Empty songs

An empty song is a silence track with no audio file. It outputs LTC and all other protocols exactly as a real song would, but plays only silence through your audio outputs. Empty songs are useful anywhere you need timecode running without audio.

Adding an empty song

Click the + button in the setlist toolbar and choose Add Empty Song. The new card appears at the bottom of the setlist. Drag it to the position you need.

Setting the duration

Click the duration field on the empty song card and enter how long the song should run. You can type in seconds or in mm:ss format. Enter 0 for unlimited duration — the empty song will run until you manually advance or stop.

Common use cases

• Pre-show buffer — place an empty song at the top of the setlist so LTC is broadcasting at a known timecode before the first real song starts
• Intermission — insert an empty song between acts; set the duration to match your planned break; connected systems stay sync'd through the break
• Countdown — a timed empty song before the first act gives downstream systems a predictable window to align before audio begins
• Hold cue — set duration to 0 and use the empty song as a manual hold point; LTC runs indefinitely until you press Next

Behavior during playback

Empty songs participate in auto-advance. When the configured duration ends, LTCast follows the after-finish destination set for that song (default: advance to the next song). Markers, cues, and triggers can all be attached to empty songs the same as any other song.

Song card appearance

The card for an empty song shows a clock icon in place of the waveform preview. The LTC scan badge shows No file rather than a scan result, which is expected. File status badges do not apply to empty songs.

Empty songs and per-song settings

All per-song settings apply to empty songs except trim and fades, which have no effect when there is no audio. Downbeat, time signature, and after-finish all work normally on empty songs.