diff --git a/src/NoteData.h b/src/NoteData.h
index 017497b2d0..129a76b7da 100644
--- a/src/NoteData.h
+++ b/src/NoteData.h
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ class NoteData
 
 	/* Return the note at the given track and row.  Row may be out of
 	 * range; pretend the song goes on with TAP_EMPTYs indefinitely. */
-	inline const TapNote &GetTapNote( unsigned track, int row ) const
+	inline const TapNote &GetTapNote( const unsigned& track, const int& row ) const
 	{
 		const TrackMap &mapTrack = m_TapNotes[track];
 		TrackMap::const_iterator iter = mapTrack.find( row );
diff --git a/src/NoteDataUtil.cpp b/src/NoteDataUtil.cpp
index 7ca22e6b0a..90a83a76b6 100644
--- a/src/NoteDataUtil.cpp
+++ b/src/NoteDataUtil.cpp
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ static void LoadFromSMNoteDataStringWithPlayer( NoteData& out, const RString &sS
 
 				switch( ch )
 				{
-				case '0': tn = TAP_EMPTY;				break;
+				case '0': break;	// massive waste of processor time to initialize a tapnote with type empty only to do nothing with it -mina
 				case '1': tn = TAP_ORIGINAL_TAP;			break;
 				case '2':
 				case '4':
@@ -168,7 +168,9 @@ static void LoadFromSMNoteDataStringWithPlayer( NoteData& out, const RString &sS
 					 * due to invalid data. We should probably check for this when
 					 * we load SM data for the first time ... */
 					// FAIL_M("Invalid data in SM");
-					tn = TAP_EMPTY;
+
+					// massive waste of processor time -mina
+					//tn = TAP_EMPTY;
 					break;
 				}