RelayDock

User manual · Every Ableton Push 3 button in Cubase

  • Ready
  • Waiting for Cubase
  • Push not found, or a problem
  • Hold Shift for functions
  1. UserMapping Assistant: map any control yourself
  2. LearnCubase Help
  3. SetupPush settings: audio inputs, pad pressure or MPE, brightness; diagnostics
  4. SetsSteinberg Hub: recent and new projects
  5. UndoUndo Redo
  6. Volume knobMain volume; press to switch to the click level and back
  7. SaveSave the project Save a new version
  8. MuteMute the selected track Unmute all
  9. Stop ClipStop MIDI reset
  10. LockOn Mix, hold it and press Mute or Solo to keep that mode
  11. SoloSolo the selected track Clear all solos
  12. Tempo knobTempo, 1 BPM a step 0.1 BPM
  13. Tap TempoTap in time to set the tempo
  14. MetronomeClick on or off Precount
  15. QuantizeQuantize the selection Auto Quantize
  16. Fixed LengthSet the loop to the selection
  17. AutomateWrite automation, selected track Read
  18. NewNew instrument track New audio track
  19. CaptureKeep what you just played on an armed track
  20. RecordRecord Arm the selected track
  21. PlayPlay and stop Go to the start
  1. 8 knobsControl what the display shows under each one. Touch one to highlight it.
  1. Touch stripPitch bend; in MPE, per-note bend comes from the pads Pro
  2. PadsPlay the selected instrument track. Roots light in the track’s colour, held notes green. Pro
  3. Scene buttonsMarkers 1–8, top to bottom. With Repeat on: the rate on each.

Set up

  1. 1Quit Ableton Live, then start RelayDock. It sits in the menu bar (Mac) or next to the clock (Windows).
  2. 2Start Cubase. Ableton Push 3 Bridge loads by itself in the MIDI Remote tab.
  3. 3Once: in Studio › Studio Setup › MIDI Port Setup, untick In ‘All MIDI Inputs’ for RelayDock and the Push’s ports. Keep RelayDock Notes ticked for the pads.

RelayDock checks for a new version each time it starts and tells you when there is one, with a Download button. Check for Updates… in its menu does the same on demand; Check for Updates Automatically turns the check at start off. The check only fetches the release list; nothing about you is sent.

Pages

  • Note the selected track: knobs are volume, pan, sends 1–6. Buttons above: Mute, Solo, Arm, Monitor, Read, Write, Channel Settings, instrument window.
  • Mix Pro 8 channels. Buttons above choose Volume, Pan or Send 1–6; buttons below select a track, or mute, solo or arm it while you hold Mute, Solo or Shift.
  • Device Pro the instrument, an insert or Quick Controls, 8 parameters at a time.
  • Session tracks and timeline; knob 1 is volume.

Demo and Pro

  • Without a key, everything works except Mix, Device and the pads, which show “RelayDock Pro” on the Push.
  • To unlock them, choose Buy RelayDock Pro… in RelayDock’s menu, copy the key from the email, then choose Activate License…. Pro works at once.

If something’s wrong

  • Ableton’s “connect” screen: start RelayDock and quit Ableton Live.
  • “Waiting for Cubase…”: start Cubase; check Ableton Push 3 Bridge is in the MIDI Remote tab.
  • Touching the Push plays notes: do set-up step 3.
  • After an update: restart Cubase, or Reload Scripts in the MIDI Remote Manager. Press Setup, then Diagnostics.
RelayDock 0.4 · macOS and Windows · Cubase 15 · Support: support@warnerwebdevelopment.com Unofficial; not affiliated with Ableton or Steinberg. Ableton and Push are trademarks of Ableton AG; Cubase is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.

What RelayDock can and can’t do

User manual · Page 2

Version 0.4.3 · 4 October 2026

Works now

Items marked Pro need a RelayDock Pro license. Everything else works in the free Demo.

  • Cubase on the Push. The selected track’s name, colour and volume on the display, with four pages: Track, Mix, Device and Tracks. Change something with the mouse and the Push follows.
  • All the buttons. Each one does the nearest Cubase job: transport, tempo and Tap Tempo, undo, save, editing, new tracks, presets, markers and zoom. Page 1 shows them all.
  • Mixing. Volume, pan and sends 1–6 on 8 channels at a time, with meters. Select, mute, solo and arm from the buttons under the display. Pro
  • Plug-ins. The selected track’s instrument, inserts and Quick Controls, 8 parameters at a time. Pro
  • Playing the pads. Note mode as on the Push: 35 scales, in key or chromatic, laid out in 4ths, 3rds or in sequence, or as a drum grid. Accent, Note Repeat, octaves, pitch bend on the touch strip, and pad pressure. Pro
  • MPE. Press Setup, choose the Expression tab and then MPE: each held pad plays on its own MIDI channel with its own pressure, slide and pitch bend, as in Live. Use it with an instrument that understands MPE. The choice is kept, and RelayDock sets it again whenever the Push connects. Pro
  • Lights. Buttons that do something are lit. Play turns green while playing and Record red while recording. The pads light root notes in the track’s colour and held notes green.
  • Push settings. The Setup button opens the audio inputs (Line, Instrument or High), pad pressure (Mono, Poly or MPE), display and LED brightness, and diagnostics.
  • Reconnecting. Replug the Push, or restart Cubase or RelayDock, and the display, lights and controls come back by themselves.

Not yet

Planned, or waiting for a test on the Push.

  • Pad sensitivity. Setting the pads’ velocity curve on the Setup page. Until then the pads keep the Push’s current curve.
  • Touch strip modes. The strip does pitch bend only, for now.
  • Note Repeat on the beat. Repeats follow Cubase’s tempo but start when you press the pad, not on Cubase’s beat.
  • Pedals and CV. The Push’s pedal and CV jacks can’t be set up from RelayDock yet.

Cubase doesn’t allow it

Cubase doesn’t let remote-control scripts reach these. Only Steinberg can change that.

  • Parts on the timeline. The Tracks page shows your tracks, the ruler, the cycle and the playhead, but not the parts and events on them.
  • Clip launching. The pads can’t launch parts, so there’s no Session grid.
  • Step sequencing. A script can’t read or write the notes in a part, so there’s no step sequencer.
  • Drum pad names. A script can’t see inside an instrument, so the drum layout is a plain grid of 64 notes rather than your kit by name.
  • Auto Quantize and Precount lights. Shift + Quantize and Shift + Metronome switch them, but Cubase doesn’t say whether they’re on, so no light shows it.
  • Time signatures. The Tracks page’s ruler assumes 4/4. With Samples or Feet+Frames as the time format, it shows no ruler.

Works differently from Live

These buttons do the closest Cubase job to what they do in Live.

  • Session The Tracks page, not a clip grid
  • Double Loop Cycle on or off
  • Fixed Length Sets the loop to the selection
  • New A new instrument track audio track
  • Capture Keeps what you just played on an armed track (Retrospective Record)
  • Convert Render in Place
  • Scene buttons Markers 1–8; with Repeat on, the repeat rates
  • User Cubase’s Mapping Assistant, to map any control yourself
  • Button + pad Live’s shortcuts such as Delete + pad aren’t there: the pads only play notes

What you need

Tested with Cubase 15 and a Push 3, on a Mac and on Windows.

Push
A Push 3, either model, in Controller mode and connected by USB. Push 2 isn’t supported yet.
Cubase
Cubase 15. Versions 13.0.50 and 14 should work but haven’t been tested.
Mac
macOS 13 or later. Intel Macs should work but haven’t been tested.
Windows
Windows 10 or 11. RelayDock installs its own MIDI driver; nothing else to install. The installer isn’t signed yet, so Windows warns you before it runs.
Ableton Live
Quit it first. Live and RelayDock can’t use the Push at the same time.