Ableton Forum

Hi all,

I recently bought a Win 7 AMD quad core 2.1 ghz computer. 64 bit OS with 6 gig ram. I use a Line 6 UX1 ASIO interface.

I have made a few tracks and never had problems with CPU usage or clicks until tonight.

I made just two clips playing in the same scene. One of them is a warped drum loop that lasts for one measure, the other one was a hi-hat that I made from a 1/16th note hit that is looping for the whole scene length (one measure - so it loops 16 times per measure).

When both clips are running I can hear a click that shouldn't be there with each 16th loop. If I mute that track, the click is still over the longer clip. If I stop the short clip, the click goes away. CPU says 23%.

How can my CPU be at 23% on a computer like this running only two clips? No VST's right now. I also saved the project and rebooted the computer. Same thing. I have most everything unnecessary uninstalled and nothing but Security Essentials in the background.

I suppose I could resample that track so it's one clip holding 16 hits. But I'm very surprised I'm getting the clicks. What can I do to eliminate or reduce this? 23% CPU is ridiculous! Is there a guide out there for stripping this computer down? Aside from uninstalling bloat I also turned off all Aero stuff.

Thanks,
Andy

Are you positive that the cpu performance is contributing to the problem, and not the properties of the clips themselves?

One thing to take note of is, in clip properties there is a 'fade' button. This adds a tiny fade-in each time the clip triggers. That, of course, might take away from the tightness of the sample.

Then there are the various warp modes. If you are using Beats mode, a lot of things can cause problems. It isn't so much that Beats mode isn't ideal, but your best bet is to set it appropriately for the given material (like 1/16, maybe a slight fade out. Not sure, depends on if your material is being stretched or scrunched).

I am positive it is caused by the CPU (or some kind of glitch like that). I just resampled the two clips onto one track, one measure in length. It plays fine that way. It's when the computer is trying to loop quickly that it's causing it I think?

The 16th note loop is in Complex Pro and it is transposed 8 semitones. If I switch to Complex it sounds pretty much the same but without the popping. I made a new loop with a different hit, same settings... it also popped but not every time - more randomly.

Reading the manual, it appears Complex and Pro are more for long samples and not for general messing around like I am doing. Perhaps I should stay away from that? But still... I'm surprised it is glitching.

Andy