You can now get Signalbash, a time tracking utility plugin for Windows, macOS, and Linux, for free!

Ever wondered how much time you’ve spent rotting in front of the computer, justifying it with an unimpressive amount of subpar DAW projects?

Alternatively, have you ever wanted to track your “ingame” DAW time and see how you compare to producers around the globe? Look no further!

Signalbash is a free, open-source utility tool that does just that, and it works with Windows, macOS, and Linux.

To use Signalbash, you need to make an account on their website. As I understand, you do not have to provide an email or sensitive information to use the plugin.

Signalbash tracks the time spent working in your DAW, and it then feeds the data into a heatmap that gives you a birds-eye view of your music-making habits.

It’ll show you which days, weeks, or months you’ve been most productive, which could be interesting to know.

Simply add the plugin to your master channel. Reaper users could probably add it to their monitoring chain.

Signalbash can compare your stats with everyone else in a global ranking system to entice the gamer personality, If you feel like you’re not heeding your craft to an appropriate degree, unraveling the global rankings could provide a much needed kick in the ass if you’re a competitive person at heart.

Log into your Signalbash account, copy the session key to your plugin, and you’re ready to go!

Signalbash could, of course, give realistic input to your bad screen habits as well. Perhaps you’ve produced enough for the day.

The sun is shining, and your body is begging for much-needed vitamin D. Walking in nature is proven to enhance creativity and stimulate your senses, so why not try that?

All things considered, Signalbash might be a much more useful plugin than I initially thought. Just think about how many hours go down the drain while tweaking a dumb sounding patch or disastrous bouts of mixing with ear fatigue. It happens to the best of us.

When I started using Reaper, the demo nagware that tells you how many hours and days you’ve evaluated their product was kind of interesting to me. To be honest, I never even activated my license, even though I purchased it years ago.

Of course, using clocks on the wall or a script is always an option, as are VST plugins like Signalbash!

Download: Signalbash (FREE – account needed)

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Last Updated on May 2, 2025 by Tomislav Zlatic.