Mouse Replacement

Vintage65 · April 2023

Is anybody using something that isn't a mouse to operate their DAW & plugins? I've been looking at knobs, faders & trackpads, and I was wondering if anybody else got fed up with their mouse.

Whistler · April 2023

I use a small (A6 size) Wacom graphics tablet. I prefer holding a pen to a mouse as my hand sits at a more natural angle. My left hand takes care of the shift, control, option and command keys and my right hand used the pen.

Vintage65 · April 2023

Whistler said:

I use a small (A6 size) Wacom graphics tablet. I prefer holding a pen to a mouse as my hand sits at a more natural angle. My left hand takes care of the shift, control, option and command keys and my right hand used the pen.

Yeah, I would like to give one a go, the other Wacom's have a trackpad option too.

maltingsaudio · April 2023

I use a trackball find it much more intuitive

Axe_meister · April 2023

Logitech MX mouse with side wheel

BlueStrat · April 2023

Logitech trackball like this, hate using a normal mouse

Deal: Logitech ERGO M575 Wireless Trackball Mouse - Easy thumb control, precision and smooth tracking, ergonomic comfort design, for Windows, PC and Mac with Bluetooth and USB capabilities - Grey https://amzn.eu/d/4XoWA09

Axe_meister · April 2023

Most DAWs these days have tablet remote control functions

darthed1981 · April 2023

I tried a rat, the fucker bit me

GoFish · April 2023

Try running a tubescreamer into the Rat. There'll be more biteyness, but in the other direction.

Flink_Poyd · April 2023

Axe_meister said:

Logitech MX mouse with side wheel

Same here, MX Master I think. The side wheel is handy for in a DAW.

Vintage65 · April 2023

I've ordered a large trackball device, something with lot's of knobs, a single motorized fader, and a drawing tablet. Hopefully I'll be able to see what works and what doesn't in the ultimate non-mouse shootout!

Vintage65 · April 2023

.

Sporky · April 2023

Elgato Stream Deck is worth a look - lots of little application-sensitive buttons that can trigger commands and macros.

Vintage65 · April 2023

Sporky said:

Elgato Stream Deck is worth a look - lots of little application-sensitive buttons that can trigger commands and macros.

It looks good, have you got one? The knobby thingy I ordered has 16 dual function knobs that can also do button presses, I just have to work out how to integrate it with the DAW.

Sporky · April 2023

I have. I just use it for Windows shortcuts, but it'd work for a DAW.

Vintage65 · April 2023

Sporky said:

I have. I just use it for Windows shortcuts, but it'd work for a DAW.

The devices I've ordered have 30+ buttons in total (80+ with banks), and one even has a scroll wheel for zooming. My idea is to jump between them to save the wrists from RSI, so I will be drawing, twiddling knobs, using a fader and navigating with the trackball and a pen. I hope I haven't gone too overboard on this

Actually the DAW I use has undergone some recent 3rd party development with regards to improved device control, so I want to explore this side of things if I can and hopefully have a more hands-on DAW experience. Sitting there with a mouse is just too mind-numbing for me these days, not to mention the old wrists taking a constant beating.

Sporky · April 2023

The Stream Deck has 15 buttons, but many, many pages.

Vintage65 · April 2023

Whistler said:

I use a small (A6 size) Wacom graphics tablet. I prefer holding a pen to a mouse as my hand sits at a more natural angle. My left hand takes care of the shift, control, option and command keys and my right hand used the pen.

How long did it take for you to get used to working on it? Besides navigation and editing, I had an idea to use a drawing tablet to document my songwriting and keep a digital record in the project directory. I have a bad habit of forgetting how I did stuff when I return to it some time later, so this might work.

Whistler · April 2023

Vintage65 said:

Whistler said:

I use a small (A6 size) Wacom graphics tablet.

How long did it take for you to get used to working on it?

Less than 3 days. I naively thought a graphics tablet would be good for graphics and nothing else so I kept swapping back to the mouse for everything else. Within 3 days it became obvious that I could in fact do everything with the pen and tablet, so at that point I unplugged the mouse.

octatonic · April 2023

I use Streamdeck with Soundflow for custom macro heaven.
It is seriously powerful, but takes a bit of time to program.

Here are two, the first one I made including the icons), the second one came from another community member.

My one has all my most used Pro Tools commands.
The second one instantiates some commonly used plugins on the selected tracks in the next available slot.

I have them (and about 20 other decks) on a Stream Deck and on an iPad and they have been programmed to switch contextually.

In the next versions of Soundflow & Pro Tools I will be able to put commands on to Avid hardware such as the Avid Dock.

That said, I still use the mouse a lot.
There is no getting away from it.

Vintage65 · April 2023

Sporky said:

The Stream Deck has 15 buttons, but many, many pages.

I just watched some of the DAW videos and it looks interesting, and very different to the other control devices. Definitely something to think about on the DAW side of things, but I would probably be looking at a 32 button version. Thanks for the heads-up.

Vintage65 · April 2023

Axe_meister said:

Most DAWs these days have tablet remote control functions

I've tried it but found it a bit laggy and uninspiring. Maybe I should give it another go, although I do favour the tactile side of things.

Vintage65 · April 2023

octatonic said:

I use Streamdeck with Soundflow for custom macro heaven.
It is seriously powerful, but takes a bit of time to program.

Here are two, the first one I made including the icons), the second one came from another community member.

My one has all my most used Pro Tools commands.
The second one instantiates some commonly used plugins on the selected tracks in the next available slot.

I have them (and about 20 other decks) on a Stream Deck and on an iPad and they have been programmed to switch contextually.

In the next versions of Soundflow & Pro Tools I will be able to put commands on to Avid hardware such as the Avid Dock.

That said, I still use the mouse a lot.
There is no getting away from it.

Very impressive, and something I never knew I needed! You are right about the mouse, and hopefully a trackball and/or pen tablet can take it's place.

Sporky · April 2023

I switch between mouse and trackball. I find mouse more accurate for fiddly stuff, trackball more convenient for most things.

There is, to me at least, a big difference between trackball where you work the ball with your thing, and ones where you work the ball with your fingers. I'm hopeless with the former, the latter feel much more natural.

Maybe also consider a touchscreen? That'd let you interact with controls directly.

GoFish · April 2023

Has anyone used the OLD style Kensington trackballs? I've been curious for a long time and saw they still make em.

Vintage65 · April 2023

Sporky said:

I switch between mouse and trackball. I find mouse more accurate for fiddly stuff, trackball more convenient for most things.

There is, to me at least, a big difference between trackball where you work the ball with your thing, and ones where you work the ball with your fingers. I'm hopeless with the former, the latter feel much more natural.

Maybe also consider a touchscreen? That'd let you interact with controls directly.

I just received a large trackball device and it seems to be quite accurate due to the size of the ball, and I can make micro adjustments in plugins with the large scroll wheel. It also has speed acceleration, so it's easy to zip around the screen. I tried a PC control app on my tablet and it wasn't very accurate when it came to fine-tuning parameters.

Vintage65 · April 2023

GoFish said:

Has anyone used the OLD style Kensington trackballs? I've been curious for a long time and saw they still make em.

I got one of these as I prefer wired.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71M49-nEesL._AC_SY450_.jpg

Vintage65 · April 2023

octatonic said:

I use Streamdeck with Soundflow for custom macro heaven.
It is seriously powerful, but takes a bit of time to program.

Here are two, the first one I made including the icons), the second one came from another community member.

My one has all my most used Pro Tools commands.
The second one instantiates some commonly used plugins on the selected tracks in the next available slot.

XL version currently on sale at Curry's @ £184.00

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/elgato-stream-deck-xl-10194985.html

Bod · April 2023

Sporky said:

There is, to me at least, a big difference between trackball where you work the ball with your thing...

Mrs Sporky's a very lucky lady.

Sporky · April 2023

Yes, it's not many husbands who confuse their thumb and their thing on the Internet. Probbly.

fretmeister · April 2023

BlueStrat said:

Logitech trackball like this, hate using a normal mouse

Deal: Logitech ERGO M575 Wireless Trackball Mouse - Easy thumb control, precision and smooth tracking, ergonomic comfort design, for Windows, PC and Mac with Bluetooth and USB capabilities - Grey https://amzn.eu/d/4XoWA09

I've used these for years. I much prefer them to a mouse for everything - including gaming.

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