to when it gets to the tempo changes and is stops transferring. Upon further research online I've discovered that Melodyne needs to be told there's a tempo change however this doesn't seem to work in Ableton. This is what I've got from Melodyne customer support:

thanks for the mail. Yes, this is indeed an issue which will need to be fixed by Ableton. Please report to them, we already did a while ago.

So how in earth is it that Ableton and Melodyne still haven't figured this one out? I'm aware of users asking for ARA implementation for years, I'm assuming tough that tempo variation should be a lot simpler to implement, I'm afraid I'm no expert on software coding however after spending money on Ableton and Melodyne I don't fancy buying another DAW just so I can edit my vocals.

Anyone out there experiencing same issue? any work arounds? I' aware I can disable global tempo automation and do the edits however after editing a single track on melodyne I prefer to print the bounce on a new channel and as soon as record arm is used Ableton re set' it's global tempo automation and also If I was to do the edits with the automation turned it off I would have to go back and edit hundreds of vocals takes to fit to the tempo change, bonkers!

[Paden Beecher]

Yupppppp, I just discovered this issue today on a new track I have been working on. Basically the track is starting at 56 BPM and doing a slow accelerando tell it hits 70 BPM for the last chorus. Honestly thought my Melodyne got corrupted somehow cause it kept crashing Live the first few times I tried to troubleshoot it.

Such a stupid problem that feels like it could be resolved with a quick patch from Celemony. In situations like that, you usually aren't wanting to time-align anything anyways so just let me turn the time alignment off and just edit the vocals themselves! Or even better, just allow the reading of a DAWs tempo map!

I did notice an option to import a tempo map into Melodyne, so I spent the time creating a tempo map in my old DAW in hopes that would work but NOPE. That would be too easy wouldn't it? (Also small side note, why the hell can't Ableton just extract a tempo map from a live set? I get you can just make a drum rack with MIDI input on the quarter notes, but that is extremely limiting when working with multiple DAWS.)

It seems to me that this is just another case of companies cutting corners by not supporting the most BASIC features, and blaming it on each other. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Abelton and Celemony, but seriously?

The best workaround I have found is to allow Abelton to run multiple sessions and just edit vocals in another live set and constantly bounce the edited vocals in. Can create even more issues, but its the only semi-practical workaround I have found.

[neo_nmik]

Bit late (probably) for the OP, but incase anyone else is having issues, you can get them to sync as per the link below.

https://helpcenter.celemony.com/editor2 ... ur_72.html

You basically have to play through the entire track with Melodyne open, and having selected the "variable" setting in the tempo window ( little chain link next to the tempo number).

It should then let you edit and Melodyne your track.

There is also an example in the link for how to do it if you have already Melodyned something.

Hope this helps someone else!

Cheers,

Nick

[diogofelipe]

Bit late (probably) for the OP, but incase anyone else is having issues, you can get them to sync as per the link below.

https://helpcenter.celemony.com/editor2 ... ur_72.html

You basically have to play through the entire track with Melodyne open, and having selected the "variable" setting in the tempo window ( little chain link next to the tempo number).

It should then let you edit and Melodyne your track.

There is also an example in the link for how to do it if you have already Melodyned something.

Hope this helps someone else!

Cheers,

Nick

Thanks for your advice. But it doesn't work. I'm having the same issue too.

[diogofelipe]

I contacted Celemony and they told me that this is an Ableton Live problem.

https://helpcenter.celemony.com/M5/doc/ ... e?env=live

I sent a message to Ableton support. Let's wait for the answer.

[dedmunds]

same problem

[pottering]

There are hundreds (thousands maybe) of plugins that adjust to Live's tempo just fine, effects like dblue Glitch, Looperator, and instruments like every drum sequencing plugin (Tremor, Superior Drummer), MIDI plugins like Captain Chords, not to mention simpler tempo synced plugins like most delays, they all accelerate and slow down with Live's tempo changes just fine.

Reason and FL plugin versions all work fine in Live too, never heard of complaints about those not syncing, stuff like RapicComposer gets Live's transport position just fine too (loops together with a arrangement loop, etc.).

Maybe Celemony is right, but whatever "bug" Live has somehow only affects Melodyne.

[diogofelipe]

hi, guys!
this was the answer from Ableton support


Pedro (Ableton Support)

Apr 15, 2021, 6:23 PDT

Hello Diogo,

Thank you for your inquiry.

We are sorry to hear about the problem you are experiencing with Live and Melodyne. Our development team is aware of the issue where Tempo changes will not transfer to Melodyne. We, however, are unable to provide a timeline of when a fix for this will be implemented.

I have added your case to an existing bug report and you will be notified via email when a fix for this is implemented. Let us know if you have additional questions.


Hope they find a solution for this problem.

[Razzkazz]

Just bumping this thread, the issue remains as of version 11.3.3, any update on this

[macaroniii]

This is embarassing. This thread started 3 years ago and still nothing has happened. Im defo not repping Ableton anymore, especially after now having to import all of this crap into Pro Tools just so I can actually use melodyne. Thanks for nothing.

[sacaan]

It is quite impressive that even in 2024 this is not resolved. Ableton seems to be investing more money in marketing and incorporating new devices and tools like Woh new Synth! to attract new users. This alienates those of us who work on large projects and make a living from this.

I have found a temporary solution which is to assign Melodyne as an external editor, the problem with this is that it is destructive, you cannot listen to the other tracks and it is not multitrack, it is a disappointment because I have paid for the full version of Melodyne and Ableton and I cannot do what it's supposed to do, for this and other reasons it's time to get out of Live along with all my production students.