CDP for Live

Bring the Composers Desktop Project (CDP Release 8) sound-transformation toolkit into Ableton Live 12 as right-click actions on any audio clip. Select a clip, pick an effect from the context menu, tweak a few knobs, and Live replaces the clip in place — while quietly backing up your original to a take lane so nothing is ever lost.

Built on the Ableton Extensions SDK (beta). The extension shells out to your local CDP binaries; no plugins, no bouncing to disk by hand.

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Features

• 35 CDP effects grouped into a clip context menu, plus an All Tools rack that opens a grid of every effect and lets you chain processing without leaving the panel.
• Non-destructive by default. The processed audio replaces the clip in place; the original is moved to a CDP Originals take lane. A fresh lane is created whenever the previous backup slot is occupied, so backups never overwrite each other. The clip's colour is preserved.
• Region-aware. Only the portion of the file the clip actually plays is processed, not the whole underlying sample.
• Stereo-safe. Stereo-native CDP tools run directly; the rest are split to mono, processed per channel, and re-interleaved.
• Modular-synth-flavoured UI with per-effect documentation built into each dialog, a 🎲 Randomize button, and a searchable Rack with Recent + Tweak-last.
• One-click repeat. CDP: Repeat Last re-applies your last effect + parameters with no dialog (persists across restarts) — bind it to a keyboard shortcut or Stream Deck key via automation/.

The effects

Group	Tools
Time & Pitch	Pitch Shift · Time Stretch · Granular · Brassage · Echo
Spectral	Spectral Freeze · Spectral Blur · Spectral Chorus · Spectral Stretch · Spectral Sustain · Spectral Fold · Frequency Shifter
Waveset & Distort	Overload · Fractal · Waveset Repeat · Waveset Reverse · Waveset Divide · Waveset Interpolate · Waveset Telescope · Waveset Omit
Cut & Shuffle	Bounce · Scramble · Constrict · Zigzag · Iteration Freeze
Envelope	Envelope Trigger · Envelope Warp · Tremolo · Swell · Peak Chop
Ambient & Space	Reverb · Spectral Drunk · Spectral Spread · Glisten · Hover

Envelope Trigger is a generative gate: it synthesises its own amplitude envelope and re-triggers the clip in a rhythm you design — Beat sync (locked to Live's tempo), Time (fixed seconds), Random (scattered hits), or Bounce (bouncing-ball spacing that accelerates or decelerates). Attack, Release, and Floor shape each hit. No donor file required.

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Requirements

• macOS (developed on Apple Silicon; CDP runs x86_64 under Rosetta 2).
• Ableton Live 12 Beta in developer mode, with the Extensions SDK.
• CDP Release 8 binaries installed locally (default lookup: ~/cdpr8/_cdp/_cdprogs).
• ffmpeg / ffprobe on PATH (used for format conversion, region extraction, and stereo splitting).
• Node.js (v24+) and npm.

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Setup

npm install
npm run build        # typecheck + bundle to dist/extension.js
npm run start        # build, then launch the Extension Host

Configuration:

• CDP binary directory — auto-detected; override with the CDP_BIN_DIR environment variable.
• Extension Host path — set EXTENSION_HOST_PATH in .env (points at Live's bundled ExtensionHost).

When the host starts you should see activated: 24 tools + Rack registered in its log. In Live, right-click any audio clip → the CDP actions appear in the context menu.

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How it works

right-click clip → dialog (registry-driven) → CDP binary (via ffmpeg pre/post) →
import into project → replace clip in place (original → CDP Originals take lane)

• src/tools/registry.ts — a single TOOLS array is the source of truth for every effect: its title, parameters, help text, and the function that runs it. Every dialog is generated from this array.
• src/ui/dialog.ts — shared styling and a small client-side parameter engine (sliders, selects, toggles, mode-dependent controls) plus the All Tools grid.
• src/extension.ts — registers the menu actions, extracts the played region, runs the tool, and handles the non-destructive replace-and-backup.
• src/runner.ts — CDP/ffmpeg process helpers, including the mono-split stereo wrapper.
• src/tools/*.ts — one module per effect.

Adding or editing a tool

Add an entry to TOOLS in src/tools/registry.ts (id, group, blurb, docs, params, and a run function) and implement its run in src/tools/. The dialog, context-menu action, and Rack tile are all generated for you. Rebuild and restart the host.

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Known limitations

• Beat-synced envelope hits align to the clip/region start, not the arrangement's bar grid — the SDK doesn't expose bar phase.
• The extension's UI is modal only (an SDK constraint): the transport can't play while a dialog is open, and the "stay open" Rack is emulated by reopening the dialog after each process.
• Warped-clip region extraction converts beats→seconds using the global tempo, so heavily warped clips may extract a slightly off region. Unwarped clips are exact.

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Project notes

Start_Promt.md is the original planning document and is partly superseded — see CLAUDE.md for the current, verified architecture and gotchas.