It’s probably self-evident that the most important things in our studios are also the things we are most prone to take for granted. Until they let us down. Last week my studio computer’s keyboard spontaneously lost its right hand Shift button and Up Arrow. The fact that this happened while I was trying to log into a user account when I noticed this resulted in a spectacularly frustrating experience where I was typing a password with a missing uppercase character because of the non-functioning Shift key into a window which didn’t have the option to Show Password…

I’m limping along with the non-functioning keyboard at the moment, deciding what to replace it with. As a Pro Tools user an extended keyboard is non-negotiable and my longstanding policy of avoiding bluetooth wherever possible combined with environmental guilt about using battery powered devices with non-replaceable batteries makes current products like the Magic keyboard not a favoured option. My current keyboard has lasted a decade across three computers. Then there is the cheap click-wheel, wired mouse I started using when my previous one died a few years ago, as a stop gap replacement. It’s still here…

More Options Than Ever For Controlling You DAW

Luckily most people make more conscious decisions about their choice of input device. I know there are lots of differing opinions. And times change. The popularity of highly customisable mice with user definable buttons has possibly been eroded to some extent by the increasing popularity of Streamdecks and SoundFlow. The widespread adoption of affordable Eucon surfaces with the S1/Avid Dock combo and the success of SSL’s UF8 and UC1 mean that for many DAW users the keyboard/mouse combo might not have the dominance it once did for many and considering the risk of RSI associated with prolonged keyboard and mouse use the inclusion of any alternative to only using a keyboard and mouse is probably a good thing. After all, variety is the best way to protect yourself from RSI.

The last time we conducted any kind of survey of keyboard and mouse use was back in 2022 when we surveyed 14 working audio professionals on their choice of pointing device (aka mouse or mouse alternative).

We found that a wide variety of alternatives were used, with the expected candidates such as the Apple Mighty Mouse through to trackballs and graphics tablets. But the other striking, and related, trends were that most people very deliberately use more than one method of interacting with their DAWs and that so many of the respondents had had issues with RSI.

To help gather a picture of how the wider community are interacting with their DAWs  we have created a short survey. Please complete the poll and check back in a couple of weeks for the results.