Automatically mute unused devices

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
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soklamon
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Dec 06, 2019 4:24 pm

Automatically mute unused devices

Post by soklamon » Thu Jun 17, 2021 1:26 pm

Hi guys! Do you know if there is a way to make ableton mute-unmute automatically devices in tracks? I am using a lot of max4live devices in parallel, in several tracks, and as I use them here and there, I have to go all around and write automation to mute-unmute which saves a lot of CPU.

It does not seem to me difficult to have something doinf this automatically, with a look function of some seconds to avoid clicks, and turn on of devices before and after their use.

Is there a way to do it? is there a Max4live device maybe that does that?

Thanks!
Last edited by soklamon on Thu Jun 17, 2021 4:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

doubleUG
Posts: 246
Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2011 7:19 am

Re: Automatically mute unsued devices

Post by doubleUG » Thu Jun 17, 2021 2:10 pm

copy the text, open Live > drag in empty M4L device > open Max editor > paste > save M4L device
https://docs.cycling74.com/max8/vignett ... ng_patches

https://doubleUG.bandcamp.com/releases

soklamon
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Dec 06, 2019 4:24 pm

Re: Automatically mute unused devices

Post by soklamon » Thu Jun 17, 2021 4:08 pm

that's great! Although I guess it also consumes CPU by constantly looking for audio :P
tahnk you!

soklamon
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Dec 06, 2019 4:24 pm

Re: Automatically mute unused devices

Post by soklamon » Thu Jun 17, 2021 4:13 pm

I see the patch that only looks for signal, without any complicated amplitude tracking algorithm. Which is good for low CPU usage. Looks great!


soklamon
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Dec 06, 2019 4:24 pm

Re: Automatically mute unused devices

Post by soklamon » Thu Jun 17, 2021 5:07 pm

seems very similar in the code but faster to setup in the session
thank you!

soklamon
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Dec 06, 2019 4:24 pm

Re: Automatically mute unused devices

Post by soklamon » Thu Jun 17, 2021 5:39 pm

Unfortunately there is some clicking noise happening as the device does not have a look up function anticipating the incoming sound. It turns on the device that has already been producing sounds and thus causing zero crossing.
this is mainly a problem of Live, how noisy it is to turn on a device while sound is playing. But unfortunately both plugins does not fix the problem, as they add a new problem, unless all tracks have very smooth attack at the beginning

Valiumdupeuple
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Re: Automatically mute unused devices

Post by Valiumdupeuple » Sat Jun 19, 2021 1:02 pm

Yeah I know Soklamon.
eCo was made primarily for production where you need CPU headroom but don't really mind about this type of issue; it's definitely not really suited for performances/live situations.
I wanted to add a fade in as the device turns on (that wouldn't work with the midi version, though) but didn't have time to try implementing this back then. I didn't know either that it was possible to define latency for a M4L device, or maybe it wasn't possible yet, and never took the time to really try this since.
I typically use with devices like Convolution Reverb on Returns and so no click is perceptible, but I know it can be a problem in other situations.

The workaround isn't perfect, unfortunately.

soklamon
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Dec 06, 2019 4:24 pm

Re: Automatically mute unused devices

Post by soklamon » Sat Jun 19, 2021 11:55 pm

It's a good one Valiumdupeuple
but maybe if there was some kind of function that looks some ms aheadn and anticipates sound so it can turn on about 4ms before, would prevent the click
Maybe even with a small amount negative delay in each channel it could work but we have to try that
I will try to experiment when I get through a deadline I have
Thanx any way!

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