Ableton has announced the release of CV Tools, a collection of devices that allow you to control and interact with your modular gear with Live 10 Suite.
At long last, Ableton has released their highly sought after CV Tools update, allowing users to directly control their hardware from inside the DAW. While there have been many workarounds, the function now comes native to Ableton, thus opening a whole new world of possibilities for creators. CV Tools is available for Suite and Max For Live Owners.

Following from Ableton launching their CV Tools update, Moog has released 5 videos using their Mother 32 and DFAM synths and the various tools in the update. Control Voltage, abbreviated CV, is an analog method for controlling electronic hardware instruments. Developed for synthesizers in the 1960s by both Bob Moog and Don Buchla (working independently on opposite coasts of the United States), CV empowered early electronic musicians to create organic evolving electronic patches. Think of it as early MIDI. Below, you’ll be able to watch the videos taken at the Moog factory in Ashville North Carolina.

Mother-32 | Modulate your synth with CV Tools
Modulate your Eurorack format synthesizer using CV Tools’ CV LFO device and a DC-coupled audio interface. You can call up multiple CV modulators on a single audio track, stacking CV LFOs and Modulation Envelopes to create expressive analog modulations.

The Pack lets you generate or receive Pitch, Control, Clock and Trigger CV.

Now musicians can interface their modular or other CV-based gear and Ableton Live 10 using a compatible dc-coupled audio interface.

For those who don’t own modular equipment, the Rotating Rhythm Generator and CV Utility devices also work with MIDI, adding modular-style workflow inside Live or to hardware setups.

CV Tools includes:

  • CV Instrument: Allows control of modular gear with MIDI. Features flexible modulation and voicing options, as well as cent-accurate tuning for oscillators.
  • CV triggers: Allows musicians to sequence their modular drum modules from inside Live.
  • CV Utility: Allows musicians to control their modular gear with automation curves from Live. It is also possible to add, multiply and shift control signals together and process control voltages like audio.
  • CV Clock In: Allows control of Live’s tempo from Eurorack modules.
  • CV Clock Out: Sends CV clock out to sync modular gear with Live.
  • CV In: Allows signals received from modular gear to modulate parameters in Live.
  • CV Shaper: A device for creating flexible CV shapes in Live that are then sent to a modular rig.
  • CV Envelope Follower: Uses audio signals inside Live to control modular gear.
  • CV LFO: Acts as an additional LFO source for modular systems.
  • Rotating Rhythm Generator: A modular-style beat and polyrhythm generator. This device also sends MIDI for use with Drum Racks or other external equipment with a MIDI input.

CV Tools is free for all owners of Live 10 Suite running 10.1 or above and owners of Ableton Live 10 Standard and Max for Live. The Pack can be downloaded from the Live Browser under Available Packs. Users can also download CV Tools from their account page.

DFAM | Build a synth drum rack using CV Tools
Follow along to learn how to extract audio from a CV Tools sync’d Eurorack format synthesizer to design your own custom drum rack of synthesized drum samples. 

Ableton Live 10 Suite is available for purchase and upgrade at local retailers and from Ableton.com.

More information: Ableton