Audio Random Access
Developer(s)Celemony Software, PreSonus
Initial releaseOctober 2011; 12 years ago (2011-10)
TypeAudio Plug-In Interface Extension

Audio Random Access (commonly abbreviated to ARA) is an extension for audio plug-in interfaces, such as AU, VST and RTAS, allowing them to exchange a greater amount of audio information with digital audio workstation (DAW) software. It was developed in a collaboration between Celemony Software and PreSonus.

Functionality

ARA increases the amount of communication possible between DAW software and a plug-in, allowing them to exchange important information, such as audio data, tempo, pitch, and rhythm, for an entire song, rather than just at the moment of playback.

This increased amount of information exchange, and availability of data from other points in time, removes the need for audio material to be transferred to & from the plug-in, allowing that plug-in to be used as a more closely integrated part of the DAW's overall interface.[1]

History

ARA was developed as a joint effort between Celemony Software and PreSonus, driven by the desire to increase the level of integration between Celemony's Melodyne plug-in and the DAWs using it.[2] It was first published in October 2011 and released as part of PreSonus' Studio One DAW (version 2) and Melodyne (Editor, Assistant and Essential versions 1.3).[2]

Version 2 of ARA was announced during the NAMM Show in January 2018, introducing new features such as the simultaneous editing of multiple tracks, transfer of chord track information, and undo synchronization with the DAW.[3][4] DAWs which use ARA version 2 are not automatically backwards compatible with plug-ins using version 1.[5] The first DAWs to support ARA version 2 were Logic Pro X (version 10.4, released in January 2018)[6] and Studio One (version 4, released in May 2018).[7]

ARA implementation

To allow software manufacturers to support ARA, a Software Development Kit has been published by Celemony.[8][9]

Current software products which support ARA include the following.

Digital audio workstations

DAW Developer ARA v1 Support ARA v2 Support
ACID Pro Next MAGIX N/A Version 1.0.3.32 or later[10]
Cakewalk by BandLab BandLab Technologies SONAR X3 or later[11] Version 2019.05 or later[12]
Cubase Steinberg N/A Version 10.0.30 or later[13]
Digital Performer MOTU N/A Version 11.2 or later[14]
Logic Pro X Apple Inc. N/A Version 10.4 or later[6]
Nuendo Steinberg N/A Version 10.1 or later[13]
Pro Tools Avid Technology, Inc. N/A Version 2022.9 or later[15]
REAPER Cockos N/A Version 5.97 or later[16]
Samplitude Pro Magix Version X3 or later[17] Version X5 or later[18]
Studio One PreSonus Version 2 or later[1] Version 4 or later[19]
Waveform / Tracktion Tracktion Software Corporation Version 5 or later[20] N/A

Audio editors and plug-ins

Plug-In Developer ARA v1 Support ARA v2 Support
Melodyne Celemony Software Version 1.3 or later[2] Version 4.2 or later[21]
VocAlign Synchro Arts Project version 3 / Pro version 4 or later[22] Project version 3.6.0.5 / Pro version 4.5.0.5 or later[23]
Revoice Pro Synchro Arts N/A Version 4 or later[24][4]
SpectraLayers Steinberg N/A Version 6 or later[25]
WaveLab Steinberg
Auto-Align Post 2 Sound Radix N/A Version 1
Acoustica Acon Digital N/A Version 7.4 or later[26]
ASAP - Spectral Surface IRCAM N/A All versions
ASAP - Pitches Brew IRCAM N/A All versions
ASAP - Stretch Life IRCAM N/A All versions
Vocaloid Yamaha N/A Version 6 or later[27]
Synthesizer V Studio Dreamtonics N/A Version 1.11.0 or later[28]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Rogerson, Ben (2011-10-18). "Celemony explains ARA: new VST/AU/RTAS plug-in extension". MusicRadar. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
  2. ^ a b c "Celemony introduces ARA Audio Random Access". KVR Audio. 2011-10-27. Retrieved 2012-07-17.
  3. ^ "Celemony Intros ARA 2, Letting Plugins & DAWs Share Information". Synthtopia. 2018-02-11. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  4. ^ a b "ARA2 Demo Video - We've Got Hold Of A Video Showing The Amazing ARA2 In Action". Production Expert. 2018-08-22. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  5. ^ "ARA support in REAPER - Page 14". Cockos Incorporated. Retrieved 2018-05-21.
  6. ^ a b Libertini, Carlo (2018-02-04). "Logic 10.4 Update: the first to utilize ARA-2". Produce Like A Pro. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
  7. ^ Hughes, Russ (2018-05-22). "PreSonus Announce Studio One 4 - Chord Track, Pattern Mode, AAF Import And Export, Song Data Import, Impact XT and Sample One XT And More..." Pro Tools Expert. Archived from the original on 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2018-05-22.
  8. ^ "ARA SDK". Celemony. Retrieved 2012-07-17.
  9. ^ "Technologies". Celemony. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  10. ^ "ACID Pro 10 All New Features". MAGIX. 2020-09-13. Retrieved 2020-09-13.
  11. ^ "SONAR X3 Makes Control of Sound More Fluid with Deep Celemony Integration, More". Create Digital Music. 2013-10-04. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
  12. ^ Ong, Daniel (2019-05-21). "Cakewalk by BandLab adds support for ARA 2 in latest update". MusicTech. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  13. ^ a b "Celemony announces that Steinberg Cubase and Nuendo have added ARA2 support". KVR Audio. 2019-06-26. Retrieved 2019-06-26.
  14. ^ "Digital Performer | MOTU.com". motu.com. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
  15. ^ Winsor, Chris; Naito, Daisuke (2022-09-28). "What's New in Pro Tools 2022.9". Avid Resource Center. Retrieved 2022-10-07.
  16. ^ "Streamlined workflow: Melodyne and Reaper now communicate via ARA 2". Rekkerd. 2019-02-22. Retrieved 2019-02-22.
  17. ^ "Magix Release Music Maker Premium & Samplitude Pro X3". MusicTech. 2016-11-23. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  18. ^ "Magix releases Samplitude Pro X5 with ARA2 and MPE support". GearNews. 2020-04-23.
  19. ^ "Presonus Studio One Lets You Create Without Boundaries". 2018-05-18. Archived from the original on 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2022-10-07.
  20. ^ "Tracktion 5 Software Bundles Melodyne". EMusician. 2014-09-16. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
  21. ^ Krantzberg, Eli (2018-10-02). "Melodyne ARA & Logic Pro X - We've Never Been Able to Edit Audio Like This Before". Production Expert. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
  22. ^ "VocALign gets high-speed integration in Studio One". Sound on Sound. 2016-09-26. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
  23. ^ Krantzberg, Eli (2019-06-28). "Synchro Arts Update VocALign with ARA2 Compatibility". Production Expert. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
  24. ^ Arblaster, Simon (2018-09-19). "Revoice Pro 4 is here and introduces a new vibrato warp function". MusicRadar. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  25. ^ Ong, Daniel (2019-07-04). "Steinberg releases SpectraLayers Pro 6, adds ARA 2 support". MusicTech. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
  26. ^ "Acoustica 7.4 with New ARA2 Plug-in Released". Acon Digital. 2022-05-19. Retrieved 2022-05-24.
  27. ^ "Yamaha New Comprehensive Vocal Synthesis Software VOCALOID™6". www.yamaha.com. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  28. ^ "Synthesizer V Studio 1.11.0b1 Update". dreamtonics.com. Retrieved 2023-11-24.

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