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Knowledge & practice

QLab plug & play controller

· · 2 min read

We have run enough shows over the years to say this with some confidence: the less setup a system needs, the better the day goes.

QLab is brilliantly simple and very capable. It handles playback and automation for us, and recently it gained Object Audio as well.

The trouble with the keyboard

QLab works best with a controller rather than the computer’s keyboard. Otherwise a finger hovers over the space bar and the heel of a hand over the laptop’s trackpad. Rest them there for a second and something will probably go wrong.

The keyboard always depends on window focus. Click somewhere else by accident, or let macOS bring another window to the front, and the cue doesn’t start.

What setting up a controller costs you

Setting up a hardware controller in QLab often takes time, though:

  • MIDI routing
  • checking the key assignments
  • finding settings you made once and then forgot about

With a short get-in, or with venues and setups changing every day, these are exactly the things that make you sweat.

Plug and play: connect it and go

With a true plug-and-play controller, setup is close to foolproof:

  1. Plug in the USB cable
  2. QLab recognises the device
  3. The controller works straight away

That’s why we prefer plug and play to manual mapping for quick QLab setups. What else to look for when choosing a controller is in MIDI or OSC controller?

It’s also why we built the FrenschPress. In QLab mode it uses MSC (MIDI Show Control), and QLab responds immediately, with no extra settings.

Example: a touring theatre show

Independent company, a show that travels, 45 minutes to set up, unfamiliar venues, a different technician every night.

The tour manager says: “Our technician is ill, so I’m supposed to press the cues today, but I know nothing about tech.” We don’t know the computer and can’t tell whether all system notifications are switched off. Window focus can change without warning, and if the cue doesn’t fire when a key is pressed, the tour manager is completely lost.

With a plug-and-play MIDI controller it looks like this:

  1. Open the production’s laptop
  2. Open the QLab show file
  3. Plug in our controller
  4. Done

No key mapping is needed, and none of the settings change.

Instead of shaky hands over the space bar and trackpad, the tour manager has a sturdy controller with mechanical keys and clear feedback, which gives even people with little technical experience some confidence.

That is often the difference between a relaxed show and a nervous, chaotic one.