Mouse Replacement

Vintage65

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

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

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

I use a trackball find it much more intuitive 

Axe_meister

Logitech MX mouse with side wheel

BlueStrat

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

Most DAWs these days have tablet remote control functions

darthed1981

I tried a rat, the fucker bit me

GoFish

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

Flink_Poyd

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

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

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Sporky

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

Vintage65

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

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

Vintage65

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

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

Vintage65

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

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

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

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.