ARA with Apple Loops and Flex

Apple Loops

If you drag Apple Loops to a track and at the same time open Melodyne (ARA) on the track, the notes of the Apple Loop will not appear in Melodyne. In other respects, however, the loop behaves quite normally; in particular, it adjusts automatically to the song tempo.
It is just that, since you cannot see them, you are obviously unable to alter the notes in Melodyne. If, however, aside from the tempo, the key (tonality) or tuning of the loop don’t fit – problems for which, in the absence of Melodyne, Logic has no solution – you can still attain your objective in the following manner:

• Bounce the loop, using the right-click command “Convert” > “Convert to new Audio File(s)” or the equivalent shortcut [Alt+Cmd+F].
• In the dialog window that opens, select “AIFF” as the file format and click “Save”.
• Now press Play, and, from then on, the content of the loop will be freely available in Melodyne.

There’s no denying this method is quick, but it has a drawback, which is that after conversion to AIF format, no further tempo changes can be applied to the file.
For this reason, you will only want to use “Convert” when you have already settled definitively on a song tempo – in cases, for example, where numerous instrument tracks are already in the can, along with the vocals, and you are just using Apple Loops to fill out the arrangement.

If, on the other hand, you are still at the beginning of the songwriting process and using the Apple Loops as a source of ideas, your next step may well be to try out various tempos before going on to record additional instruments and (most importantly) the vocals. For such a scenario, we recommend the following workflow:

• Insert the plug-in “Melodyne” - without the suffix “(ARA)” – into the track you are working on. Initially no notes will be displayed in the Melodyne window.
• Activate in Melodyne the “Transfer” button in the top left corner and play the passage in question through once in Logic.
• Now you will see the notes in Melodyne.
• Make whatever changes are necessary (rectifying any playing errors; changing the key etc.) in Melodyne; and later, if you wish to do so, change the song tempo in Logic.

With this method, you retain flexibility as regards tempo changes but are still able – even early in the songwriting process – to transpose the loops into different keys. At a later stage – once you are satisfied not only with the tempo but also with the key, melody, chord sequence etc. – you can bounce the track in question to a new track, leaving the “bypass plug-ins” option unchecked in the Bounce in Place dialog, and then work on with the bounced file. Normally, you will have no further need to deploy Melodyne again on that particular track, having already performed all the requisite adjustments. If that isn’t the case, however, no problem: you can insert “Melodyne (ARA)” into the bounced track at any stage and carry on working in comfort.

Flex

Flex behaves similarly to Apple Loops, in that regions processed with the Flex engine do not show up in Melodyne (ARA). The workaround options are also similar (but not exactly the same):

• First perform the tempo adjustment using Flex.
• Then bounce the material to a new track – but do this using “Bounce in Place” and not (as with Apple Loops) using “Convert”.
• Finally, insert Melodyne (ARA) into the new track.

Or, alternatively:

• Insert the transfer plug-in in the second slot (as described above for Apple Loops).