Ableton Live 10 users will soon be able to integrate their DAW with modular synth rigs and any other instrument equipped with control-voltage inputs/outputs, thanks to Ableton's new CV Tools. While the release is currently in beta testing, it will be shown off at this weekend's Superbooth convention in Berlin.
To the wholly uninitiated, CV is the main way that different parts of a modular synth system interact with other modules (patching, say, a voltage-controlled oscillator to a voltage-controlled filter, and so on).
In keyboard-based synths, CV inputs have been used for decades in a more limited capacity, often allowing an expression pedal to modulate a filter or another parameter or interact with external gear. (Guitarists may be familiar with CV inputs on pedals that act in the same way.)
What the introduction of Ableton's CV Tools mean is that you can control such gear with Live, or let parts of Live be modified by external signals, using one of 10 plugins included in the CV Tools pack: CV Instrument, CV Triggers, CV Utility, CV Clock In, CV Clock Out, CV In, CV Shaper, CV Envelope Follower, CV LFO, and a Rotating Rhythm Generator, which is a modular-style beat generator.
Watch Ableton's video above for a look at what these new features can do. You can click here to join the current beta program. To connect, you'll need a compatible, DC-coupled audio interface like Motu's UltraLites and 828s or most interfaces from UAD's Apollo Series line (the only one that isn't DC-coupled is the Apollo Firewire). A full release of CV Tools is expected soon.