Tip: Easiest way to use Melodyne in Ableton -> Sample Editor

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sambaji
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Tip: Easiest way to use Melodyne in Ableton -> Sample Editor

Post by sambaji » Mon May 31, 2021 7:45 pm

I am reposting my original post from the Feature Wishlist forum in this forum, since it is more of a tip than a request:

Currently, I find the easiest way to use Melodyne with Ableton, without having to "transfer", etc, is to use Melodyne as Ableton's default "Sample Editor".

To set Melodyne as the Sample Editor for Ableton Live in Mac OS: In the menu bar, go to Live -> Preferences and click on the “File/Folder” tab. Click “Browse” in the “Sample Editor” field. Select “Melodyne located in your Applications folder and click “Open.”

To edit audio from Ableton Live in Melodyne:
Click “Edit” in the bottom Clip View window (just to the left of the waveform in Ableton 11 underneath Transpose) in the Session or Arrangement view. Your Clip will now automatically open in Melodyne. When your edits in Melodyne are complete, simply select File -> Replace Audio. Any changes made will now be reflected in your Live session.

Tip: To avoid overwriting the original clip, duplicate the clip, change the name and then "crop" or "consolidate" the clip. This will create a new sample clip. If you don't clip or consolidate first, even with the name changed, the original clip will be overwritten by what you do in Melodyne. (Also, Melodyne's percussive algorithm view is handy for editing dynamics/note-amplitudes even with melodic material as it lines up all the notes on one line so it is easier to compare them.)

Instructions adapted from https://support.izotope.com/hc/en-us/ar ... leton-Live

Fizmarble
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Re: Tip: Easiest way to use Melodyne in Ableton -> Sample Editor

Post by Fizmarble » Mon Jul 26, 2021 10:31 pm

I saw this when you posted it originally and thought it was really clever. I haven't gotten around to using it yet, but I plan to. Thanks for the tip!

Seanitzel
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Re: Tip: Easiest way to use Melodyne in Ableton -> Sample Editor

Post by Seanitzel » Mon Nov 22, 2021 11:07 am

Great advice! Thanks :)

StewD
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Re: Tip: Easiest way to use Melodyne in Ableton -> Sample Editor

Post by StewD » Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:22 pm

Great tip. Which version of Melodyne are you using (thinking of taking the plunge)?

Pitch Black
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Re: Tip: Easiest way to use Melodyne in Ableton -> Sample Editor

Post by Pitch Black » Wed Jan 19, 2022 4:43 am

Didn’t know this! Thanks! 😀
MBP M1Max | Sonoma 14.7 | Live 12.1 | Babyface Pro FS | Push 3T | clump of controllers
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H20nly
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Re: Tip: Easiest way to use Melodyne in Ableton -> Sample Editor

Post by H20nly » Sat Feb 12, 2022 11:41 pm

This is a great idea! Thanks!

I logged on today specifically to look for Melodyne tips and/or advice. The whole autotune phase of the early 00's really put me off of pitch correction in general. I got Melodyne bundled with an iZotope plugin that uses it (Nectar). I recently started playing with it and I like the capapilties so far - especially for editing out breaths. I find the interface kinda of clunky from a work flow perspective but the results have been worth the effort and the learning curve (so far).

Last night I had a recording session to get the 3rd and final vocalist on a track. After we got his two verses down, it was time to move chunks of the track around to start deciding on the final arrangement. Of course, adding his two 12 bar verses caused most of the track to get moved down the timeline. I found that a verse that was run through Melodyne (as a plugin) was playing in the previous location, even though the wav had been moved about 14 bars to the right. It confused the crap out of me before I figured out what was happening. I thought it was a glitch in Live and/or with my aging hardware. I even undid all my edits to the point of the selecting the vocal lane and then moved it all again (twice)... only for the ghost verse to keep screwing with my mind when none of that worked.

All that is to say that this is an acceptable and logical solution - as long as I remember to *duplicate/consolidate the clip first*

I'd still like to know if there's a built in way to move the Melodyne version of the verse while relocating the clip still in the original track... Otherwise, my plan was to simply avoid using it until the arrangement is 100% done. Strikes me as weird that it would be forever locked to the timeline since so many of the Melodyne features seem well thought out. For now, I'm chalking it up to user error... I'll definitely be adding it as my Editor in Preferences

Thanks again
LoopStationZebra wrote:it's like a hipster commie pinko manifesto. Rambling. Angry. Nearly divorced from all reality; yet strangely compelling with a ring of truth.

Pitch Black
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Re: Tip: Easiest way to use Melodyne in Ableton -> Sample Editor

Post by Pitch Black » Sat Feb 12, 2022 11:58 pm

You can drag waveforms to the left and right inside the Melodyne window... though it can get a little fiddly to make sure it lines up with any timeline edits done outside Melodyne.

My workflow is to have Melodyne as the only plugin on the vocal track and bus this thru another track that has whatever other plugins I want on the vocal. As soon as the pitch corrections are done - duplicate track, freeze and flatten.

I've been caught out once or twice in the past by double-clicking Melodyne in the Browser and adding it to the END of the chain of vocal effects, making some pitch corrections, then realising i'd baked-in the EQs and Comps etc :oops:
MBP M1Max | Sonoma 14.7 | Live 12.1 | Babyface Pro FS | Push 3T | clump of controllers
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H20nly
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Re: Tip: Easiest way to use Melodyne in Ableton -> Sample Editor

Post by H20nly » Sun Feb 13, 2022 6:52 am

Pitch Black wrote:
Sat Feb 12, 2022 11:58 pm
You can drag waveforms to the left and right inside the Melodyne window... though it can get a little fiddly
This.
I find the click to play annoying. Foremost, I'm used to tapping the space bar to stop and play at this point. Maybe there's a way to enable that. But even after literally walking away from a Melodyne window 5 minutes ago, I cannot figure it out. Is it a double click to play, a triple click, quadruple, pointer close to the separator line? It seems like D, All of the Above... Randomly. I doubt that is true. The Zoom is far too many steps. I can't wait to be done with it when I use it... Fortunately, part of that satisfaction is the results.
Pitch Black wrote:
Sat Feb 12, 2022 11:58 pm
My workflow is to have Melodyne as the only plugin on the vocal track and bus this thru another track that has whatever other plugins I want on the vocal. As soon as the pitch corrections are done - duplicate track, freeze and flatten.
I got back to work after posting here earlier. With the OP's advice in front of mind, I've been inserting an audio track, copying the original audio clip(s) to the new track, renaming the clip(s) with -Melo at the end of the naming convention, consolidating the clip, then editing (externally), saving the changes in Melodyne, disabling the original, and business as usual with EQ and affects on the new track.

Just for fun, the first one I did after posting, I created a new track and enabled the Melodyne ghost track from last night. Then I routed the input of the new track to the old one with only the ghost audio playing (no effects or plugs except (Melodyne) and recorded that way. It was a mono track originally, so as a bonus I ended up with a pitch corrected stereo track with all the breaths removed. Then I deleted the original and sent it to be with Zuul at Gozer's studio.
LoopStationZebra wrote:it's like a hipster commie pinko manifesto. Rambling. Angry. Nearly divorced from all reality; yet strangely compelling with a ring of truth.

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