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Need help with CPU while producing

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 4:33 pm
by akirawithv
Hello subsekters,

I'm having trouble with the CPU on my ableton/logic.

. I don't have money to buy a new one, and have already reset my computer and left only the essencial apps.

I need your help with some tips to solve this problem. I usually produce and mix at the same time, so I get my sounds right from the start, but now is impossible to finish the loop without crashing ableton/logic. :geek:

Is there anything I can do in my production or setup to solve this?

Thank you all for your time!

Re: Need help with CPU while producing

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 4:45 pm
by Prophän
Close all running processes, fiddle with your bit-rate.. there is not too much you can do to solve that, buy some ram, or upgrade to a better computer.

Re: Need help with CPU while producing

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 4:52 pm
by Lost to the Void
Use the freeze function?

Re: Need help with CPU while producing

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 5:13 pm
by akirawithv
thanks prophän!

LTTV: Not too much I'm quite attached to my sounds, as I said earlier i keep mixing them while producing and sometimes im afraid to loose too much info. Is there any advices u would give me considering freezing files? like eq yes, compression no, some tips like this so i don't loose too much information or do irreparable mistakes?

Re: Need help with CPU while producing

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 5:27 pm
by Lost to the Void
No information is lost in freezing a track, and the track can be unfrozen at any point

Re: Need help with CPU while producing

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 6:21 pm
by akirawithv
perfect man!!! thanks a lot, that was exactly the type of tips I was looking for!

cheers!

If anyone has any other keep them coming

Re: Need help with CPU while producing

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 6:57 pm
by dubdub
There's actually quite a bit you can do to optimize CPU usage in terms of your system and DAW settings. There is a guide on the Ableton website about it, should be easy to google.

I would also check the plugins you are using, some are exponentially more CPU hungry than others.

Re: Need help with CPU while producing

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 7:28 pm
by Mslwte

Re: Need help with CPU while producing

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2017 8:34 pm
by akirawithv
thanks dubdub and mslwte!

Re: Need help with CPU while producing

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2017 9:50 pm
by ggroove
This might come in handy

On the topic freezing in ableton: If you're having difficulties freezing the track due to it being side chained, try the looper:

Close to resample, but I think it's quicker in some cases.

youtu.be/cIG3vbnVKgc

Re: Need help with CPU while producing

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2017 10:36 pm
by Mslwte
That's a nice little tip!

Re: Need help with CPU while producing

Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2017 1:45 am
by akirawithv
great ggroove! thanks a lot.

Re: Need help with CPU while producing

Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2017 11:11 am
by dubdub
Also check these, these are more on how to optimize Windows for audio.

https://help.ableton.com/hc/en-us/artic ... -for-Audio
https://help.ableton.com/hc/en-us/artic ... #miscfixes
https://help.ableton.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000211304

There is a PDF floating around the web for free that has an extremly detailed guide on how to maximize your system for DAW usage but I can't find it anymore by googling.

Re: Need help with CPU while producing

Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2017 12:25 pm
by Planar
ggroove wrote:This might come in handy

On the topic freezing in ableton: If you're having difficulties freezing the track due to it being side chained, try the looper:

Close to resample, but I think it's quicker in some cases.

youtu.be/cIG3vbnVKgc

This is a nice tip. I've mentioned this before, but another way around the limitation is to put your track in a group and then put the compressor on the group instead. You can still freeze the audio track(s) inside the group.

The problem with baking in the side-chain compression is if your start moving your side-chain source around for variations, i.e. another kick pattern, then the audio won't be following your new pattern and you'll have to create another frozen clip. YMMV depending on whether you use side-chain as a creative effect or more subtly for mixing.

Re: Need help with CPU while producing

Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 7:46 pm
by damagedGoods
Make sure your wifi on the laptop is turned off while you're producing - makes a big difference for me!

(All the little random background whatevers constantly pinging the internet can't do their thing if there's no connection)

Re: Need help with CPU while producing

Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 8:57 pm
by tsaro
On a similar note, if you're on windows here's a nifty little tool: https://www.binisoft.org/wfc.php

You can control the built in firewall with it, I've set it to block all connections unless I approve them. And it also shows some programs will just keep trying to connect if they don't have permission (or if there's no connection at all). So simply switching off wifi could actually cause some programs to keep trying to connect.

Re: Need help with CPU while producing

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 5:21 pm
by msl
Increase your latency settings and bounce down to audio the things you can (freeze). Use FX as sends not inserts on individual channels.


.

Re: Need help with CPU while producing

Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2017 5:51 pm
by Hades
ggroove wrote:This might come in handy

On the topic freezing in ableton: If you're having difficulties freezing the track due to it being side chained, try the looper:

Close to resample, but I think it's quicker in some cases.

youtu.be/cIG3vbnVKgc
I'm sorry, but when exactly would this be more quicker than just opening an extra audio track (cmd/ctrl+t) and then just selecting the input of that track ?
Especially if the guy says (in the end of the video) that Live 9 doesn't even let you drag your recorded loop into an empty track,
you still gotta open a new audio track before you can drag the clip into that.

Maybe I'm just being anal here, and both our methods have the same result,
it's just that I'm not getting the possible benefits of using the Looper for this.
Live can be considered as one big sampler, and it's easy as fuck to re-record clips from other clips,
and it will all be nicely in sync if you put your settings right to start with,
so yeah...
:)

Re: Need help with CPU while producing

Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2017 10:19 am
by rsntr
The actual question has already been answered but I'd like to add that committing to audio not only helps with weak CPUs but can also foster creativity. You can mess around with an audio track in ways you can't do with midi. Also, committing to audio stops endless and aimless tweaking. Btw, I still produce on an 8 years old MacBook Pro and don't feel like I need to upgrade anytime soon.

Re: Need help with CPU while producing

Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2017 10:32 am
by dubdub
rsntr wrote:The actual question has already been answered but I'd like to add that committing to audio not only helps with weak CPUs but can also foster creativity. You can mess around with an audio track in ways you can't do with midi. Also, committing to audio stops endless and aimless tweaking. Btw, I still produce on an 8 years old MacBook Pro and don't feel like I need to upgrade anytime soon.
Somewhat related question, if I have LFOs and random modulation on a track I need to record it into audio live to preserve the random modulation, instead of freeze-flatting it, right?