Melodyne 5 editor

Name: Melodyne 5 editor
Price: 399 USD
Author: Celemony

by Celemony · Pitch & Tuning · Graphical note editing (polyphonic)

vst3s Score 9.6/10 · rated #2 of 10 pitch & tuning

Melodyne shows every note as a blob you can move, stretch and reshape: pitch, timing, vibrato and level. The editor edition also works on individual notes inside chords, so it can tune guitars and pianos as well as vocals.

ARA integration puts it directly inside supported DAWs. Other editions go from essential up to studio.

Best for: Vocals, Guitars, Keys & Synths. Genres: all genres.

Keywords: vocals, electric guitar, piano, macro controls, samples & loops, transparent, AI assistant, percussion, AAX, mixing.

What it does

Melodyne 5 editor is the polyphonic edition of Celemony's note-based audio editor. It analyses a recording into notes ("blobs") that you can reshape: pitch, timing, vibrato, formants and level, even for single notes inside chords.

DNA (Direct Note Access): edits individual notes in polyphonic audio such as guitar and piano, and can adapt a library sample to your song's chords.
Vocal tools: pitch and intonation, vibrato, phrasing, formants and dynamics, with automatic sibilant detection and a sibilant balance (de-essing) tool.
New in version 5: Chord Track and Chord Grid, a Fade Tool for individual notes, a Leveling Macro and a Percussive Pitched algorithm.
Integration: ARA inside supported DAWs (including Pro Tools since 5.3).
Editions: essential and assistant cover vocal and monophonic editing; editor adds DNA for polyphonic audio; studio adds multitrack editing and the Sound Editor.

The current version is 5.4.2. A 30-day trial of the studio edition is available.

Source: Celemony product page

When to use it

Melodyne is the note editor the others are compared with. Unlike Auto-Tune Pro 11, MetaTune or Waves Tune Real-Time it isn't a real-time tuner: you analyse a take, then shape it by hand. RePitch 2 is its closest rival for vocals, but only Melodyne's editor and studio editions reach individual notes inside chords.

Best for: transparent vocal tuning and timing, fixing single notes in guitar, piano and other polyphonic parts, and reworking samples to new chords.
Genres: all; it's as much at home on acoustic, jazz and orchestral recordings as on pop.
Look elsewhere if: you want the hard-tuned effect in real time (Auto-Tune Pro 11, MetaTune) or matching stacks of doubles is the main job (Revoice Pro 5).
Tip: if you only tune vocals, the cheaper assistant edition has the vocal tools without DNA.

What producers say

Reviews are strongly positive; it's widely treated as the industry standard for note editing.

Sound On Sound (Sam Inglis, 2020) called version 5 "another killer upgrade", singling out the sibilant tools as "a colossal time-saver" and the Leveling Macro as more transparent than a compressor.
MusicTech (2020) gave it an Excellence award, praising the improved Melodic algorithm, chord recognition and the pitched-percussion algorithm.
Gripes: chord detection needs manual correction, sibilant detection struggles with "th" sounds, the levelling macro is less happy with roomy recordings, and the higher editions are expensive.

Where to buy

Tutorials and reviews

Similar plugins

RePitch 2 Standard by Synchro Arts · Graphical note editing · $74.50
Revoice Pro 5 by Synchro Arts · Vocal alignment & tuning suite · $149.50
Auto-Tune Pro 11 by Antares · Real-time + graphical tuning · $270
bx_crispytuner by Brainworx · Vocal pitch correction · $200
AutoTune Advanced by Antares · Pitch correction · $450
Waves Tune Real-Time by Waves · Real-time, low latency · $39.99
Topline Vocal Tune by Universal Audio · Vocal pitch correction · $79
Altitude by Klevgrand · Vocal pitch correction and harmonizer · $149.99
MAutoPitch by MeldaProduction · Automatic pitch correction · Free
Waves Tune LT by Waves · Vocal pitch correction · $29.16

All pitch & tuning