Questions

Can a MIDI controller control OBS on a Mac?

Yes. Give each pad a key that no keyboard has, F13 to F19, and set those keys as hotkeys in OBS. InputConfig, the free Mac app I make, sends the key when the pad is hit, and OBS switches the scene, mutes the microphone or starts the recording. No OBS plug-in is involved, so the same pads work in any app with hotkey fields.

Two limits come first: OBS never tells the controller which scene is live, and InputConfig cannot light a pad controller's pads.

On this page: 9 sections

1. Steps
2. Give each pad a key nothing else uses
3. Set the hotkeys in OBS
4. Put the stream and the recording on a hold
5. Use the knobs and the other pads
6. Know what it cannot do
7. Keep playing music on the same controller
8. The short version
9. Questions

Steps

1. Connect the MIDI controller and open InputConfig.
2. Add a row for each pad, press Scan, hit the pad, and give it a key from F13 to F19.
3. Activate the preset.
4. In OBS, open Settings, Hotkeys, click a field and hit the pad for it.
5. Click Apply.

Give each pad a key nothing else uses

• You: Add a row for each pad, press Scan, hit the pad, and choose a key from F13 to F19.
• InputConfig: Sends a real F13 when that pad is hit, as if a keyboard had the key.
• Check: The Live Visualizer lights the pad, and the row shows the key.

OBS ships with no hotkeys set, so you choose them. F13 to F19 exist in macOS and no app uses them by default, which means a scene hotkey can never collide with a shortcut in a game or an editor. A key no keyboard sends is a hotkey nothing else can trigger by accident.

InputConfig is free on the Mac App Store. macOS 14 or later, no account, no tracking, open source.

Set the hotkeys in OBS

1. With the preset active, open OBS, Settings, Hotkeys.
2. Click in the field for a scene, such as Switch to scene, and hit the pad you want for it.
3. Repeat for each scene, for Mute, and for Start and Stop Recording.
4. Click Apply.

OBS captures the pad's key exactly as if you had pressed it on a keyboard.

Put the stream and the recording on a hold

A row can fire on a hold instead of a tap. Set the pads for streaming and recording to fire after a one second hold, so a stray touch cannot end a stream. A row can also speak a word when it fires, so you hear Recording without looking at OBS. Anything you cannot take back belongs on a hold. Hold and double-tap actions and spoken feedback have the settings.

Use the knobs and the other pads

• A knob for the Mac's volume. System Volume follows a knob or a fader one to one.
• Pads for everything outside OBS. A Siri Shortcut for the lights, Open App, media keys, or a typed line of text for chat.
• A pedal for push to talk. A sustain pedal held down holds the talk key down.

A keystroke cannot move a fader in OBS's audio mixer, so a knob controls the Mac's volume, not a single OBS source. Pads do everything OBS has a hotkey for, and a fader in OBS's mixer is not one of them.

Know what it cannot do

• Show which scene is live. There is no link from OBS back to the controller.
• Light the pads. InputConfig sends MIDI only through its own virtual port, so it cannot light a pad controller's pads.
• Put pictures on keys. Pads have none. A strip of tape and a pen does the job.

If you need a live status on every key, a Stream Deck or an OBS plug-in is the right tool. The free Stream Deck alternative guide compares the options and has a ready preset.

Keep playing music on the same controller

A pad types nothing on its own, so no stray letter leaks into the stream, and the music app still hears every pad, because InputConfig reads a copy of the MIDI. Use a bank of pads or a MIDI channel that the music app ignores for the OBS rows. One controller can be a drum pad and a scene switcher, on different pads. A MIDI controller as a macro pad shows how to split one.

The short version

• In InputConfig. Scan each pad and give it F13 to F19.
• In OBS. Settings, Hotkeys, click a field, hit the pad, Apply.
• Limits. No live status and no pad lights.

A pad controller you already own is a free scene switcher.

Questions

Related

• A free Stream Deck alternative from a gamepad or MIDI pad
• MIDI to keystroke: MIDI keys, pads and knobs as shortcuts
• OBS Studio from a game controller
• A MIDI controller as a control surface
• Using a Stream Deck without Elgato's app on a Mac
• Hold and double-tap
• Is there a MIDI Mixer for Mac?

Free. macOS 14 or later. No account, nothing leaves your Mac. Open source on GitHub.

Updated October 7, 2026