Trouble with Ableton perfromance

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1

Hi guys,
As I use more channels/clips that have instruments or audio files loaded, my whole ableton response rate slows down. Also, I thought - if I put all my kick samples in one drum rack with a simpler attached to it, it will be easier to try all samples before I choose the best but it makes the whole Ableton slow.

By Slow I mean:
1. When I press Apple Key and Save, Ableton takes around 10 seconds to load and then saves the file.
2. When I copy past an existing channel or insert a midi/audo clip, Ableton takes 10 seconds to load before the new clip is created.
3. When I boot or quit Ableton, it takes 30 seconds to start/shut down.

Hence, if anyone can help with making my Ableton work faster, that will be great. I tried everything in the preferences changing sample rate settings etc but still the same issue.

Also, anybody can suggest a better way or storing kick samples in a drum rack so I can access them faster. I have Battery from Native Instruments, can I upload all my samples in there?

My system details:
Mac book Pro (Latest version)
28 GB memory space still left (guess that’s not the issue)
I do have internet explorer and Outlook open on the side (assume that does not slow the system down?)

Thanks

2

Depending upon how many GB of memory you have in your Macbook, I would say that having 28GB remaining COULD be the issue. That isn’t a lot of space if you have 500 total.


[quote]adnanbalushi (30/08/2011)[hr]Hi guys,

As I use more channels/clips that have instruments or audio files loaded, my whole ableton response rate slows down. Also, I thought - if I put all my kick samples in one drum rack with a simpler attached to it, it will be easier to try all samples before I choose the best but it makes the whole Ableton slow.



By Slow I mean:

  1. When I press Apple Key and Save, Ableton takes around 10 seconds to load and then saves the file.
  2. When I copy past an existing channel or insert a midi/audo clip, Ableton takes 10 seconds to load before the new clip is created.
  3. When I boot or quit Ableton, it takes 30 seconds to start/shut down.



    Hence, if anyone can help with making my Ableton work faster, that will be great. I tried everything in the preferences changing sample rate settings etc but still the same issue.



    Also, anybody can suggest a better way or storing kick samples in a drum rack so I can access them faster. I have Battery from Native Instruments, can I upload all my samples in there?



    My system details:

    Mac book Pro (Latest version)

    28 GB memory space still left (guess that’s not the issue)

    I do have internet explorer and Outlook open on the side (assume that does not slow the system down?)



    Thanks[/quote]
3

I see…Since I can’t get rid of the samples and plug-ins I have and also can’t increase my internal hard disk space…a bit of a catch 22, is there a solution you can suggest? May be move a lot of stuff in an external hard drive?


4

yeah its recommended you have at least 10% free disk space for hassle free running.



OSX uses lots of virtual memory which eats up disk space.








5

how big is your drive?



you could use an external drive to store samples n stuff…



also unless you went for the drive speed upgrade when purchasing your Mac you will be running a 5400rpm drive… you can get 7200rpm internal drives.



[url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-Momentus-ST9750420AS-internal-SATA-300/dp/B004MME0N0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1314703394&sr=8-2]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-Momentus-ST9750420AS-internal-SATA-300/dp/B004MME0N0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1314703394&sr=8-2[/url]



you can also easily “restore” from one drive to another… you will need an external caddy.





[url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/IOMAX-External-Enclosure-Laptop-Powered/dp/B001EEQQ8Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1314703457&sr=1-1]http://www.amazon.co.uk/IOMAX-External-Enclosure-Laptop-Powered/dp/B001EEQQ8Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1314703457&sr=1-1[/url]







6

My Hard Drive is 250GB and that’s right, I didn’t upgrade the RPM when I purchased it.

Thanks for the recommendation, I will have a look both the solutions and see what is best.

Adnan  

7

Hi there,

I have shifted all my samples to an external hard drive and I have more than 100GB internal memory space on my Macbook Pro and I still have the same problem.



Ableton is just too slow and it takes a while (2 to 5 seconds) when I am doing anything in the session. Adding new audio clips, midi clips, plug-ins, saving a session etc.



I am not sure what the problem is and I assume my preferences are not the problem?



Any ideas?

8

go in to activity monitor and see what else is using up CPU and memory



I know safari is a massive hog especially if youve been watching youtube or any flash related stuff.

9

Hi Phil,

I found out what the problem was. I have drum racks that have all the samples for Kicks, Vocal loops, hats etc and each Drum Rack has 55 samples and every sample has it’s own simpler.



This way I could easily access and browse the sounds and it’s faster than hot-swap.



Now the session runs very fast but when I load a Drum Rack, it slows it down…is it all the samples or is it because Ableton is loading 55 instruments (one simpler for each sample?)



If that’s the case, what other instrument I can use for my drum racks?



Adnan

10

The browser in ableton is so quick is it not just as easy to load stuff as you go?

11

It is quick but find it quicker if I have a Rack that have all the samples let’s say for kicks. What I do is, open a Midi clip and add some midi notes and move it from C6 to C0 on the keyboard and find the right kick while I am looping the melody. With hot swap and drag and drop from browser gets a bit rough if I am testing 100 kicks before I pick one.



But that’s fine…I’ll find a solution, I thought somebody out there has one already so I would ask.