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Old 03-26-2023, 01:14 PM   #1
vdubreeze
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Default A simple way to automate chain to toggle bypass

Googling found me some very complicated ways, involving sending midi controllers from something to somewhere, and if I understood a word of the Russian over the five minutes I might be able to be more concise abut that. Anyway...how can one automate the chain bypass if it is on a track with other fx so you don't want to bypass the whole track's fx?



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Old 03-28-2023, 02:21 AM   #2
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So you have inserted a saved FX chain and added some individual fx and now you want to bypass only the fx that were in that FX chain?

Problem is, FX chain is essentially just a handy way to save and load a combination of selected FX together. But once you have that FX chain inserted into a track, they reside in the track FX chain (!) amongst all the other fx with equal status. IOW, track fx chain doesn't treat saved/loaded FX chains any differently than any fx loaded individually.

I'm sure you are aware of the option to create automation lanes for the needed bypasses and are looking for a simpler option. Making an automation item for the bypass and copying that around could be just a little bit faster. There are scripts to bypass specific FX and FX slots, but how to automate those would still be an issue. I'm interested in what that MIDI controller thing was?
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Old 03-28-2023, 06:25 AM   #3
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Give each plugin a unique identifier like renaming them to start with # (and resave your FX chain)

# ReaEQ
# ReaComp

Then use one of these two and type # and keep /selected



You may need to install these scripts via ReaPack, I believe it is part of the ReaTeam scripts repo

https://reapack.com/repos
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Old 03-29-2023, 12:08 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by xpander View Post
So you have inserted a saved FX chain and added some individual fx and now you want to bypass only the fx that were in that FX chain?

Problem is, FX chain is essentially just a handy way to save and load a combination of selected FX together. But once you have that FX chain inserted into a track, they reside in the track FX chain (!) amongst all the other fx with equal status. IOW, track fx chain doesn't treat saved/loaded FX chains any differently than any fx loaded individually.

I'm sure you are aware of the option to create automation lanes for the needed bypasses and are looking for a simpler option. Making an automation item for the bypass and copying that around could be just a little bit faster. There are scripts to bypass specific FX and FX slots, but how to automate those would still be an issue. I'm interested in what that MIDI controller thing was?
It's even simpler than that I have several tracks which each have an fx chain of 7 fx directly inserted on them. I want to toggle the chain, the entire bunch of fx which comprise it, same as you can toggle it from the fx button on the track to bypass all and back on again. I want to automate that button as simply as possible, like the bypass on any single fx. Automation items and lanes will do it but is a much more time consuming way of achieving it for the 12 or so times this will occur during the hour of the project. Because this project was begun on a 13" laptop it was a better workflow than bussing each track to their fx aux, as that took up twice as much screen real estate, and it's just the way it happened to continue. It seems like the easiest way to do it is to create new fx aux tracks and mute them, but I'm trying to avoid the time it will take to do that times 6 and match the current fx balances exactly. Nothing more complex than that, which setting up 7 automation lanes times 6 would be. So I'm more or less resigned to doing that as I couldn't figure how to automate that chain bypass button I've been clicking during the editing process, and figured I'd see if that button actually could simply have its own single lane/envelope or anything.

I *think* this was the Russian youtube I referred to. It's definitely this poster. Didn't understand a word of it. Thought that by following along visually I might get my solution, but after 5 minutes at 3AM I folded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djk5r_sZ61E
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Last edited by vdubreeze; 03-29-2023 at 12:28 PM.
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Old 03-29-2023, 12:10 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fergler View Post
Give each plugin a unique identifier like renaming them to start with # (and resave your FX chain)

# ReaEQ
# ReaComp

Then use one of these two and type # and keep /selected



You may need to install these scripts via ReaPack, I believe it is part of the ReaTeam scripts repo

https://reapack.com/repos

Thanks, Fergler. I think if I can't do it per chain I might as well go through the effort of creating aux fx tracks to mute. Not a big issue, just the difference between maybe 15 minutes and no minutes.
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Old 03-29-2023, 07:33 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by vdubreeze View Post
Thanks, Fergler. I think if I can't do it per chain I might as well go through the effort of creating aux fx tracks to mute. Not a big issue, just the difference between maybe 15 minutes and no minutes.

FX Chains have no meaning once inserted, they are just a shortcut for adding many plugins with exact settings and routing. So unless you prepare them ahead of time with unique identifiers, which won't take too long, I don't know what else you could do except maybe look for plugins that happen to be in a certain order.
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Old 03-30-2023, 03:51 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by vdubreeze View Post
It seems like the easiest way to do it is to create new fx aux tracks and mute them, but I'm trying to avoid the time it will take to do that times 6 and match the current fx balances exactly.
You might want to check the latest pre-versions. There is a new FX related feature which would help you to bypass and automate FX / group of FX easier.

Thanks for the link, I'll try to see what it's about.

---
edit: Thanks to Yaroslav Istomin for the video instructions. So, it's about using ReaControlMIDI to switch fx bypass with CC 20+52. Here are the steps if you want to try it:

1) Add ReaControlMIDI as a first fx in the track.
2) Open one of the fx you want to control and toggle the bypass.
3) After toggling the bypass, click the Param button and go to MIDI link > CC 14-bit > select 20/52 from the list.
4) In ReaControlMIDI Control Change section, select Enable. Open the dropdown menu for one of the CC sliders and select CC 20+52.
5) Repeat steps 2-3 for other FX you want to control the same way.

6) If you want, you can then create an automation lane for ReaControlMIDI CC 20+52 to automate the bypasses.

And if you have further use for this FX chain, save it all including the ReaControlMIDI, and it's ready to rock with bypass control and all.

Last edited by xpander; 03-30-2023 at 05:20 AM. Reason: added info
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