Turn OFF Audio Engine

• Jul 16, 2020 - 01:27

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

In reply to 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 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 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.

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