{"id":16804,"date":"2014-07-09T09:45:55","date_gmt":"2014-07-09T13:45:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/?p=16804"},"modified":"2014-07-09T09:45:55","modified_gmt":"2014-07-09T13:45:55","slug":"create-melodies-from-loops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/2014\/07\/09\/create-melodies-from-loops\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Create Melodies From Audio Loops with SONAR X3 &amp; Melodyne Editor"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>by Dan Gonzalez\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><\/div>\n<div align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/FFT-EQ.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-17076 aligncenter\" title=\"FFT EQ\" src=\"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/FFT-EQ.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"540\" height=\"328\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Introduction<\/h3>\n<p>In modern EDM music you&#8217;ll see the use of audio loops everywhere. These could be created by a third party or by the person writing the music. It doesn&#8217;t matter, but what does matter is the music you create with those loops and how you construct them in a way that brands your own sound.<\/p>\n<p>Do yourself a favor and check out Melodyne Editor. You can analyze and edit polyphonic data easily &#8211; and with SONAR X3 you can use this data to enhance and inspire the creation of new and innovative melodies for your music.<!--more--><\/p>\n<h3>Let&#8217;s get started<\/h3>\n<p>For example &#8211; let&#8217;s start with a simple audio loop that was supplied by Loopmasters.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/156147571&amp;color=ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=true&amp;show_comments=false&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s say that I wanted to create some sort of melody for this loop. I really don&#8217;t feel like breaking out the MIDI controller, finding the right synth, finding the right preset, and then working on a melody I&#8217;ll ultimately trash after 4 hours of work. Today, I would rather come up with something completely off the wall and not follow my aforementioned typical workflow.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s where ARA and SONAR X3 come into play.<\/p>\n<h3>Step 1) Find a loop.<\/h3>\n<p>Import this loop into SONAR, pick a tempo, and then add it to SONAR<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Loop-1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-16810\" title=\"Loop 1\" src=\"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Loop-1-1024x691.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"393\" height=\"266\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Step 2) Convert it to a Polyphonic Melodyne Region effect.<\/h3>\n<p>Right click on the audio loop and convert it to a Melodyne Region FX.<\/p>\n<p>Make sure to select Polyphonic from the Algorithm menu option in Melodyne<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Converting-to-Melodyne-Region-FX.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-16814\" title=\"Converting to Melodyne Region FX\" src=\"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Converting-to-Melodyne-Region-FX-1024x714.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"459\" height=\"320\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div align=\"center\"><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Step 3) Add your favorite VST instrument.<\/h3>\n<p>Once you do this go ahead and add one of your go-to synths. For me, I typically work with Z3TA+ 2. Once you open up your synth, find a preset that you think will get the job done and then make sure that your synth is set to a polyphony layer of 1<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Polyphony.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-16819\" title=\"Polyphony\" src=\"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Polyphony.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"279\" height=\"213\" \/><\/a>.<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Step 4) Convert your audio loop to MIDI.<\/h3>\n<p>Now drag your audio loop directly onto your new synth track. This will convert your audio into MIDI data. This loop is not very busy so it draws a rather simple melody.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/156155593&amp;color=ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=true&amp;show_comments=false&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>What exactly is going on here?<\/h3>\n<p>By setting your synth to Polyphony = 1 you are telling the synth to trigger single notes out of a stream of polyphonic midi data. For something like drums this MIDI data can produce some awesome and randomized results. Spend a little bit of time pairing the right preset and effects and you&#8217;ll come up with an interesting sound each and every time you try this. What&#8217;s even better is that certain aspects of the drum loop will carry to the melody.<\/p>\n<h3>Your new interesting melody is now perfectly synced.<\/h3>\n<p>For instance, now the rhythmic feel is completely synced between your melody and audio loop. Those strange humanized beats are no longer hard to sync to.<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Synced-Audio-Loop-and-MIDI-Data.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-16844\" title=\"Synced Audio Loop and MIDI Data\" src=\"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Synced-Audio-Loop-and-MIDI-Data-1024x550.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"330\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>Add up more loops and your song idea already starts to take shape.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/156160556&amp;color=ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=true&amp;show_comments=false&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>More Sound Examples<\/h3>\n<p>Check out some more sounds examples using this type of workflow:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/156168389&amp;color=ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=true&amp;show_comments=false&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/156169459&amp;color=ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=true&amp;show_comments=false&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Check out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cakewalk.com\/Products\/SONAR\/Web-Trial\" target=\"_blank\">SONAR X3<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.celemony.com\/en\/trial\">Melodyne Editor<\/a> Free trials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Dan Gonzalez\u00a0 &nbsp; Introduction In modern EDM music you&#8217;ll see the use of audio loops everywhere. These could be created by a third party or by the person writing the music. It doesn&#8217;t matter, but what does matter is the music you create with those loops and how you construct them in a way &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/2014\/07\/09\/create-melodies-from-loops\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;How To Create Melodies From Audio Loops with SONAR X3 &amp; Melodyne Editor&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2251,1716,52,110,2095,1,113,53,54,1604],"tags":[2018,1785,1987,471,2359,227,2358,2337],"class_list":["post-16804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dsp-101","category-rapture-products","category-sonar-x3","category-songwriting-tips","category-synth-tips","category-uncategorized","category-vocal-recording-tips","category-windows-7","category-windows-8","category-z3ta-2","tag-ara","tag-audio-loops","tag-audio-to-midi","tag-loops","tag-melodies","tag-melodyne","tag-songwriting-month","tag-synths"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16804\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}