Fender Studio Pro 8 Released

[Crossinger]

All versions of Melodyne (including Essentials) can perform polyphonic detection. The more expensive versions can also perform polyphonic audio editing.

Really? I can't get it to detect simple basslines in Studio One, even if I isolate the bass via stem separation.

Yes, but we are speaking here of pre-AI era. So if people complain about the accuracy of the new audio-2-midi in v8, then Melodyne is even more dependent on „clear“ source material. It works best with single recorded Instruments such as piano or guitar. I didn’t try it myself, but I assume that even the artifacts from stem separation let Melodyne’s algorithm struggle.

[nusound mind]

For anyone else who may go from version 6 (or earlier) to 8, this vid introduced me to other things that may be of interest. Notably in my case the dragging drum loops directly into Impact which auto slices and lays them out. Very interesting.

Also the alternate view of Impact in the edit page plus dragging loop points on tracking both front and back seems a tantalizing potential.

Probably most relevant to beat makers of whichever variety. So 7 had more going for it than I initially suspected/ hoped for.



Not the bangin'est beat I've heard from this guy (Gregor) but works fine for explanatory purposes.

[Serhii Kot]

Automation is still very basic. Give us at least the ability to automate fx plugins parameters in the piano roll. Or loop automation with events. It is very frustrating when you do complex automation for sound design and cannot loop event with automation.

[BONES]

You don't animate anything in the piano roll, it's all done in the arrangement window.

Anyway, I got v8 installed and I've been playing with it for a few hours now. Here are a few random observations -

- You can't see the list of operations on the start-up screen any more, which makes it seem to take longer.

- CPU usage is very similar, except that it is noticeably more stable. i.e. Where v7.x was oscillating between 18-19%, v8 was a steady 19%.

- Stem separation seems unimproved.

- Audio to MIDI is slightly better than the online AI things I've been using, but still not actually very good.

- The UI is mostly unchanged, except for a couple of new icons on buttons and a snowflake on the freeze button.

- Songs that were reliably crashing v6 and v7 no longer crash v8. This is huge news for me and it's great to see how much effort the devs have put into fixing all these stupid, random issues that I've had to deal with over the years.

Anyway, overall it seems like a solid upgrade. It mostly feels just like the previous version. I haven't tripped over the single-click/double-click thing yet but it's still the same familiar experience overall.

[Serhii Kot]

You don't animate anything in the piano roll, it's all done in the arrangement window.

You don't, I do.

If you do simple rock songs or any kind of ballad, country, or similar, then you do not have a lot of artistic automation, indeed.

Yesterday I finished a children’s theme with mallets and different acoustic instruments, and yes, for that use I did not need tons of automation, only gain and some EQ. But even there I have some filter automation on the ostinato part that was playing the rhythmic section, and I cannot loop it through the whole song because automation does not follow loops, only events.

But when I do sound design or EDM, or even modern pop, I need a whole lot of small automation tweaks to a synth part, for example, to make it really unique. And I love to do that kind of stuff in Logic as region automation, to have one event with all its complex automation data that moves or copies to another track without losing automation data.

[SLiC]

Here are a few random observations -

- You can't see the list of operations on the start-up screen any more, which makes it seem to take longer.

- CPU usage is very similar, except that it is noticeably more stable. i.e. Where v7.x was oscillating between 18-19%, v8 was a steady 19%.

- Stem separation seems unimproved.

- Audio to MIDI is slightly better than the online AI things I've been using, but still not actually very good.

- The UI is mostly unchanged, except for a couple of new icons on buttons and a snowflake on the freeze button.

- Songs that were reliably crashing v6 and v7 no longer crash v8. This is huge news for me and it's great to see how much effort the devs have put into fixing all these stupid, random issues that I've had to deal with over the years.

Anyway, overall it seems like a solid upgrade. It mostly feels just like the previous version. I haven't tripped over the single-click/double-click thing yet but it's still the same familiar experience overall.

Thanks, most useful feedback so far. I am on 7 so will skip 8 as to me it isn't worth updating at this time, but good to see its the same overall experience with less bugs, that all I need TBH!

[tumface]

Automation is still very basic. Give us at least the ability to automate fx plugins parameters in the piano roll. Or loop automation with events. It is very frustrating when you do complex automation for sound design and cannot loop event with automation.

You can already do it. Like this:

Screen Shot 2026-01-19 at 20.46.01.png

Screen Shot 2026-01-19 at 20.46.03.png

And it can be looped:

Screen Shot 2026-01-19 at 20.47.33.png

[Serhii Kot]

Automation is still very basic. Give us at least the ability to automate fx plugins parameters in the piano roll. Or loop automation with events. It is very frustrating when you do complex automation for sound design and cannot loop event with automation.

You can already do it. Like this:

Screen Shot 2026-01-19 at 20.46.01.png

Screen Shot 2026-01-19 at 20.46.03.png

And it can be looped:

Screen Shot 2026-01-19 at 20.47.33.png

As I understand it, you need a new track for every automation parameter?

And, you can do it only with plugins which have the ability to be controlled over MIDI? Not with stock EQ, for example?

Update: I checked it myself, and both answers are YES. So it works only with plugins which support MIDI controls, and you need to have separate tracks for every parameter to automate. And NO, you cannot turn it into a multi-instrument either to make it one track. So this solution is even more overcomplicated than just duplicating an event with automation.

[tumface]

As I understand it, you need a new track for every automation parameter?

No, you can add as many as you want on a single track.

And, you can do it only with plugins which have the ability to be controlled over MIDI? Not with stock EQ, for example?

I never realized this, but you're right. For some reason, it only works on plugins which have marked themselves as able to receive MIDI. Sorry. I tried it with several plugins just to make sure, before posting, but it seems that every plugin I tried it with was able to receive MIDI, so it works for all of them. (FabFilter, d16, Serum 2 FX, ShaperBox 3...)

That's a very strange limitation. I hope they remove that limitation. I'm sorry for getting your hopes up. I use this feature all the time, but apparently almost all of the FX I automate also accept MIDI input.

So it works only with plugins which support MIDI controls, and you need to have separate tracks for every parameter to automate. And NO, you cannot turn it into a multi-instrument either to make it one track.

Yeah, it is strange that the DAW prevents using audio effects in Multi-Instruments... I don't know why it does that. However, just to reiterate, you aren't required to create a new track for each parameter. Instead, add more parameters using this "..." menu:

Screen Shot 2026-01-19 at 21.54.32.png

So this solution is even more overcomplicated than just duplicating an event with automation.

I think it's a really useful feature... unless the FX isn't marked to accept MIDI input, in which case it can't be target by a MIDI track. It's a very strange limitation. I didn't know about it until just now.

[BONES]

You don't, I do.

Holy shit! You know, it had never occurred to me that it was even possible to use the piano roll for automation, beyond the default tabs you can see. I found the ellipsis menu, though, but selecting a parameter to automate seems pretty clunky. Is there a better way to do it?

I cannot loop it through the whole song because automation does not follow loops, only events.

But automation follows clips when you copy/paste so you can build it out that way most of the time, or I can because I still tend to work with 4 or 8 bar phrases, like patterns in Orion.

But when I do sound design or EDM, or even modern pop, I need a whole lot of small automation tweaks to a synth part, for example, to make it really unique.

Yeah, I always do that stuff with velocity and I definitely do that in the piano roll. I should have stopped to think before I replied this morning. My bad.

Anyway, here's an interesting development. I tried using the Audio to MIDI again, this time using the whole song, instead of just the bass stem, and it did a much better job. It seems counterintuitive to me but maybe that's just how its been trained? Whatever, it's another big tick for v8.

[Serhii Kot]

As I understand it, you need a new track for every automation parameter?

No, you can add as many as you want on a single track.

No, you can't, unfortunately. I mean, if you want to automate only one plugin in your fx - yes, you can add all controls of this plugin. But if you want to control a couple of instances - you cannot because you can choose only one instrument to control on that track.

[Serhii Kot]

You don't, I do.

Holy shit! You know, it had never occurred to me that it was even possible to use the piano roll for automation, beyond the default tabs you can see. I found the ellipsis menu, though, but selecting a parameter to automate seems pretty clunky. Is there a better way to do it?

There is a better way, but it only works for midi controllable stuff - software instruments. You can tweak a knob on a synth and drag this control to piano roll:

Screenshot 2026-01-19 at 15.52.05.png

PS It only works with instrument automation, not FX automation, which is unfortunate.

[tumface]

As I understand it, you need a new track for every automation parameter?

No, you can add as many as you want on a single track.

But if you want to control a couple of instances - you cannot because you can choose only one instrument to control on that track.

Yes, that's true. It can only target one plugin at a time. You were only talking about multiple parameters before, though. And yeah, it would be nice if tracks could just target anything anywhere... I don't know why so many DAWs put this kind of arbitrary limitation in, when the engine is apparently fully capable of doing it, and it would make arranging a lot more flexible. (Studio Pro and Bitwig are two examples where the engine can do it, but the UI puts a design limit in, preventing it.)

[Stan Navi]

You can link couple of parameters on macro knob and then automate that macro knob, if i understand correctly, what you want.

[tumface]

You can link couple of parameters on macro knob and then automate that macro knob, if i understand correctly, what you want.

Unfortunately, as far as I know, you can only target macro knobs with regular automation tracks, which can't be edited alongside piano roll/MIDI data, and can't be put into looping clips.