ArturCON

Update 01/2024: ArturCON is at version 0.0.5 and tested on modern systems.

ArturCON is a quick Python 3 script for using your old Arturia BeatStep as a physical button launch pad for applications, actions, text macros or almost anything that can be made using a keyboard. Just like Stream Deck and the like, but cheaper.

It’s capable of:

• Launch any system shortcut
• Multimedia actions (mute, play and pause, volumen up and down, etc)
• Write strings (so not have to type them every time)
• Macros for any app by pressing sequences of keys
• Send direct keycodes

You can define a pad as push-only or toggl. If you want a pad to launch a program, just assign a key combination (including some control keys) to it at the system shortcut configuration, then add the same combo to the script config. If just want to activate some application feature, just add the key combination to Arturcon.

The script also provide aditional functionalities as:

• MIDI monitor (for the BeatStep input).
• MIDI thru, in the case you still need the BeatStep to raw communicate to a plugin.
• Blinkenlights, for you to amaze the world.

All these functionalities can be mixed with the main launchpad one. And if you launch it as “–resident” it will survive a suspension or even a BeatStep disconnection and back to work when you reconnect it.

ArturCON uses the pads, so leaves the pots free for you to assign to other applications (Jack plugins, for example)

Github: https://github.com/Ismas/arturcon

Your BeatStep will be happy