Melodyne DNA â€” you've gotta watch this!

Ebaange · Post by **Ebaange** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 11:17 pm

Two words: Hokey Smokes

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 11:17 pm

I like the MEADY features.

bongo_x · Post by **bongo_x** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 11:19 pm

pcm wrote:But, notice how the announcer emphasizes that you can't hear any difference in audio quality, when you so obviously can. Take the nylon string guitar demo, right after the mad scientist guy states how you can take all your guitar loops and make them into anything you want. In the demo, he takes the guitar, which is doing a fingerpicking pattern based on an Am chord, and raises the high E string up to a G, and then the G note descends chromatically back down to E. Anybody notice that this descending pattern is also being reproduced an octave lower? It's REAL obvious.

I'm sure this will be a useful tool to have in the arsenal, but I'm not sure it will be as invisible as they want you to believe. In fact, the reason why I have never bought into Melodyne in the first place is how robotic the artifacts sound on the demos on their website. (Yes I know Melodyne has it's fans.) To be fair, the demo on the Waves site is just as bad. But anyway, I would suggest that you listen more closely to the demo itself than the announcer. This process is far from invisible.

I'm glad a couple of you have mentioned this, I thought I was alone in thinking Melodyne was funky. Besides being a pain to use, it had weird artifacts and didn't sound good when I've tried it. The internet is full of people talking about how amazing it is. Still, interesting technology.

Not to rain on their parade, but there is a little hocus-pocus, sleight of hand feel to the demo. It kind of flies by and you don't have time to see what's happening while the announcer tries the Jedi mind trick about how it sounds perfect. If it sounded half-assed that would still be pretty neat.

But seriously, I didn't think this was at all possible. I'm still expecting it to be some sort of April Fools joke.

bb

David Polich · Post by **David Polich** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 11:22 pm

To each their own, I guess.

As for me...

count me in!

Just like Pianoteq - yeah, it's not a Steinway yet - but rest assurred, it will be, and sooner than you think. Celemony will improve upon the algorithm...
it already sounds good to me. There's a lot of time between now and the fall of 2008. Don't forget you're listening to the first public demo.

Maybe it won't sound as good on distorted guitar - but with guitar amp plug-ins, you can just fix a clean guitar track and then run it through the plug=in. That's what I do routinely anyway - I record with splitters, and one signal goes into DP as a dry clean direct. I re-amp it later.

One thing that immediately comes to mind - using this to fix a guitar track where the guitar's INTONATION is out. I can't tell you how many times I've run into that situation.

Yeah, this is revolutionary, no doubt about it. Stunned - yes, absolutely.

Shooshie · Post by **Shooshie** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 11:26 pm

Could it be a prank? After all, the guy DID say something like "no reason why you can't do it in real life even if it is theoretically impossible." And he did look a little stereotypical for the mad scientist role. Ah, it's probably real. But it does make me wonder. As someone pointed out, you could take a Beethoven symphony and do remixes forever. This is opening some doors into territory we barely even know what to do with. Just when we're starting to get a handle on the problem in DRM as regards remixes, and we're nowhere near a solution, someone ups the ante.

Shooshie

cuttime · Post by **cuttime** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 11:40 pm

This is called an "infomercial".

David Polich · Post by **David Polich** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 11:44 pm

I don't think it's at the point where you can tear apart Rite of Spring and revoice everything. Looks like you still need a single track to work with.

However, it does bring to mind a statement someone made to me back in 1983 - "no one will ever get the sound of a violin into a keyboard".
As I sit and play the Garritan Stradivari, I think, yeah right, no one will ever do that.

The day isn't that far off when we WILL be able to tear apart Rite of Spring, however. It's really just a matter of computer power. Aren't we approaching "The Singularity" anyway? When there will be no difference between the
calculations done by the human brain and a computer?

I make no apologies for using Melodyne. It's been a godsend. Because it allows me, the composer, to dictate where I want the performance to go.
I'm not so much at the mercy of whatever the performer did. It gives me
options. It's saved more than one project and gotten me paid. Brother, that's good enough for me. Frankly, it's even served to take the pressure off of the truly talented vocalists I work with. No more wearing them out and losing the vibe just because they were a little off here and there.
They even like it. I haven't heard one vocalist complain about Melodyne,
but I have heard complaints from them about Auto-Tune, and deservedly so.

Prank? No. That's a lot of money to spend on streaming video for an imaginary product.

toodamnhip · Post by **toodamnhip** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 11:47 pm

Shooshie wrote:Could it be a prank? After all, the guy DID say something like "no reason why you can't do it in real life even if it is theoretically impossible." And he did look a little stereotypical for the mad scientist role. Ah, it's probably real. But it does make me wonder. As someone pointed out, you could take a Beethoven symphony and do remixes forever. This is opening some doors into territory we barely even know what to do with. Just when we're starting to get a handle on the problem in DRM as regards remixes, and we're nowhere near a solution, someone ups the ante.

Shooshie

It's not a prank...

I know Peter, I see him evry yr at NAAM...he's a good guy..trust me..no prank..he's not like that

sdfalk · Post by **sdfalk** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 11:50 pm

David Polich · Post by **David Polich** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 11:51 pm

Another valuable use - fixing a track of french horns where one of the players was out of tune.

Or clarinets -

man, now I'm REALLY getting started...I may not sleep well tonight.

richardein · Post by **richardein** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 1:13 am

Artifacts? Yes. Still impressive.

I wonder how it will work on stereo tracks. I noticed that the words "mono" and "stereo" were never mentioned.

Mr. Quimper · Post by **Mr. Quimper** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 1:28 am

Holy sh--!

Anders Peev · Post by **Anders Peev** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 1:59 am

I spent 6 years at the Royal Collage of Music-what a waste

catfishmusic · Post by **catfishmusic** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 2:39 am

This is a jaw dropper...and my jaw doesn't drop easily. i just didn't really think this was ever possible. I'm glad Peter the Mad Scientist stays indoors and doesn't shave so that we all can fix our crappy musicianship.

Anders Peev wrote:I spent 6 years at the Royal Collage of Music-what a waste

I had a simliar reaction. As a session guitarist, I thought to myself, now I can just go into the studio, drop my guitar on the floor, and Melodyne can turn it into a beautiful part.

I couldn't get over that the narrator kept saying "MEADY"! Never heard that in my life.

It'll be fun to play some classical pieces, maybe Bach, and then throw it in Locrian mode...composers will be rolling in their graves.

jokes aside, this is clearly an invaluable tool...I'm getting it for sure~!

toodamnhip · Post by **toodamnhip** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 3:18 am

Yeah but what about the other example? Meedeee mode?

I am a guitarist and not bad at piano finally after yrs of it being my mistress

..I know tunings and inversion and trippy sounds on the guitar for days!!..
But now all I have to do is play ONE cool chord and it becomes a sample for my keyboard wherein I can play endless music..
For example, tonight, for fun, I was toying with some Jimmy Page-type acoustic tunings, playing trippy taps and harmonics..any one of which can become playable on the key board now..in Meeedeeee mode!!

OH HELL YEAH!