StylusDeck

A macOS live-audio control surface for drawing tablets, pen displays, mice, and macro-key setups.

What It Does

StylusDeck taps live system audio and gives you instant absolute-position control over:

• volume
• 3-band EQ
• DJ filter
• echo
• output trim
• limiter ceiling

It plays the wet signal to your real output device and mirrors the same processed signal to BlackHole 2ch for OBS.

Quick Start

./start.sh

That script will:

• check macOS prerequisites
• install BlackHole 2ch if needed
• build the app
• install ~/Applications/StylusDeck.app
• launch StylusDeck

After setup, you can open ~/Applications/StylusDeck.app directly from Finder.

Control Model

StylusDeck uses one active lane at a time:

• Y = main control
• X = companion control
• Shift + X = tertiary/shape-style control on supported lanes

Main Bank

• 1 Volume: Y volume, X trim, Shift + X limiter ceiling
• 2 Low: Y gain, X frequency, Shift + X slope
• 3 Mid: Y gain, X frequency, Shift + X Q
• 4 High: Y gain, X frequency, Shift + X slope

FX Bank

Press 5 to switch to FX.

• 1 Filter: Y sweep, X resonance, Shift + X character
• 2 Unused
• 3 Unused
• 4 Echo: Y wet, X time, Shift + X feedback

Shortcuts

• 1 2 3 4 select the lane in the current bank
• 5 toggle MAIN / FX
• 6 reset the current parameter
• C keyboard alias for reset
• F toggle fullscreen
• Mode switch between Drag and Hover

Visualizer

StylusDeck includes a native visualizer with a Visuals panel.

• visualizer is off by default
• available modes: Wave Ribbon, Radial Halo, Spectrum Bars, Orbit Sphere
• while the Visuals panel is open, pointer movement does not affect sound

The visualizer is still a work in progress. Expect performance issues when visuals are enabled, especially in heavier modes.

Running

Native app:

./start.sh

or:

./scripts/run.sh

Optional web UI:

./scripts/run-web.sh

Requirements

• macOS
• Xcode Command Line Tools
• Homebrew
• BlackHole 2ch

OBS

In OBS, add Audio Input Capture and choose BlackHole 2ch.

Notes

• Keep StylusDeck running while you want live processing active.
• On normal exit, it restores temporary audio-routing changes.
• The native app is the primary experience.