Can I automatically mute tracks when there are no items?

[Rosetree]

Hello.

I wonder if there is a way of muting tracks during sections where there are no items in them. I know I can automate their mute envelopes, but it is rather a hassle.

If there is a way to do this more efficiently by combining a few action commands(perhaps), it would be much appreciated.

Thank you in advance and have a great day!

[JDSStudios]

Originally Posted by Rosetree

Hello.

I wonder if there is a way of muting tracks during sections where there are no items in them. I know I can automate their mute envelopes, but it is rather a hassle.

If there is a way to do this more efficiently by combining a few action commands(perhaps), it would be much appreciated.

Thank you in advance and have a great day!

Just out of curiosity, why would you need to mute empty tracks with no items?

There is an “off line” preference, but I don’t know if it does what you want.

[myfeltgood]

I've seen scripts that delete tracks with no items so maybe it's possible to modify one these to just mute instead of delete.

[Rosetree]

Originally Posted by JDSStudios

Just out of curiosity, why would you need to mute empty tracks with no items?

There is an “off line” preference, but I don’t know if it does what you want.

Hello.

Actually, I only want to automatically mute sections without items.
That way, I can automatically save more CPU power and have Reaper play more smoothly as a result.

That is the aim here.

[valy]

Not sure how Reaper handles it, but I'm pretty sure that sections of tracks without audio don't eat up CPU cycles in Pro Tools. So you just have to strip silence (dynamic split, whatever) the empty parts of items.

Is it different in Reaper?

[Rosetree]

Originally Posted by valy

Not sure how Reaper handles it, but I'm pretty sure that sections of tracks without audio don't eat up CPU cycles in Pro Tools. So you just have to strip silence (dynamic split, whatever) the empty parts of items.

Is it different in Reaper?

Hello.

I just checked how Reaper handles CPU usage by importing a wav file into a clean project, creating a track with three FX plugins inserted and partially deleting a section of the wav file to see how it will turn out. The CPU usage does not become 0 nor go down during sections that are empty.

The only ways to bring down the CPU usage were to either actually disable the FX chain or engaging the mute button.
(Provided that the option shown in the pic is enabled in the preferences)

I really hope there is a way to handle this automatically which will make our lives even easier and more fun when using Reaper

[Rosetree]

Originally Posted by myfeltgood

I've seen scripts that delete tracks with no items so maybe it's possible to modify one these to just mute instead of delete.

That would be super cool indeed.

Since I have no idea when it comes to scripting, it would be nice if those in the know can show us a way

[valy]

Originally Posted by Rosetree

Hello.

I just checked how Reaper handles CPU usage by importing a wav file into a clean project, creating a track with three FX plugins inserted and partially deleting a section of the wav file to see how it will turn out. The CPU usage does not become 0 nor go down during sections that are empty.

The only ways to bring down the CPU usage were to either actually disable the FX chain or engaging the mute button.

I really hope there is a way to handle this automatically which will make our lives even easier and more fun when using Reaper

Did you try with Anticipative FX processing off? I'm not sure if that affects it at all, just an idea.

[Rosetree]

Originally Posted by valy

Did you try with Anticipative FX processing off? I'm not sure if that affects it at all, just an idea.

Hello.

I checked and it's off at the moment, so maybe does not affect the CPU usage.
Um... I wonder what we can do.

[valy]

I wonder what the CPU overhead would be to constantly mute and unmute like 80 tracks with lots of small items on them, though.

[Rosetree]

Originally Posted by valy

I wonder what the CPU overhead would be to constantly mute and unmute like 80 tracks with lots of small items on them, though.

Yeah. That is something I am interested as well.

I am currently working on a project with over 150 tracks and when I freeze some tracks with quite a number of plugins inserted, the CPU usage obviously goes down significantly.

I can take that route and freeze away as I go, but I am hoping what I have in mind is possible considering the super flexibility of Reaper.

[nofish]

There's 'Preferences > Audio > Reduce CPU use of silent tracks during playback (experimental)' which might be what you're looking for (never tried it myself though).

[Rosetree]

Originally Posted by nofish

There's 'Preferences > Audio > Reduce CPU use of silent tracks during playback (experimental)' which might be what you're looking for (never tried it myself though).

Hello.
Thank you. I checked the preferences and that option is already enabled.

I checked the performance meter by both enabling/disabling the option to see how much of a difference it is creating, but it seems to be so minuscule and I could not tell if it is really working. (Maybe a difference of 0.06% or so).

Of course, when they add up, the overall difference shall be rather significant, but not like actually having tracks muted.

Maybe there is an efficient way of combining actions as a custom action.
It would be nice if we can figure out.