Real-time application of Reverb, Wav, Bass and Treble and more, was a really big, useful, unique tool for audio design. Now it’s gone.
Don’t get me wrong, the new modpacks effects are OK. I got used to some of them. I could find more, maybe. A lot are broken.
But the lack of multi-track, live-playback modifications are killing me. Please let me know if you have feedback or alternatives.
Auri
Realtime effects are still there in version 3.7.0. Or are you talking about something else?
Thanks for your answer. I’m lamenting the fact that the built-in effects could once be used and tweaked while the track was playing or looped. When Applied, these effects would go on every selected track segment, making multi-track Wav and Reverb quite effective and unique.
Last time I checked, I could basically no longer use the built-in effects which I loved. I can use them while the track isn’t playing and/or load a slow, ineffective preview. It’s not practical to the extent that it’s become a dead feature, intended to be replaced by realtime effects. I may previously have used the wrong terminology, I hope it’s clearer now. Built-in effects vs. Realtime effects.
Plus, Real-time Master Effects reduce each track into one single track. For advanced sound design, it’s a big problemo. I can’t go and tweak specific tracks after a simple general reverb. Please check if that’s still the case, I apologize if it isn’t anymore.
Any workaround or advice?
I hope I understand what you’re trying to do …
As far back as Audacity 2.4.2 (the oldest version I can open on my computer), the interface you describe was available. Effects that had real time capability would allow unlimited playback, skipping back and forth, and clicking in the timeline to pick the playback spot. But the effect was destructive - when applied, it altered the data. It could be applied to part of a track. I never tried to apply an effect to several tracks simultaneously. Only a few built-in effects had this capability - Bass and Treble was one of them.
Starting with Audacity 3.2.0, real-time effects were introduced. These do not alter the data, so have the advantage that you can come back later and change the parameters.
The Audacity built-in real-time effects are now available through the real-time effects interface (as you’ve probably noticed).
Real-time effects can be applied to individual tracks. However the effect cannot be applied to part of a track. To do that you’d need to split off the part of the track into a separate track and apply the real-time effect to that track. When mixed down the sound would be the same as if you had applied a destructive effect to a portion of the track.
If you want to apply an identical effect to several tracks, there is a work-around. Tweak the real-time effect until you get the sound you want. Save those settings as a user preset. Add the real-time effect to the other tracks, loading the previously-saved user preset.
FWIW, I’m a big fan of real-time effects, and non-destructive editing in general. The ability to come back a day, week, or month later and tweak a reverb or EQ is game-changing.
I was rereading my comments and I can be so unclear at times, it’s not even funny. I apologize, and also, I want to say you understood me quite well and provided good solutions.
However, I still disapprove of getting rid of the multi-track application of effects. For example, Bass and Treble and Wah were amazingly useful.
Having the ability to listen to all the tracks while applying an effect on multiple tracks helped me bring my tracks together using wah and other methods. In other words, I used this method and am struggling to find a substitute.
I guess you know by now, but I did mean these effects (img).
By the way, when you said ‘built-in real-time effects are now available through the real-time effects interface’, did you also mean these old effects (see img)?
Final point. I’ve had some minor bugs using the newish real-time effects; they sometimes get applied to new tracks and other bugs. Also, I’m not sure if I could download better effect kits, but the ones I do have tend to malfunction, whereas the good old effects were a sure thing. I could count on them not to behave sporadically.
Plus, that I have to ‘render them to mix’ runs against the fact that they are supposed to be non-destructive. I have to render them, because I use so many, they tend to overload my projects and they are always at the risk of malfunction (again, maybe a problem with the kits I use).
Any suggestions on good kits?
These are the Audacity built-in effects that are now available as real time effects.
I have not yet had any real time effects malfunction, so I can’t speak to that.
How many real time effects are you stacking up on one track?
I can’t really suggest any particular suite of plug-ins. Since I’m on Mac I have access to Apple’s set of Audio Unit effects which, along with the Muse effects, meet my needs.
Thanks. I’ll download these – I don’t think I have them. I average two to three effects per track. I’ll try to make a bug report the next time I ecounter one.
I hate complaining and I think we both understand each other on this, but just one more time: The point I am trying to make is that I am unable to get consistant results between tracks by applying effects individually to every track. The only way I can effectively apply effects to multiple tracks is by rendering tracks together and applying an effect to the new fused track. That makes it even more destructive than it was before. It’s ok, though, I’ll adapt to it.
So, last question: will it ever again be possible to listen to the tracks while using the old effects – and, to multitrack?
I regularly stack 3 or 4 real-time effects on one stereo track (I rarely do multi-tracking) and have not seen any glitches.
TL;DR: I don’t know the answer to your last question.
I don’t know what Muse’s plan is for Audacity 4 and what features it might include. I’m just a user doing support here on the forum. A solution (that I would like to see) for applying a set of effects to a group of tracks is for Audacity to support sub-mixes. That’s getting into serious digital audio workstation territory, though.
