Help

KnobLink help: getting started

  1. Open KnobLink.dmg and drag KnobLink to Applications. Open it. A small knob appears in your menu bar.
    The first time only, macOS says it can't verify KnobLink. Click Done, then open System Settings › Privacy & Security, scroll down and click Open Anyway next to KnobLink, and confirm. To keep KnobLink affordable, we haven't paid for Apple's yearly developer registration yet, so macOS asks you to confirm once that you trust it. It never asks again, also after updates.
  2. Plug in your keyboard. KnobLink recognises it and shows it. If it isn't recognised, press Teach KnobLink this keyboard and move each control once.
  3. Allow instrument knobs: in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Accessibility, switch on KnobLink.
  4. Quit GarageBand (⌘Q) and open it again. Needed only the first time.

In GarageBand, select a track and press B to show Smart Controls. Your knobs and faders now move them. When an instrument has no Smart Controls, faders and knobs control track volume and pan.

If something doesn't work

Nothing happens in GarageBand. Quit GarageBand with ⌘Q and open it again after KnobLink is running. GarageBand looks for KnobLink only when it starts.

Transport works, instrument knobs don't. Switch on KnobLink under Accessibility, and show Smart Controls in GarageBand (press B).

A knob controls the wrong thing. Open KnobLink from the menu bar, choose Change assignments, click the control in the picture and move the knob you want for it.

The wrong keyboard model was picked. Click Not your model? under the keyboard picture and choose yours.

Still stuck? Write to and say which keyboard and macOS version you have.

Privacy

KnobLink runs on your Mac and has no account. Your settings stay in ~/Library/Application Support/KnobLink. It never sees what you play.

Licence: when you activate a key, and about twice a day after that, KnobLink sends the key to our payment provider, Gumroad, to confirm it is valid and not refunded. Your purchase is handled by Gumroad as merchant of record, under their privacy policy.

Setup counts: to see where setup gets hard, the app and this website send anonymous counts of a few steps: a page visit, a download, the app opening for the first time, a keyboard being recognised, the licence screen being shown, a licence being activated. Each count is just the step's name; there are no IDs, cookies or personal details, and nothing about your music.

The Accessibility permission is used only to read and move GarageBand's Smart Controls.

Terms

A KnobLink licence is a one-time purchase for your personal use on the Macs you own, including future updates. You may not resell or redistribute the app or your key. Within 14 days of purchase you can ask for a full refund, for any reason.

KnobLink is provided as is. It relies on features of GarageBand and macOS that Apple can change; if an update stops it working, we will do our best to fix it, and offer a refund if we can't within a reasonable time.

GarageBand, Logic Pro and macOS are trademarks of Apple Inc. Keyboard brand names belong to their owners. KnobLink is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by them.