Melodyne Editor for PSG?

Dan Kelly · Post by **Dan Kelly** » 18 Dec 2021 5:05 am

Does anyone have experience using Melodyne Editor to correct intonation or other performance defects on PSG tracks?

If so, have you found techniques or approaches that you have found helpful?

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 18 Dec 2021 5:29 am

I have Melodyne. I've corrected or changed notes, but no slides. But, have not used it much for steel track as I'd rather just redo that steel part.

Dan Kelly · Post by **Dan Kelly** » 19 Dec 2021 12:16 pm

Hey Jack! "Cutting in" a section seems to be a faster and better way to go for correcting a mistake, for sure. However, could Melodyne Editor be used to polish up an otherwise good track... say, moderating individual note or phrase volume or improving the pitch of a "close" note. It might be a good tool for turning a good take into a very good track.

I can imagine the effectiveness of this tool would depend on the proficiency one developed using Melodyne Editor. Is it worth going down that rabbit hole?

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 19 Dec 2021 1:07 pm

I've had Melodyne for a long time, as the first version came with Sonar Platinum DAW. I've used it mainly to fix vocals as I did a lot of Karaoke singer album projects. I used it to fix a harmonica track. I used it one time to fix a note on steel.
I don't have a high end (high $$) version which has more features and may do what you want.

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 19 Dec 2021 1:49 pm

Melodyne is very powerful and can do chords now. It’s not a simple program though. There is quite a bit of flexibility and it does involve quite a bit of study and finesse to do right. I find it much more easy to rerecord a part. I use it every once in a while but if I need to do any heavy lifting I have somebody who knows what they are doing handle it. It should be able to handle just about anything if you are willing to put some serious time in.

Dan Kelly · Post by **Dan Kelly** » 20 Dec 2021 3:17 pm

Hey Bob - After watching a few videos and doing some reading, I believe you and Jack are right about just punching in a fix when cleaning up a track. It seems much easier. The Melodyne thing seems to be pretty complex to do correctly. And, I could find absolutely nothing about using it with PSG. I can imagine that working with PSG in Melodyne would take time and experience to do it right.

Bill Terry · Post by **Bill Terry** » 22 Dec 2021 6:43 am

Big Melodyne fan here. I've got hours of live multi-track recordings from a band I played with regularly for several years. Of course redoing a take isn't usually possible with that sort of thing. I've mixed a bunch of live stuff that has some great moments, with the exception of one or two 'oops'..

Here's a Melodyne fix where the guitar player zoned out and played out of key. This is pretty amazing, and it wasn't rocket surgery to fix. Of course you need to work with Melodyne for a bit to get comfortable with how it functions, but this fix was literally capturing the sequence and 'dragging' the notes into tune. Note that I've tuned double stops, it wasn't just single notes. (I wasn't able to edit out the 'chuckles' from the rest of the band as this occurred LOL).

http://www.lostpinesstudio.com/mp3/before.mp3
http://www.lostpinesstudio.com/mp3/after.mp3

EDIT: I've used this same technique to tweak pitchy steel guitar parts (not me of course.. LOL) and it's just as easy.

Rick Campbell · Post by **Rick Campbell** » 22 Dec 2021 9:08 pm

Bill Terry wrote:Big Melodyne fan here. I've got hours of live multi-track recordings from a band I played with regularly for several years. Of course redoing a take isn't usually possible with that sort of thing. I've mixed a bunch of live stuff that has some great moments, with the exception of one or two 'oops'..

Here's a Melodyne fix where the guitar player zoned out and played out of key. This is pretty amazing, and it wasn't rocket surgery to fix. Of course you need to work with Melodyne for a bit to get comfortable with how it functions, but this fix was literally capturing the sequence and 'dragging' the notes into tune. Note that I've tuned double stops, it wasn't just single notes. (I wasn't able to edit out the 'chuckles' from the rest of the band as this occurred LOL).

http://www.lostpinesstudio.com/mp3/before.mp3
http://www.lostpinesstudio.com/mp3/after.mp3

EDIT: I've used this same technique to tweak pitchy steel guitar parts (not me of course.. LOL) and it's just as easy.

Thanks for posting. Your links are proof of how it can work. I hear so many people trashing out "autotune". Most of them don't really understand how it's used. I'm suspicious that pitch correction gets used a lot more than people realize and the artist is often never told about it.... just the engineers little secret.

I often use it when the last bass note on a song dies out too fast and with Melodyne I can lengthen the note and fade it out.

RC

Bill Terry · Post by **Bill Terry** » 23 Dec 2021 7:57 am

Hey Rick!

Yeah, it's just another tool in the toolbox, and I certainly agree that it can be overused. As mentioned above, I generally try to 'fix' problems with a new take or punch, but there are certainly cases where I really like a take, and a minor fix is perfectly acceptable in my mind. Or as in live stuff, it's the only real option..

What I can't stand is the use of auto-tune as a vocal effect... not my cup of tea. LOL

Dan Kelly · Post by **Dan Kelly** » 24 Dec 2021 3:25 pm

Hey Bill!

That is a great example. Nice job! As you said... another tool in the tool box.

Yeah, I wouldn't use for MY own steel tracks either... just asking for a friend!

HA!

admin · Post by **b0b** » 31 Dec 2021 8:34 am

I knew that I had a couple of flat notes in a session where time was money. The engineer/producer said not to worry about it, he'd fix it later. And he did! I assume it was Melodyne.

I've been using Melodyne lately for experimental microtonal stuff. You can take BIAB tracks, for example, and repitch them to a 22 note scale.

Just for fun, of course.

Howard Parker · Post by **Howard Parker** » 31 Dec 2021 8:47 am

Are the pitch/timing functions in "Essentials" the same process as in the more expansive bundles?

h

Bill Terry · Post by **Bill Terry** » 31 Dec 2021 8:59 am

Howard wrote:Are the pitch/timing functions in "Essentials" the same process as in the more expansive bundles?

I found this info/comparison of the versions, but it's from a 3rd party website, so buyer beware.

https://pluginfox.co/pages/compare-melodyne-versions

The key thing I wanted (polyphonic editing, or DNA as they call it) isn't provided in Essentials, but as far as I can tell, the 'tool' interface and processing seems to be similar for all versions. Some are just feature limited. YMMV, and there are tons of YouTube videos explaining it's use and capabilities.

Howard Parker · Post by **Howard Parker** » 31 Dec 2021 9:22 am

Thanks Bill,

I've never been happy with the Steinberg/Cubase tool and am looking for something more intuitive. I think that Essentials" might do it for me in the near term. I'd be tempted to upgrade if it lives up to expectations.

Thanks

hp

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 31 Dec 2021 5:45 pm

I've used it just a speck on a note or two, but need to study up on it a bit more... I can do minor tuning things in my DAW, but I also have Melodyne which is a fair bit more powerful and I think once you know your way around it some could be pretty useful.

If you're not making too big a moves it should NOT sound robotic.

Justin Emmert · Post by **Justin Emmert** » 16 Jan 2022 4:20 pm

I sent some stems to my engineer once and he heard a couple out of tune notes on my steel track. His ear is much better than mine. Luckily they were single notes, not chords and he was able to touch them up with Waves Tune. I see a place for it in instances like that, but anything major or loys of out of tune sections definitely should be recut.

Dan Kelly · Post by **Dan Kelly** » 29 Jan 2022 5:13 pm

I have had a chance to go down the Melodyne Editor "rabbit hole" a little further. The Editor version of Melodyne handles polyphonic (chordal) instruments well. This includes PSG which is the only instrument I have worked with in this program. I found it take a good amount of time to really understand the capabilities and practical aspects of using this tool. Right now, it seems to me that just punching in a correction is easier and more time efficient than using Melodyne Editor.

One of the time consuming aspects about Melodyne Editor is that the program takes a "good guess" as to what notes it thinks you played. You have to start by telling it that it was correct and to make corrections on notes that it did not get. Once that is done, you can zero in on the notes you want to adjust.

I have found it to be very helpful in silencing "sympathetic" notes that may have been the result of a missed block, for instance. It is also good at cleaning up some pick noise. Unlike trying to make corrections to the track in the DAW, Editor lets you eliminate or adjust individual notes while letting the other continue to ring. It really is an in depth note by note... noise by noise adjustment tool.

I have had a lot of luck with note adjustments and generally cleaning up parts of a track. However, there have been cases where it just resulted in a robotic, off sounding adjustment that did not work. This could be due to the peculiarities of the PSG as an instrument, Melodyne Editor itself, or most likely, the idiot behind the controls.

It has been fun learning to use the tool... but I keep coming back to just punching in a correction as the most efficient approach.

Bill Terry · Post by **Bill Terry** » 30 Jan 2022 7:20 am

Dan wrote:I have found it to be very helpful in silencing "sympathetic" notes that may have been the result of a missed block, for instance.

Definitely, me too. In my experience, it (Melodyne) seems to have very little trouble recognizing those kinds of things.