Melodyne Tutorial | Vocal Tuning in Pro Tools Edit Window

In this tutorial, learn to use Melodyne directly inside the Pro Tools Editor Window so you can start tuning vocals now. Melodyne Essential has now been integrated directly into the Pro Tools editing workflow with the release of Pro Tools 2022.9. This integration allows you to save immense time without having to transfer audio into or out of Melodyne. 

To fully understand Melodyne's overall functions, we recommend first reviewing the Quickstart Manual Guide links below before moving on to using Melodyne in the Pro Tools Edit Window.

Melodyne Quickstart Manual Guide:

Part 1 -  Fundamentals of Melodyne

Part 2 -  Editing Pitch in Melodyne

Part 3  - Editing with Manual Tools in Melodyne

Melodyne by Celemony is one of the most powerful digital audio editors of both pitch and timing. This makes possible the incorporation of ARA (Audio Random Access) into Pro Tools. Audio Random Access is a plugin extension which facilitates direct exchange of information between the DAW and plug-in. This eliminates the need for real-time transfer of audio files and allows direct communication between the Pro Tools Edit Window and the Melodyne Edit Window, which ultimately saves you hours of time when editing tracks.

How to Edit with Melodyne Integrated within Pro Tools Edit Window

Once Melodyne, using ARA, has been initiated on a clip or a track, Melodyne will not open in its own floating edit window.  It is now integrated directly into Pro Tools and is part of the Pro Tools edit window. Once the Melodyne Edit Window is open, you will notice a few new items displayed in your Pro Tools Edit Window.

Current Elastic Audio or ARA Plug-In menu

From this menu, Melodyne can be initiated or disabled on all clips in an entire track, much in the same way as elastic audio. When Melodyne is initiated, whether on an entire track or on any individual clip within a track, it will be indicated by displaying the word “Melodyne” and a green light in the Elastic Audio or ARA Plug-in menu header.

MIDI Note Representation

When Melodyne is initiated on a clip, a representation of MIDI notes of the analyzed audio will be displayed as such and superimposed over the waveform of the clip itself. This can be turned off by right clicking on the clip and choosing, Melodyne > Hide Notes.

Conversely, if they are already hidden, they can be turned on by right clicking on the clip and choosing, Melodyne > Show Notes

Melodyne Pictogram

When Melodyne is initiated on a clip, a small pictogram of a Melodyne blob will appear in the top right corner of the clip itself as an indicator. When Melodyne is placed on a clip, but no edits have yet been made, it will appear as clear.

When Melodyne is placed on a clip and there have been edits made, it will appear as white.

Melodyne Clip

When the “processing state” column of the Clips Menu is shown, a small pictogram of a Melodyne blob will appear adjacent to any clip in which Melodyne is initiated.

Melodyne Edit Window

With ARA, Melodyne’s edit window no longer appears as its own independent floating window, but instead has now been directly integrated into the Pro Tools Edit Window.

Alternate Window Tabs

With Melodyne integrated directly into the Edit Window of Pro Tools, it can now be displayed or hidden by clicking on its own tab in the bottom left corner.  You will also notice that it is now very easy to navigate between not only the Melodyne Edit Window, but also the MIDI Editor Window and the Clip Effect Window.

Melodyne In Pro Tools: Basic Operation

You can initiate Melodyne on a specific audio Clip, or the entire Track

• To initiate Melodyne on an individual clip, with the mouse, Right-click on a clip > Hover over “Melodyne”  > choose “Edit"

To initiate Melodyne on all clips in a track there are two possible ways

• Option 1 - With the mouse, Right-click on a track nameplate > hover over “Melodyne”  > choose “Edit"

• Option 2 - With the mouse, click on the, “Elastic Audio” pull-down menu > Choose Melodyne

Opening, Closing and Resizing the Melodyne Edit Window

Once Melodyne has been initiated on any clip or track, the Melodyne Edit window can be opened or closed in any 1 of 3 ways.

• Left or Right click on the “Elastic Audio or ARA Plug-In menu.”
• Left or Right click on the “Melodyne Tab” in the bottom left corner of the Pro Tools Edit Window.
• Shortcut command, [OPTION] + [8]

Once opened, the Melodyne Edit Window can be resized by hovering over its top edge with the mouse until the resize icon appears, clicking and dragging up or down.

Confirming Detection Algorithm

As with previous versions of Melodyne, the detection algorithm will be auto-detected by Melodyne, or based on the user selected default.  However, audio can be redetected at any time on a track by track basis by re-selecting the desired algorithm via the Algorithm pull-down menu.  Note that unless at least one Melodyne note blob is selected, the algorithm options will be grayed out.

Playback

Playback with Melodyne ARA integration functions in the same way as the Melodyne plug-in.  There are three options for playback.

• Spacebar - Spacebar will playback the entire Pro Tools session including any Melodyne processing.
• Double-Click anywhere on the Melodyne Pitch Grid - This only plays what is currently being processed in Melodyne starting from the location in which you double-click with the mouse.
• Double-Click in the Melodyne Timeline Ruler - This only plays what is currently being processed in Melodyne starting from the location in which you double-click with the mouse.

Navigating Between Clips - "Follow Selection In DAW"

When more than one clip has been initiated with Melodyne, you may want to skip around from clip to clip.  It is possible to have Melodyne follow your clip selections.  Whichever clip is currently selected in the Pro Tools Edit Window, will be the clip that is shown in the Melodyne Edit Window.  This is an option called, Follow Selection in DAW, and is found under the Melodyne Options Drop-Down Menu.  When checked it is activated, when unchecked it is disabled.

Pro Tip - When working with Melodyne and using, “Follow Selection in DAW,” you also may want to fill the Pro Tools Edit Window with the clip that you are currently working on in Melodyne.  When “Edit Keyboard Focus” is engaged, pressing the letter [E] on the keyboard will accomplish this.

Duplicating, Repeating and/or Looping Clips with Melodyne Processing

When you duplicate a clip that contains Melodyne edits, all of those edits will be copied to the duplicated clip. However, once duplicated, any future Melodyne edits made in the original or the duplicate will be independent of each other.

When you repeat a clip “[Edit > Repeat…],” or “[OPTION]” + [R],” that contains Melodyne edits, all of those edits will be repeated to all of the clip repeats. However once duplicated, any future Melodyne edits made in the original or the repeat will be independent of each other.

When you loop a clip, “(Clip > Loop…),” or “[OPTION] + [COMMAND] + [L],” that contains Melodyne edits, all of those edits will be copied to each newly created loop.  In addition, any future Melodyne edits that you make to any of the loop iterations will also be made in all other loops.  Editing any one loop will affect them all.

Bypassing Melodyne and Comparing Edits

When working in Melodyne it is very easy to compare your original audio to any edits you have made.  This can be accomplished in any one of three ways; clip by clip, track by track, or globally.

Clip by Clip - This option mutes or unmutes Melodyne processing on a clip by clip basis.  When Melodyne has been bypassed, the original unedited audio will still playback, however any Melodyne edits will no longer be heard. 

• To Bypass clip by clip, simply right-click on a clip that has Melodyne initiated on it, with the mouse hover over “Melodyne” and then select, “Bypass.”
• To Unbypass clip by clip, simply right-click on a clip that has Melodyne initiated on it, with the mouse hover over “Melodyne” and then select, “Unbypass.”

Track by Track - This option mutes or unmutes Melodyne processing on a track by track basis. When Melodyne has been bypassed, the original unedited audio will still playback, however any Melodyne edits will no longer be heard on any clip on that track.

• To Bypass track by track, simply right-click on the nameplate of a track that has Melodyne initiated on it, with the mouse hover over “Melodyne” and then select, “Bypass.”
• To Unbypass track by track, simply right-click on the nameplate of a track that Melodyne initiated on it, with the mouse hover over “Melodyne” and then select, “Unbypass.”

Globally 
Within the Melodyne Edit Window there is a button called, “Compare.” and it can be found in the upper left corner of the Melodyne Edit Window.  This option mutes all Melodyne edits in an entire Pro Tools session and can easily be toggled on or off at any time.  When this option is selected, all note blobs will jump to their original unedited position and appear grayed out.  (FIG 26)  When this option is unselected all note blobs will return to their edited position and appear orange.

Clearing Edits

Apart from the traditional ways of undoing Melodyne edits within Melodye, there are now 2 additional ways to clear Melodyne edits, but within Pro tools.  This can be done on a Clip by Clip basis, or a Track by Track basis.

Clip by Clip - This option allows you to clear all edits on any individual clip that has Melodyne initiated on it.

• To Clear Melodyne edits on an individual Clip simply right-click on the clip and with the mouse, hover over “Melodyne” and choose “Clear”

Track by Track - This option allows you to clear all edits on a track by track basis.  Any clip with Melodyne initiated on it, on that track, will be affected.

• To Clear Melodyne edits on an individual Track simply right-click on the track nameplate of the desired track and with the mouse, hover over “Melodyne” and choose “Clear”.

Rendering and Committing

Rendering Melodyne edits to an audio file can be done in 3  ways.  Each has their own implications.

Clip by Clip - This option allows you to render any Melodyne edits you have made to a single clip. To render Melodyne editing to a single clip, with the mouse, right-click on the clip you wish to render, hover over “Melodyne” and choose “Render”

This option…

1. adds a new render file to the session folder “rendered files” folder
2. adds a new audio file to the session folder “audio files” folder and also adds this new audio file to the session clip list
3. this function is undoable

• Track by Track - Option 1 - This option allows you to render any Melodyne edits you have made to all of the clips on a single track. To render Melodyne editing to a track, with the mouse, right-click on the nameplate of the track you wish to render, hover over “Melodyne” and choose “Render”

This option…

1. adds new rendered files (one for each clip in the track) to the session folder “Rendered Files” folder
2. adds new audio files to the session folder “Audio Files,” and also adds these new audio files to the session clip list
3. this function is undoable

• Track by Track - Option 2 - This option allows you to render any Melodyne edits you have made to all of the clips on a single track. To render Melodyne editing to a track, with the mouse, left-click on the “Elastic Time or ARA Plug-in selector,” of the track you wish to render and choose none.

This will open a pop-up window giving you the option to remove Melodyne, reverting to the original audio, or to remove Melodyne, but commit the edits to a new audio file.

Choosing “Revert” will remove Melodyne processing and return any audio with Melodyne edits on that track to its original state, unedited.

Choosing “Commit” will render a new audio file including any Melodyne edits.

This option…

1. adds new rendered files (one for each clip in the track) to the session folder “Rendered Files” folder.
2. adds new audio files to the session folder “Audio Files,” and also adds these new audio files to the session clip list
3. this function is undoable

Processing Order

Whereas before, Melodyne required a real time transfer to inject the audio into Melodyne, later to be rendered as a new audio file, the processing order was based on the position of the track's insert point and which insert you chose to use.  Now, with the ARA integration, it is not as clear.  So, here is the processing order of a Pro Tools audio track including Melodyne via ARA:

• Audio From Disk
• Melodyne
• Clip FX  (Do clip FX really come before clip gain?)
• Clip Gain 
• Channel Inserts
• Pre-Fader Aux Sends
• Fader
• Post-Fader Aux Sends

Things to note: You can still use Melodyne in the "traditional" way as a plugin. Also, if you already own a copy of Melodyne Assistant, or Melodyne Editor, this will be the version that appears in the Edit window of Pro Tools.

For a more detailed look at how to use Melodyne, check out our 3-part series explaining all the functions: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

Author: Chris Wainwright

Chris WainwrightChief Engineer, Instructor at Interlochen School of Arts (Former Asst. Professor Berklee College of Music)

Chris Wainwright is a musician, audio engineer, music producer, and educator with over 25 years of experience. Chris began studying music at the age 5 on piano, trumpet in the symphonic orchestra in school, and finally at the university level as a guitar principal. In 2005, Chris entered Berklee College of Music as a student where he received a Bachelor of Music with honors in 2009, with a focused study on Music Production and Engineering. Aside from studies, his career expanded into a live-sound recording and broadcast engineering, even mixing recordings for the major Jazz Festivals (Saratoga Jazz, Newport Jazz, Bean Town Jazz, etc. including NPR interview with legendary George Wein and Christian McBride). Passionate about education, Chris eventually joined Berklee College of Music's elite group of instructors for the next decade, where he was eventually promoted to Chief Engineer then to Assistant Professor Valencia Campus teaching audio engineering and production techniques in both the Undergraduate Study Abroad and Masters of Contemporary Performance programs. In his role as Chief Engineer, he has had the pleasure of working with and/or recording great artists, producers and engineers spanning a wide gambit including Patrice Rushen, Clark Germain, Susan Rogers, Salomé Limón, George Massenburg, John McLaughlin, Pepe De Lucía, Billy Hart, Chrissy Tignor and Tommy Torres, just to name a few. Over the past few years, Chris decided to depart from his position at Berklee and focus on curriculum development, his family, life, and personal music production and engineering projects. He continues to write, record and produce from his home in Valencia, Spain as well as his commercial studio in Barxeta, Spain. He enjoys spending his summers in Michigan where he teaches Music Production and Engineering at the acclaimed Interlochen School of the Arts.