I had two chords from the chord track in “selected” mode, they had some 11 (unselected) chords in between them. I accidently double clicked on the first one. Mr. Theory from Cubase apparently tries to calculate all the possible chord progressions. (will it end?). I had a substantial amount of work done without saving the project (…) So I can only hope Cubase finishes at some point in time. Please add a time out timer or limit the amount of suggestions. One of minute calculations will be more than enough on a I5 or whatever machine.
Hi,
In this case probably limited count of results would be more useful, then a time.
Well, It depends how long it will take to come up with the limited count of suggestions of course
Hi,
I just tried on my system. The Chord Assistant appears immediately.
Could you share your setup screenshot of the window, please?
Thx for thinking this over with me, apparently the project needs some complexity to encounter the issue. I can not reproduce it in a quick lab project either. That said I’ve made a movie that shows the thing with ease:
http://www.hamicast.nl/hans/cubase/hang_due_to_chords.mp4
Cubase 9.5, Windows 10 1803 fully patched, x64
Hi,
Thank you for the video.
I build exactly the same chord progression, and now I can reproduce it. If I select just the X and C over one bar, it takes some seconds to open the Chord Editor. But if I do it over 2 bars, it already hangs.
Reported to Steinberg (CAN-17821).
Please address this behavior, Steinberg! It’s a major creative “flow” blocker!
Selecting a bunch of chords, and then accidentally double-clicking results in Cubase generating thousands of chord progressions. If I Abort, Cubase becomes unresponsive, I have to Force Quit Cubase, and start again, losing my work!
FIX: Chord generation should not be triggered until an approval “are you sure…?” dialog is clicked after accidentally double-clicking on chord progressions.
Can you make a screenshot with the chords on the chord track?
I cannot replicate the issue.
it’s August 2025! this happened to me a couple of times. the worst time is now, mapping out a new track, haven’t named it yet (only created the folder) and so there is no way to get back at my work. the worst thing is the dialog has a Cancel button, and I think clicking Cancel actually makes Cubase freeze. This is OUTRAGEOUS.
it is very easy to trigger, because we double click a single chord to change it. If multiple chords in the track are selected then Cubase starts this anti-feature. I do not care that you think you can analyze chord changes, I just want to get on with my work. And I lose a full hour now and am embarrassed as well because I am on a collaboration session. This has been reported 7 years ago, and it’s REPRODUCABLE BEHAVIOR. If you CAN’T FIX it then give us an option to completely DISABLE this ANTIFEATURE.
Steinberg, FIX THIS. At least, make it possible to shoot down Cubase and get a “please safe” prompt so we do not lose all our work.
Sorry, I tried multiple times to replicate this behaviour (C14.0.32) by selecting and clicking 10 chords at the same. Nothing… everything works as expected.
Can you provide some system specs, too @RealRaven and @EX1MUS since both Johnny and I can’t reproduce this behaviour?
Well Cubase 14 seems better in that you’re apparently able to cancel the ongoing search- thread: https://www.hamicast.nl/hans/ytresources/chordlab_cubase14.mp4
Cubase 13 is still horrible: https://www.hamicast.nl/hans/ytresources/chordlab_cubase13.mp4
I can reproduce it with any project that has some complexity and create a chord selection.
select a chord, select another chord double click on the first chord - seemingly
(and there’s a score showing chords in there as well perhaps that influences it)
Now I agree with @RealRaven that this is an anti-feature. The pro doesn’t need it at all, the beginner doesn’t want to check the 1000’s of progressions out that make no sense anyways.
Okay, I tried to replicate it once again by following the exact steps shown in your video:
- Chord track with 30 random chords and multiple tensions/bass notes for complexity
- Select a chord somewhere near the start
- Select another chord near the end with at least 10 chords in between
- Double click on the first chord
Still nothing here. What am I missing? I am on Cubase 14.0.32, too. Windows 10.
Try with a standard demo project of Cubase, create a chordtrack from audio perhaps, IDK I like reproduction before fixing as well - but hey after all this years it might be a good idea to have a look at the source code as well. If you don’t see it let AI help you. - Keep trying.
Perhaps you need real chord progression to start anyway not random.
For starters, I believe you that you encounter this issue.
The question is - which circumstances lead to this behaviour since it is not reproducable with any given ad hoc chord progression.
I changed the chord progression in a way that there’s a tonal centre to it - still nothing.
Maybe you can upload a project here that just contains the bare minimum to reproduce this issue.
Thanks for trying to repro it.
I notice you’re on Windows. Maybe it’s a Mac thing?
I’m on Cubase 14.0.32 Build 342 on Apple Silicon, running MacOS 15.6 on an M3 Max MacBook Pro.
That could be a thing. I remember reading this topic some time in the past and wasn’t able to reproduce the issue at all. I am on Windows, too.
Hmm, unlikely since @ejocvx encountered this behaviour on his Windows rig in 2018:
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Okay, I was able to get this behaviour, too, now. Good thing that the Abort button actually works. It basically lets you skip the dialog and go where you wanted to go in the first place. Not sure what happened on @RealRaven 's computer.
What did you do differently now that you can reproduce this behaviour? Anything in particular?