JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Musician Message Forum Making Great Demos with BIAB

That's pretty cool news, Gavin.

Melodyne is a great tool, and after several years of use, I can offer this advice:

ALWAYS work with NO SNAP in the Pitch Grid so you can move notes individually, cent by cent, and "nudge" them towards the center but not too close to it. Within 8-15 cents is usually fine, and if you have a good ear, always use THAT instead of what Melodyne is showing. Pay more attention to the orange line which is the actual pitch than the blob which is Melodyne's "guess" as to the note.

NEVER ever ever use the "Pitch Modulation" part of the Pitch Tool to "flatline" a note. This is how to make a natural sounding note into a "robotic" one, in that it sucks all the nuance and quaver out of the note.

Use the normal "top" Pitch Tool to move notes upwards and downwards, cent by cent, and also use the "Pitch Drift" part of the Pitch Tool by "Left Click Holding" onto the note in question and scrolling up or down to "center" or "anchor" a note with the aim of making it more balanced from left to right on that note. You will notice that all the nuance of that note is still there, just within the same pitch range and not, say, starting fifty cents high and ending fifty cents low.

Lastly, use the "Note Separation Tool" on the far right to chop up complex legato notes, aka cells and phrases that Melodyne "hears" as single notes. These will happen often if you ornament sung vowels at the end of a phrase with more than one note, or add grace notes or other types of ornamentation to your vocals.

Melodyne doesn't do it's best work with notes that have heavy vibrato on them. This is an observation more than advice. Pay close attention to what you hear coming out of Melodyne and you should be okay.

Mike