Turn OFF Audio Engine
Hi!
I mainly use MuseScore as a MIDI device; individual instruments are routed to separate MIDI channels received by Ableton Live or Bitwig Studio so i can write as i'm hearing the VST's i'll end up using anyway.
This is great, and works as expected save for one thing:
The sound fonts of MuseScore are still playing in the background, and the CPU consumption almost doubles what it would be using only the sound of the VST's!
This is NOT an issue of VOLUME (i already turned down each individual instrument gain AND the Master Gain in the Mixer); instead, it's an issue of CPU exhaustion.
So: is there a way to TURN OFF the audio engine?
Or, maybe, set an instrument with NO SOUND FONT, so it only generates MIDI output to be routed elsewhere?
Thanks in advance to anyone who can offer advice on this!
Comments
Go to "command line options" and disable the synth. This might help CPU.
In reply to Go to "command line options"… by ramblinj
Which I believe would also disable playback entirely, so likely not what the OP is looking for.
For now though, the answer is "no".
For MuseScore 4 the answer could become yes, as audio engine structure is being revised and better integration with DAW-like programs should be part of that.
In reply to Which I believe would also… by jeetee
thanks, @jeetee. this is the first time i've heard about MuseScore 4, did some quick digging through the various forum posts, and have to say it looks amazing
my only concern would be that, in the process of trying to make MuseScore more like a DAW, the integration features with external software may be overlooked, or entirely scrapped! i hope that's not the case
automatic transport sync is the main component i've found lacking in the robust MIDI toolset MuseScore already has, so it'd be great news to have any update in that regard
otherwise, everything you've all shared seems to be very promising, can't wait for a release!
In reply to thanks, @jeetee. this is the… by cronooonorc
The intent is not as much to make MuseScore more DAW-like (although we will borrow some handy interface concepts from that world) but especially for playback allow more interaction/offloading to libraries and programs better suited for the task.
In reply to Go to "command line options"… by ramblinj
hi, @ramblinj! i tried the command option, but as @jeetee says, playback (not only audio) was entirely disabled and had to go through a complete re-install of the app
the only 'workaround' i've found so far is to create an empty sound font with an external editor (Polyphone); this way, no sample is loaded or triggered and that seems to mildly alleviate CPU consumption
it would be great to have an EMPTY instrument in order to exclusively get the MIDI output... maybe in MuseScore 4? fingers crossed!
anyway, thanks for your suggestion!
I have a locally modified build of MuseScore that does exactly this (allows synth and MIDI output to be toggled individually). I would offer to clean it up and submit it as a PR, except that I know that all of the audio-related code is being reworked for MuseScore 4.0.0.