Bussed Transport

Geek-o-meter: 1 2️⃣ 3

If you’ve ever found yourself juggling an audio file or stems[^1] while working in Sibelius, you’ve probably experienced the frustration of hitting ‘space’ only to activate the play function in the wrong application. Then, switching to the other app to hit ‘space’ again, you realize you’ve now got both apps playing simultaneously. Trying to pause them both feels like a race against time with not enough command-tabs to save you before lunch. At that point, you might as well just take lunch early.

When command-tab isn’t as fast as we need it to be, or—somehow—we forget to press it, we might find ourselves in a cacophony of clashing sounds. Fortunately, with a Stream Deck (or a similar device[^2]), we can streamline this process. While some companies sell transport profiles for these devices, setting them up yourself is surprisingly easy.

I want to explore two approaches: the first involves using shortcuts, and the second focuses on MIDI data. If this sounds like your cup of tea, then take a sip and read on!

DAWs

One of the simplest tricks with Keyboard Maestro is to send shortcuts. For beginners, an often overlooked but highly useful feature is the ‘Send To’ function. This allows you to direct a specific command to a designated application, avoiding the chaos of multiple apps responding at once.

By setting up a macro group for 'Nuendo Transport', I can create a series of useful transport commands, each configured to send a specific shortcut directly to Nuendo. Notice that I haven't assigned any triggers to these commands yet. We will address that in the next step.

With the Stream Deck plugin 'KM Link', I can easily populate a profile with the chosen macros to create a custom Nuendo navigation system. To set this up, insert the KM Link plugin on your Stream Deck where you want it and select the corresponding macro. Now, pressing the Stream Deck button will trigger the macro, sending the play/pause command directly to Nuendo.

As you can see, I can configure it to handle various functions like setting loops, moving by bar, muting, showing the piano roll, and even navigating through the project! Because this is Keyboard Maestro, I can also create more sophisticated commands. For example, one macro exports my rebar[^3], another sets a loop cycle, and a third opens the selected stem in Transcribe!—all without ever leaving Sibelius!

Since I’m primarily creating buttons for actions that could be executed via keypresses in the DAW, setting this up and transferring the profiles to other software like Logic or Digital Performer is incredibly easy. Plus, I can configure the profiles in a consistent way across different applications, making the transition seamless.

Transcribe!

For transcribing audio, I use the app 'Transcribe!' (including the exclamation mark[^4]). While I could configure Keyboard Maestro to send shortcuts to it, I've found them to be somewhat unreliable. Instead, I take advantage of Transcribe!'s ability to have MIDI notes trigger functions.

To begin, I set up a Stream Deck button to send a MIDI On/Off command. Here’s a screenshot of my play/pause setup, but I recommend starting with MIDI Note 1 and incrementing from there.

The crucial detail in this setup is the Virtual Port Name. I need to configure Transcribe!’s MIDI Shortcuts by selecting ‘StreamDeck XL’ as my MIDI device. Once set, I press my newly created button on the Stream Deck. This action will cause the corresponding MIDI note to appear at the bottom of the Transcribe! window, making the 'Select…' menus available for configuration.

In these menus, you can assign different actions based on whether the button is pressed, released, or held. For my workflow, I've found the ‘pressed’ action to be the most useful.

When I click the ‘Select…’ button in Transcribe!, it provides a list of all available functions. Many of these functions have similar names, so finding the right one may require some trial and error. For example, there are numerous functions with 'play' in their names. However, the one we're looking for in this context is 'PlaySpacebar'.

Once you've set up a button, it's important to test it out before proceeding, as it's easy to accidentally select the wrong command. However, Transcribe! allows you to choose from many different commands, giving you plenty of flexibility to customize your setup.

Buttons

I've been using Button Creator to design attractive buttons for my Stream Deck, utilizing SF symbols and gradients. I found the built-in generator on Stream Deck and my previous crude screenshots to be lacking. In my Nuendo profile screenshot, all buttons except one were created using Button Creator. I'll leave it to you to guess which one, but be warned—I can't be held responsible for the amount of time you might spend on this!

Bus

With these straightforward tricks, I’ve configured all my DAWs and audio applications to operate similarly, all managed seamlessly without leaving Sibelius. I've centralized all transport commands to be bussed 'behind the scenes', allowing my keyboard to remain dedicated to controlling Sibelius. Never again will I face Dante’s command-tab inferno! but live in complete control of any audio that passes through my speakers.

Footnotes

^1: Realistically, you've probably found yourself procrastinating with YouTube rabbit holes while trying to create your music. Either way, you know the drill.

^2: I trust you to make your own translations to related software and hardware language you might be more familiar with.

^3: This is for my shell corporation that deals with the import and export of reinforced steel. Nothing else to see here.

^4: Inferior though to the interrobang: ‽