Playback for live shows · macOS
You press GO.
SonaCue does the rest.
A playback engine built in the booth, for the booth. Seamless loops that wait for the artist, cue notes that appear right when you need them, MIDI and SMPTE (LTC) timecode for your lighting desk, a Stream Deck wired straight to GO — and an interface that locks down when the show starts.
Edit mode is free forever. Show mode has a 14-day free trial, then a one-time purchase per major version.
Show mode
When the show starts, the interface gets out of the way.
Flip to Show mode and everything editable locks. What's left is your set list, one big GO button, and the note you wrote for exactly this moment — plus an optional oversized timecode readout, legible from across the stage, with its own MTC and LTC status. Below the note, SonaCue confirms the last MIDI trigger it fired, so you know the lighting desk got its cue. Space fires the next one. Escape fades out — two seconds, every time, no surprises.
Seamless loops
Loops that hold until the artist is ready.
Mark a section and it repeats without a click or a gap — the audio is scheduled sample-accurately, with a short crossfade hiding the seam. When the MD gives the nod, one key queues the exit and playback runs on past the loop as if nothing happened. A loop can also duck its volume while someone talks over it.
Volume automation
Draw the mix straight onto the waveform.
Drop dB points on the track and SonaCue rides the level for you — a dip for the announcement, a slow build into the finale. If a song just needs a clean start and end, in/out points and perceptual fades are two drags away.
MIDI triggers
Fire lighting and effects at the exact frame.
Drop MIDI triggers anywhere on a track and SonaCue sends the message the instant the playhead reaches it — a Note or CC to your lighting desk, sampler, or effects rig. Set channel, number and value per trigger; add a pre-roll trigger that fires before the track even starts. Output goes to a virtual port every app on your Mac can receive, plus any hardware MIDI outputs you pick.
OSC control
Hand the GO button to a Stream Deck.
SonaCue listens for OSC over the network, so Bitfocus Companion or any OSC-capable console can fire GO/Stop/Next/Previous and jump straight to a track by index — with status feedback mirrored back so button LEDs match what's actually playing. Pair it with the official SonaCue Companion module, a direct download, no GitHub account needed.
MIDI & LTC/SMPTE Timecode out
SonaCue is an MTC master and generates SMPTE (LTC) as an audio signal too — your lighting desk or DAW chases the show over whichever it can listen to, with a settable start timecode and pre-roll per track.
Precise waveform, any zoom
The waveform, beat grid and time ruler render a sharp, glitch-free envelope from a light zoom out to deep in — with a follow-playhead mode that keeps the action centered.
Map any controller
Simple MIDI learn: tap the button, press a key on your controller, done. GO, transport, or firing a specific track.
Beat grid snapping
Set the BPM and downbeat once. Loop edges, trim points and cue notes snap to the bar, so loops are always musical.
Try it on your next show file.
Drop your tracks in, set your cues, and run the set once. You'll know within a rehearsal if it fits the way you work.
Download for macOSv1.3.0· macOS 14+ · Apple Silicon & Intel · works with any CoreMIDI device