Melodyne plugin and n-Track

n-Track Studio Discussion Forum
1

do they work together?

2

A couple of months ago, I asked the forum what everone recommended for an autotune plugin. The consensus was AutoTune, Melodyne and the freeware GSnap. Well I downloaded both demos of AutoTune and Melodyne and the Gsnap. But didn’t have anytime to try them out until this week.

Tonight we tried the AutoTune and GSnap and found that the high priced AutoTune wasn’t significantly better than the GSnap, which was remarkably very good at fixing some problems.

But the Melodyne demo plugin, which looks awesome in their video demo, crashes n-Track when you load it into either a track or an Aux. I also tried it in Reaper with the same results.

So has anyone had any success using the Melodyne plugin in n-Track? I’m using version 4.21 (build 2099) of n-Track.

Paul

3

I tried Melodyne as a plug-in with the same results you had in nTrack - crash… I then tried the stand-alone version and it ran just fine. Pretty cool stuff.

I found those three from the thread you started - thanks. I am able to run GSnap in nTrack just fine.

Shayne

4

Thanks for replying Shayne. I installed the standalone Melodyne Uno as well after I posted here and it does look like it may do the trick. Did you go ahead and purchase the full version yet? If so, where is the best place to get it?

We did use GSnap last night and it fixed some vocal problems but not all and the group I’m working with really likes what they see with the Melodyne and are willing to pitch in with the purchase of it.

Paul

5

notes on Autotune etc -

in REAL studios where PCs/MACs are still banned - Autotune rules the roost but it is the hardware version (this is he one i have, although i do use a PC) follow link below - when you considder what is in the tin its absolute value when compared to the VST -

the basic Auitotune is OK - but Antares seem to be unwiling to improve it, they would rather add features to it - the only good feature in the nes version is that you can use a graphics tablet to draw in envelopes - thats if you have a graphics pad -

http://www.antarestech.com/products/avp.shtml


the VST version of Autotune i think is well overpriced, but it does what it says, it is AUTOMATIC - if you want, and know where most vocalists go wrong, you can set it and forget it -

Melodyne on the other hand has greater capability but not being automatic you have to spend a lot more time using it - it is OK for vocal tricks and the like - tried demo but dumped it almost immediately - to my way of thinking it is a trick box and nothing else, and like DISCO DRUMS it will fade from view as poeple overdo it - practically every Hip Hop track now contains Melodyne trickery -

Gsnap - looked at it but decided against it -

being a ‘Hardware Head’ i am looking at the new Roland MC 808 which gives pitch shift at the press of a key -

Dr J

6

Thanks for the review Dr J. I had a look at that AVP-1 hardware unit. That’s hard to believe that Musician’s Friend is selling this unit for the same price ($399US) Antares is selling the plugin (which I agree was not impressive for that price). The downside of the hardware route is if you want to correct something already recorded, you have to go through the A/D chip twice, right? - or does it have a digital interface?

Fortunately, the current group I am working with, are usually very close to being on pitch. Just once in awhile the voices need some tweaking. So the Gsnap did correct a few problems last night. But we ended up cloning the vocal track and putting the Gsnap on sections of the vocal, because Gsnap got it wrong on other sections and we couldn’t get it to behave there.

The advantage of the Melodyne is that it will do more than pitch correction. One of the songs this group recorded was done in a “snappy” fashion. But in a couple of spots, they were a little too snappy. Melodyne will allow us to extend these nodes to what the group wants. Whether it’s worth the $200 for the standalone version is the question we have to decide.

If you are a hardware type, do you prefer the hardware compressors, gates, reverbs as well - or do you consider some of the software plugins acceptable? Just wondering.

Paul

7

I just reviewed the Antares AVP-1 manual and answered my question. This unit is build to correct vocals as an insert to the mixing console. Therefore if the sound engineer doesn’t get the parameters right for the vocal take, the vocalist will have to do it again. And it definitely doesn’t have digital interface.