Music software can now run on gaming hardware and the speed improvement could change the way we make music.

One of the bottlenecks when using computers to make music is the CPU (central processing unit), the chip that does all the processing. Most musicians don’t push the limits of their machines, but if you like to use a lot of effect plugins (specialized apps that run inside the main app), your machine will eventually overheat. Now, a plugin maker runs their software on the GPU (graphics processing unit) of your computer, which allows for much more complex effects and/or multiple effects at once. So why haven’t we seen this before?

“Because it moves the processing from the CPU to the GPU, it will free up the CPU, which in turn will give us the ability to open up more tracks, instruments, and effects panels,” music producer Nikhil Koparde told Lifewire via email. “Not all DAWs and plugins support this right now, so it will take some time for the music industry to catch up.”

To visualize the difference between a CPU and a GPU, let’s try a chef metaphor. A CPU is a single skilled chef who can work very, very fast, while a GPU is a room with hundreds of chefs, all working slower and with less skill, but together they can cook food much faster.