In a DAW

Contour is an audio effect plugin, not an instrument: insert it on a track and it listens to that track's input. The install includes three plugin formats built from the same code, so behavior is identical across hosts.

Ableton Live

Create or select an audio track, set its input to the interface channel carrying your microphone, and insert Contour from the audio effects browser. Arm the track to hear Contour's output; you do not need to record to use it live.

Delay compensation

Contour reports its own latency — roughly 24 ms of algorithmic delay plus whatever buffer size you are running — to the host. Hosts that support plugin delay compensation (PDC) use that figure to keep the track aligned with the rest of the session automatically. If a track sounds early or late relative to others, check that PDC is enabled in your DAW's audio preferences; it is off by default in a few hosts.

Next: troubleshooting.