12 minutes

Stream Deck setup — control blind, stop hunting for the screen.

Six keys, six clear actions. Hands free for your client, eyes on the face instead of the trackpad.

1 · What is a Stream Deck?

The Elgato Stream Deck is a small USB keyboard with programmable LCD keys. Originally aimed at live streamers, but excellent for hypnosis sessions: tactile keys, easy to feel without looking, custom icons, colour-coded layouts.

Variants:

  • Stream Deck Mini — 6 keys, a perfect fit for Hypnotika
  • Stream Deck MK.2 — 15 keys, room for playlist favourites and tempo presets
  • Stream Deck XL — 32 keys, for pro setups with multiple client profiles

2 · Enable global hotkeys in Hypnotika

Open Settings → Stream Deck / macro controller. Toggle "Global hotkeys" on. Hypnotika registers the six key combinations system-wide — so they work even when Hypnotika is in the background and Zoom is in the foreground.

The hotkey layout is fixed, so you recognise it across devices:

Key combinationActionDescription
Ctrl+Alt+F1IntroStarts the first intro track or switches to the intro phase
Ctrl+Alt+F2MiddleSwitches to the middle phase, a harmonically matching track is selected
Ctrl+Alt+F3ClimaxSwitches to the climax phase
Ctrl+Alt+F4OutroSwitches to the outro phase (lead-out)
Ctrl+Alt+F5Soft StopFades the music out gently, saves the recording
Ctrl+Alt+F6Cancel QueueCancels the next scheduled transition (stays on the current track)
Tip: the hotkeys work without a Stream Deck too — you can trigger them on a regular keyboard. The Stream Deck is "just" the comfortable, labelled variant.

3 · Configure the Stream Deck software

Download the Elgato Stream Deck software and launch it. Your Stream Deck is detected automatically.

Step by step (per key)

  1. In the right sidebar of the Stream Deck software, drag the "System → Hotkey" element onto a free key.
  2. In the lower panel, click the "Hotkey" field, then press the desired combination (e.g. Ctrl+Alt+F1). The software detects the keys automatically.
  3. Assign a title: "Intro", "Middle" etc. — appears under the icon.
  4. Assign an icon: either from the built-in library or your own PNG (144 × 144 px recommended).
  5. Repeat for the remaining five keys.

4 · Icon pack for Hypnotika

We provide an official icon pack: six matching symbols in a unified style, optimised for Stream Deck, dark background.

Download: hypnotika-streamdeck-icons.zip (~180 KB, PNG + SVG).

Included:

  • intro.png — rising wave
  • middle.png — flowing line
  • climax.png — peak symbol
  • outro.png — descending wave
  • soft-stop.png — fade-out circle
  • cancel.png — stop sign

5 · Alternative hardware

You don't want to buy an Elgato product? The global hotkeys work with any device that can send programmable keystrokes:

  • Loupedeck Live — touch display with rotary encoders, similar principle
  • TourBox Neo — tactile knobs, very flat, for mobile setups
  • MIDI pads (Akai MPD, Novation Launchpad) — use Bome MIDI Translator Pro or MIDIKey2Key to map MIDI to key combinations
  • Programmable macro keyboards (e.g. from KeebMaker, DroppingFire) — under 30 €, open-source firmware
  • Regular keyboard with labelled key stickers — works too, costs under 5 €
Important: if the global hotkeys don't respond, another application has probably already registered the same combination (e.g. graphics driver, recording software). See troubleshooting.

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