Keyboard DJing

Controls

Open PERFORM. Its keyboard has two hands, not four separate Deck layouts: left-hand keys address the focused Deck A or C, right-hand keys address B or D. Click a Deck to focus it, or in 4 DECKS press [ to switch A/C and ] to switch B/D. The focus indicator identifies the destination. 2 DECKS keeps the two hands on A/B; it hides C/D without unloading them. A mapped controller can operate the same Decks and Mixer without pretending to be keyboard input.

? or F1 opens the current keyboard map. The KBD button toggles hints printed beside controls. Keys below apply with Deck keyboard focus, not while typing or when a dialog/menu owns the keys. On Windows/Linux, use Ctrl where the table says Cmd/Ctrl. Space does not play a Performance Deck: use D or K. With a Set selected, Space instead controls Set playback.

Action	Left hand (A/C)	Right hand (B/D)
Play/pause	D	K
Main Cue (hold)	F	J
Hot Cues 1–4	Z X C V	M , . /
Remove a Hot Cue	Shift + pad	Shift + pad
Beatjump backward / forward	A / S	L / ;
Halve / double beatjump size	Shift+A / Shift+S	Shift+L / Shift+;
Auto-loop on/off	B	N
Halve / double loop length	Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+A / S	Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+L / ;
Previous / next Hot Cue while paused	Cmd/Ctrl+A / S	Cmd/Ctrl+L / ;
Match tempo once	Cmd/Ctrl+G	Cmd/Ctrl+H
Join / leave Sync	Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+G	Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+H
Filter, high, mid, low EQ (hold + move mouse)	Q W E R	P O I U
Channel volume (hold + move mouse)	G	H
Jog (hold + move mouse sideways)	T	Y

Pads 5–8 use the on-screen Deck controls. Plain = toggles app-wide QUANT; the number row controls Beat FX, not Hot Cues in Performance. Keyboard mappings in the standalone Library view differ from these Performance keys.

Load

1. Pick 2 DECKS or 4 DECKS. In the browser below the Decks, search for a Track or select a Playlist. Hover a row to expose its A/B (and, in four-Deck mode, C/D) Load buttons; click the target, or drag the Track onto that Deck or its waveform.
2. Alternatively, press Tab to hand the keyboard to the embedded browser. Use J/K or ↓/↑ to choose a row, H/L to move between sidebar and track areas, Enter to open a selected sidebar entry, and / to focus search. A/B/C/D load the selected Track to the named physical Deck; Shift+A/B/C/D toggles Follow for that Deck. In browse focus, Enter on a track row does not load it.
3. Press Tab again or Escape to return to Deck keys. Release any held key before switching modes: the same press cannot acquire a different meaning midway. Wait for the Deck to show its loaded waveform before using cue, loops or pads. Play can be requested while loading.

With Deck keyboard focus, ↑/↓ move the browser cursor; ← or Enter load onto the focused left Deck, → onto the focused right Deck. Double-clicking a row targets the focused left Deck. A playing Deck refuses a replacement Load; pause it first. Cmd/Ctrl+F focuses browser search. Enter or Escape inside search exits the field without clearing the filter.

With browser focus, Home/End jump to the first/last entry; PageUp/PageDown move a page, and Ctrl+U/D move half a page. Hold Shift with row navigation to extend selection; Cmd/Ctrl+A selects all visible rows. F opens Follow parameters, N toggles Known only. Browser focus belongs to the embedded Performance list; the standalone Library has a different shortcut map.

Cue, jumps and loops

Main Cue and the eight Hot Cues serve different purposes. While paused away from Main Cue, press F/J to place it; at Main Cue, hold to preview and release to return, unless Play takes over. While playing, Main Cue returns to its marker and pauses. An empty Hot Cue pad places a cue; an assigned pad jumps while playing. While paused, a pad either previews until released (GATED) or starts playback that continues after release (TRIGGER). Change this with GATED in the Performance strip; see Cue mode. Walking Hot Cues with Cmd/Ctrl+A/S or L/; while paused also moves Main Cue.

Beatjump moves by the Deck's selected jump size (initially 32 beats, 1–128); Shift+the jump key changes that size, not the loop length. A jump during a loop translates the loop instead of exiting it. B/N engages or releases an auto-loop of the selected length (initially 4 beats, ⅛–128). Change that length with Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+the jump keys. The loop needs a Beatgrid. Quantize snaps eligible cue placement and loop entry to beats; it does not change the jump-size keys.

MATCH applies a one-time tempo match to a playing reference. SYNC joins/leaves a shared tempo that you can ride with the pitch fader. With Quantize and suitable playing/gridded Decks, either can also align phase once; a pitch move or jog nudge does not repeatedly realign it. Sync entry needs a ready Track with BPM. These are independent of selecting a Deck for keyboard focus.

Mixer

Each Deck has trim, EQ, a sweep filter, channel level and PFL. The crossfader routes according to each Deck's assignment when XF is enabled; disabling XF passes channels at unity instead. To work the keyboard Mixer, hold Q/W/E/R (left) or P/O/I/U (right), then move the mouse up/right to increase or down/left to decrease. Hold G/H for channel level. Release to finish. This is a held-key pointer gesture, not clicking the knob. EQ and filter stop at their neutral center detent; pause briefly there, then move again to pass it. Double-tap the key while the mouse stays still to toggle an EQ between cut and neutral or a channel volume between cut and full; filter double-tap resets to center. Double-clicking the on-screen knob has its own reset (EQ neutral, volume full). If pointer lock is denied, click the app, release, and retry.

For silent Master audio, check the channel level, EQ kills, filter, crossfader assignment and XF, then Master output. For silent headphones, check PFL, CUE MIX and Cue output separately.

Mouse jog

Hold T/Y and move horizontally. While playing this nudges the timing (pitch bend); while paused it seeks. With VINYL on, hold Shift+T/Y for platter contact and move horizontally to scratch; release Shift or the jog key to end the scratch. Vinyl off does not scratch. The on-screen jog also accepts mouse motion. Configure the keyboard/mouse response under Settings → Keyboard + mouse → Mouse jog; hardware jog calibration is a separate controller setting.

Stems

Choose EXTRACT STEMS, then STEMS READY — RELOAD when extraction finishes. Click a stem part to kill/restore it; Shift-click solos it. Disabled part buttons mean stems have not been loaded into this Deck. Stems processing and Deck loading are distinct operations.