I only dabbled in Ableton Live a little bit many years ago, so I'm not familiar with some of the terms you mentioned.

Can you describe what a modulation system is - what's your understanding?

Also any examples out there that illustrate this, other apps that do it well?

It's not like a node based shader system like in Houdini or like Fusion's compositing system?

Not the person you asked, but I believe he is referring to the lack of arbitrary modulation mapping in Ableton, where modulation is typically one parameter on a synthesizer, effect or other device being changed over time by an external source such as a Low Frequency Oscillator (LFO).

Many Ableton devices have features such as this on specific parameters like filter frequency but, without Max for Live, you can't map custom modulations from arbitrary sources.

Here is an example on one such Max for Live device, pitched as a 'general purpose' LFO: https://www.ableton.com/en/blog/lfo-20-free-max-live-device-...

Thanks for explaining - that makes sense.

Also did some research online before I saw your answer and found an answer after watching a video about Bitwig Studio's unified modulations system [0].

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_mQUV2iwiI

Yes, exactly. If you're creating electronic music then the key aspect is how you modify the sound over time, so a flexible modulation system is crucial.

I'm also a Houdini user and a realtime DAW with the flexibility of Houdini for creating tools and creating relationships between parameters would be a dream come true!