Expressive chords CPU usage

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ian_h
Posts: 25
Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2020 11:55 am

Expressive chords CPU usage

Post by ian_h » Mon Dec 22, 2025 3:03 am

I just got a MacBook M1 Max and installed the latest version of Ableton (12.3.2) and Expressive Chords is using a crazy amount of CPU.

A set with an instance of EC and nothing else (no instrument) hits 32% CPU when I hold down a note. As I hold down the note, CPU meter drops down to 2% over the course of about 3 seconds but the spike is enough to cause overload and dropouts when I put a synth after it.

Granted I'm running at 64 sample buffer but for comparison, Drift default patch set to unison with 32 note polyphony hits 15% when I hold down a 4 note chord manually (no EC).

How does a chord util use twice the CPU as a synth?

[jur]
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Re: Expressive chords CPU usage

Post by [jur] » Mon Dec 22, 2025 4:50 pm

This is definitely not normal.
First (maybe too obvious, but...) question: is your EC version up-to-date?
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ian_h
Posts: 25
Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2020 11:55 am

Re: Expressive chords CPU usage

Post by ian_h » Tue Dec 23, 2025 3:51 pm

I downloaded it from within the Live browser, it's the version with the Learn function so I'd assume it's the latest but not sure how I would verify?

[jur]
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Re: Expressive chords CPU usage

Post by [jur] » Fri Dec 26, 2025 12:56 pm

Yes, that's the last one then.
I'd suggest trying to reset Live.
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ian_h
Posts: 25
Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2020 11:55 am

Re: Expressive chords CPU usage

Post by ian_h » Sat Dec 27, 2025 8:42 pm

Update: it's a Tahoe thing.

I noticed a few other M4L devices causing crazy CPU usage as well (Melodic Steps for example).

I downgraded to Live 12.2, which is what I was running on my old machine without issue - no luck.

I downgraded from Tahoe to Sequoia (that was an adventure) and everything is back to normal. I didn't like Tahoe anyway...

ian_h
Posts: 25
Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2020 11:55 am

Re: Expressive chords CPU usage

Post by ian_h » Sat Dec 27, 2025 8:58 pm

Ope, never mind, I forgot to set my buffer back to 64 samples.

So it seems like a buffer size issue - for Expressive Chords and Melodic Steps at least, CPU usage goes up dramatically as I change the buffer size from 256 to 128 to 64. Native devices (I tried Drift & Meld) don't seem to suffer from this issue (CPU usage goes up but more or less linearly).

ian_h
Posts: 25
Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2020 11:55 am

Re: Expressive chords CPU usage

Post by ian_h » Mon Dec 29, 2025 11:45 pm

The plot thickens. Moving over to the M4L forum viewtopic.php?p=1836204#p1836204

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