MusicRadar

Melodyne Plugin 2 will be the first product to get DNA.

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Celemony Software is set to release more information regarding its revolutionary Direct Note Access (DNA) technology on Monday, but MusicRadar has been granted access to it today. We now know a little more about how DNA will work, and when you'll be able to start using it.

Let's start with the bad news: Melodyne Plugin 2 – the first product to incorporate DNA – will now not be released until towards the end of the first quarter of 2009. The software was originally slated for launch in 2008.

The better news, though, is that Celemony will run a public beta testing programme prior to the full launch. All existing Melodyne users will be invited to take part and sample the new technology a little earlier than everyone else.

What is it?

As previously reported, DNA allows you to 'get inside' polyphonic audio material (chords, for example) and edit individual notes. This is revolutionary – in fact, Celemony is claiming that its implementation has required a complete rewrite of the Melodyne code. This being the case, it's hardly surprising that the release date has slipped.

Celemony is now saying that DNA will be able to handle complete mixes (rather than a simple piano progression, for example) but stresses that the more complex the material, the less likely it is that you'll be able to isolate individual notes. This is because Direct Note Access works by detecting tones – what it can't do is figure out what instrument is playing each note.

One thing you can do in Melodyne Plugin 2, though, is copy and paste notes, sequences of notes, chords and chord sequences, and these can even be overlapped. This wasn't possible in the first version of the software.

That's about all we have for now; we'll bring you more on what DNA and Melodyne Plugin 2 are capable of in due course.

A final thing to bear in mind, though, is that anyone who buys the original Melodyne Plugin will be entitled to a free upgrade. This is currently available at the reduced price of £199; version 2 will cost £299, so you can effectively save yourself £100 if you shell out now.