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    These docs are a work in progress. The software can already be used — download WavePhase.

    Documentation

    Docs for WavePhase v0.9.3 · reviewed 2026-08-10

    A newer app release may have shipped since this review. These pages describe the latest public WavePhase release. If something looks different in your build, check for an app update.

    Performing

    Live Control Surfaces

    Build your own operator panel — faders, knobs, pads, XY pads and colour pickers — and drive the show from it. Live Control runs inside WavePhase; Web Control puts the same idea on a phone or tablet.

    Two surfaces, one idea

    Both are nodes on the signal patch. You lay out widgets on a grid, and each widget becomes an output pin you can wire to anything — a dimmer, a movement FX rate, a colour, a scene index.

    • Live Control — a panel inside the app, designed for a touchscreen or a mouse at the booth. Widgets can also be bound to MIDI, with feedback back to motorised faders and lit pads.
    • Web Control — the same layout served to a phone or tablet, over your own network or over the internet. No app to install; just scan the code in Preferences → Remote control.

    Use both at once

    A Live Control panel at the booth and a Web Control page on a phone can drive the same show simultaneously — they are separate nodes, so give each the controls that make sense for where it is used.

    Widgets

    Fader & Knob

    Continuous F32 output over a range you choose.

    Button & Toggle

    Bool — momentary while held, or latching.

    Button group

    N pads, single I32 output = the pressed index. The natural way to switch scenes or FX banks.

    XY pad

    Two F32 outputs at once — pan/tilt, or any pair of related parameters.

    Colour picker

    A single Color output, straight into a fixture or a visual generator.

    Meter & Value readout

    Input pins rather than outputs — wire a signal in to watch it live on the surface.

    Labels, colours, size on the grid and value range are all per-widget. The editor is WYSIWYG: the layout canvas draws the same widgets the surface does, with live values moving in them while you work.

    Behaviour on release

    Faders, knobs and XY pads can either stay where you leave them or spring back — the difference between a level you set and a gesture you perform.

    • Hold position — the default. The control keeps its value when you let go.
    • Return to rest — snaps back to a rest position the moment you release. Good for one-shot nudges: a temporary speed boost, a momentary tilt offset.

    These same controls also expose a touching Bool pin that is true only while your finger is on them. Wire it to a gate and an effect can run only while the control is held, independent of the value it reports.

    Momentary FX

    Return-to-rest plus the touching pin is how you build a hold-to-activate effect: release, and both the value and the gate fall back at once.

    MIDI control and feedback

    Any Live Control widget can be bound to a MIDI control. Press Learn on the binding row and move the physical control — WavePhase captures the channel and CC/note for you.

    • Bindings are per-widget, and button groups bind per pad so a row of launchpad buttons maps to a row of scenes.
    • Feedback sends values back out, so motorised faders follow the show and pads light up to show the active scene.
    • Controllers can be unplugged and reconnected mid-show; WavePhase reopens the port and your bindings keep working.

    Which device?

    Each binding has its own device dropdown. Leave it on any to accept the control from whichever controller sends it, or pin it to one device when you have several connected.

    Building a surface

    1. 1

      Add the node

      Add a Live Control node to the patch, then open Edit layout.
    2. 2

      Place widgets

      Drop widgets onto the grid and drag to position and size them. Multi-select with shift or a marquee, and duplicate with Ctrl+D.
    3. 3

      Name and colour them

      Give each widget a label and an accent colour — on a dark booth screen colour is what you actually navigate by.
    4. 4

      Wire the outputs

      Back on the patch, each widget now has a pin. Wire them to whatever they should drive.
    5. 5

      Open the surface

      Open the Live Control pane on the Live workspace and perform. Values are saved with the show, so the board comes back as you left it.

    Where to go next

    • Macros & Variables — reuse a control rig across several fixtures.
    • Show Lock — leave the surface usable while locking everything else.

    Building an unattended venue workflow? See WavePhase for clubs.

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