Reference Guide

1046 Using Region FX
ARA Audio Random Access
See:
“ARA Audio Random Access” on page 1046
“Melodyne (Producer and Studio only)” on page 1048
“Using Melodyne” on page 1049
“V-Vocal Region FX clips” on page 1063
“V-Vocal Editor” on page 1065
ARA Audio Random Access
What is ARA?
ARA (Audio Random Access) is an extension of the VST plug-in interface, which allows ARA-
compatible VST plug-ins to be closely integrated in host programs like SONAR.
ARA is not a new competing plug-in format, but simply an optional extension to the VST format that
has to be supported by both the host program and plug-in. SONAR supports ARA via VST3 plug-ins.
What are the benefits of ARA?
The main benefit of ARA is the ability to integrate with plug-ins that can edit audio, such as
Melodyne. ARA-compatible plug-ins have random access to the audio data since they can also re-
sequence the audio.
Without ARA, a normal plug-in only receives audio data from the host program in real-time during
playback, and knows nothing about the musical context of the audio data. This may be sufficient for
some types of plug-ins like reverb and EQ, but not for plug-ins that need to analyze the entire
musical context (notes, rhythm, tempo, key, etc.) in order to produce optimal results. ARA greatly
improves the workflow when using certain types of plug-ins, such as pitch and timing correction.
With ARA, SONAR and compatible plug-ins can exchange information about the project’s timeline
data, including audio clips, tempo, pitch, rhythm and much more, which allows them to work together
much more closely.
SONAR X3 includes Celemony Melodyne essential (see “Melodyne (Producer and Studio only)” on
page 1048), which is ARA-compatible. You can apply Melodyne to any selected audio region in
SONAR, and use the Melodyne Editor directly in SONAR’s MultiDock view. Melodyne essentially
functions as an integrated feature in SONAR.
ARA is latency-free, and unlike regular VST effects, ARA effects such as Melodyne have full access
to audio clips in SONAR.
For more information about ARA, see www.celemony.com/cms/index.php?id=ara.