The Song Fight Bulletin Board

Do any of you use a USB transport (e.g. play/stop/record/etc.) and/or mixer (e.g. with faders etc.) controller with your DAW? I'm thinking about trying one and am curious about how well people have found them to work.

I used a Presonus Faderport for a while and really enjoyed the external transport controls. I couldn't get into the fader or any of the fancier features.

Did you stop using it and if so why?

I kind of forget why I stopped using it, but either it had issues or it just got in the way. Maybe I ran out of USB ports? I still have it, but I haven't added it to my current set up. I'd probably be just as happy if I could map those functions to my keyboard. Hell, maybe those functions already are available via the number pad or something....

I've tried a number of different transport controls/mixer surfaces over the years, and for whatever reason none of them stuck and I keep going back to good ol' keyboard shortcuts. I feel like the main reason I always stop using them is that they don't actually speed me up anywhere, because they have so much contextuality to their controls that I could never figure out what controls would do which actions in which situation, aside from the transport controls but I can press 'r' and 'space' and 'enter' just fine from my keyboard.

I sometimes use the transport controls built-in to my current MIDI keyboard, though. The little shuttle knob is pretty useful when I'm having brain moments while playing keys.

I vaguely remember being jealous of one that @JB had that was wireless, so you could take those controls away from your computer while you were recording. I want to say it was called Tranzport or something clever like that.

I use a Bluetooth keyboard for that. But a proper full wireless transport would probably be more useful.

I use this cheap little guy. The only thing I really use it for is riding faders for automation, though. Wish more things played nicely with Pro Tools.

The main reason this came up in my mind this time was that I was tracking some vocals and doing them near my desk but not so close that t was super easy for me to hit the * key on the keypad on my keyboard on my keyboard tray. I was wishing I had something small and simple on the top of my desk with big fat start/stop/record transport keys mainly that I could easily hit without having to lean over and be precise about it with my fat fingertips.

Oh yeah, sometime I use my iPad with the Logic Remote, when I remember to do so. It can be kind of glitchy though; it’s what caused part of Lunkhead’s set to get cut off at Song Fight Live in DC.

It looks like Cubase does still have an iOS app: https://www.steinberg.net/cubase-ic-pro/ I know you don't have an iPhone, but maybe you've got an iPad lying around?

No iPad. I have an ancient iPod Touch that used to be able to run that app. But I think some piece of all that stopped working a while ago. It was nice while it lasted though. Maybe I could pick up a use old iPad for cheap somewhere for that.

I use both a v1 PreSonus Faderport and Nektar Panorama P1 for recording and mixing respectively... Both work well for my needs in Reaper, I don't know if they play nicely with other DAWs or not. The Faderport (v1) is mainly just used for the transport controls for me... as it is much easier to hit the big red Record button than hitting ctrl+R on my keyboard in the exact situation you're describing... I also have a Stream Deck that I use for other things, but I've been meaning to create some nice custom actions for use in Reaper... just have no time to do so. Also have a footswitch hooked up to my Nektar that I've been meaning to make into a "footswitch record" for recording guitars easier instead of currently setting my transport marker further ahead than needed to get my hands in position... again... time.

Some of my googling pointed to being able to map anything in Cubase to midi, so you could also buy a midi foot pedal or use a keyboard to trigger different functions. I expect this depends on how big of a problem this is and how much energy/money you are willing to spend to solve it.

I was going to suggest this: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... er-fcb1010

and also saw this: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... touch-mini

You could certainly buy a used Presonus Faderport for under $100

Another thing to consider is getting a macropad, like this one. I have one which I’ve set up as a multi-layer keyboard macropad although I haven’t gotten around to actually setting it up for my studio or trying it out in there. It’s pretty versatile though.