Push 2 / Nuendo & Cubase Bridge — Free, Open-Source Controller Integration

Steinberg Lounge
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Hi everyone,

I’d like to share a project I’ve been working on: Push 2 / Nuendo Bridge, a free and open-source application that turns the Ableton Push 2 into a full-featured controller for Steinberg Nuendo 15 and Cubase.

It runs as a lightweight macOS menu bar app and gives you mixer control (volume, pan, mute, solo, monitor, record arm), send levels, insert management with plugin parameter control, Quick Controls, transport (play, stop, record, cycle, metronome), automation modes, touchstrip (pitch bend, mod wheel, or volume fader), note input with drum and chromatic modes, note repeat, scale selection, Control Room volume, and more — all with visual feedback on the Push 2 display including track colors, VU metering, and track names. Read the User Guide to know more.

I already have ideas for new features, feel free to add your own! Let me know how it works for you. Current version is 1.0.1.

:globe_with_meridians: Website: push2bridge.kaikuaudio.com :package: GitHub: github.com/mbourque-mix/Push2Nuendo-Bridge

A few things worth knowing before you dive in:

I’m not a programmer. This entire project was built with the help of AI (Claude), so there are very likely rough edges, suboptimal code, and bugs I haven’t caught. It works well for my own workflow, but your mileage may vary.

The bridge has only been tested on macOS. Windows is not tested at all — it may work with some adaptation (you’d need loopMIDI for virtual MIDI ports), but I can’t guarantee anything on that front.

I also want to be upfront: I’m not in a position to offer in-depth technical support. I’ll do my best to answer questions when I can, but I can’t commit to troubleshooting individual setups. If you run into issues, the GitHub Issues page is the best place to report them.

Known limitations and bugs:

  • The bridge may occasionally lose sync with Nuendo, requiring a Stop/Start from the menu bar or a full app restart.

  • The Nuendo MIDI Remote script sometimes needs to be reloaded manually (via Scripting Tools → Reload Scripts), especially after long sessions or waking from sleep.

  • Maximum of 127 tracks, due to the 7-bit MIDI CC range used for track indexing.

  • Adding, deleting, moving, or renaming tracks while the bridge is running can cause temporary display glitches. A manual rescan (Shift + 7th lower row button) usually fixes it.

  • Input and Output bus tracks (including Stereo Out) may display incorrect names or parameters and may show in the wrong order — this is a limitation of Steinberg’s MIDI Remote API. It is recommended to hide them from the MixConsole view.

  • It will only work with Push 2. I don’t have access to a Push 3 the the layout isn’t exactly the same, it’s fair to think it will not work.

Want to contribute?

The project is GPL-3.0 licensed and open to contributions on GitHub. If you’re a developer (or just someone more code-savvy than me), pull requests, bug reports, and suggestions are very welcome. There’s a CONTRIBUTING.md and a DCO in the repo.

Thanks for reading, and I hope some of you find this useful!

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Amazing. I’ll subscribe to stay in the loop on this.

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thanks for your effort. i can not contribute as i am not a programmer and 2nd I have windows.

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We need it for Windows OS

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It should work on Windows, I just don’t have a Windows machine to test it. I asked Claude to generate a more detailed Windows Installation Guide. It is not necessarily straight forward, but not that complicated. Without being a programmer (which I’m not!), if someone’s welling to give it a try and tell me how it worked out! Also, AI is your best friend if you need help, just give it the files and ask how to make it work.

Push2_Nuendo_Bridge_Windows_Installation_Guide.pdf (20.6 KB)

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Hey @mbourque,
I haven’t been able to try the app yet, but I just wanted to say how exciting this project already looks. What you’ve built has huge potential for Cubase/Push 2 users, and it’s clear you’ve put real passion into it. I hope you keep developing it — the community would love to see this grow, and your work could become something truly special for a lot of us on both macOS and Windows. Keep going, you’re onto something well desired.

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Thanks for your kind words!
I’ve done it to fit my needs, the Push is a stunning controller, well engineered, and to have the possibility to use it with Cubase/Nuendo is definitely a must. I really like that the Control Room has now physical controls. And the AI knob, so useful.
Since I’ve not written a single line of code, I’ve decided to distribute it with a GPLv3 license to ensure that development could continue without me if I was to be unable to do it. Still, it took some time to prompt my needs to Claude, to test, re-prompt, re-test, etc… Surprisingly, it was not that complicated. I did the same exercise 6 months ago and it was a no go. The new AI models are quite impressive. This kind of project would not have been profitable from a business point a view. I really appreciate the fact that AI gives power to develop the tools some people need, even if it’s very specific and not mainstream.

My next steps are to have a MIDI CC page, to be able to adjust CC on the fly, like expression or volume. Also, I’d like to explore the possibility to create a plugin mapper. Right now, in Inserts mode (the Browse button), you can access the plugin parameters, but the parameters are in whatever order the manufacturer has decided to list them. It would be nice to be able to create a map that will always load with its associated plugin. It may take some time to program so maybe this feature will not be available soon. Also, I’d like to have a page for the Cubase’s channel strip, but I’m not sure if the informations are available from the MIDI Remote Mapping. I wish Steinberg will make a SDK to access more advanced functions from the software, as Avid did with Protools.

I’m really curious to see if someone could try it on Windows, to see how it goes. Someone told me he was able to build the bridge for Mac Intel, from the code I’ve published, which is a good news (the current bridge app is Silicon only)!

Push 2 are kind of cheap on Marketplace (around 400$ CAD). With this bridge, it can easily be the cheapest advanced controller for Cubase and Nuendo.

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Push 2 / Nuendo & Cubase Bridge — v1.0.2 Update

v1.0.2 is now available on GitHub with a good number of new features:

Setup Page (Setup button) — a new tabbed settings interface directly on the Push 2 display, including Aftertouch Mode selection (Polyphonic, Channel, or Off), Velocity Curve presets (Linear, Logarithmic, Exponential, S-Curve, Fixed) with visual graphs, and adjustable Fixed Velocity value via encoder (synced with the Accent button).

MIDI CC Controller (Shift+Note) — 8 assignable CC faders with value bars, CC number editing, and on/off toggle.

Mixer shortcuts — Mute/Solo/Monitor/Rec now available on Device and Inserts pages (lower row buttons 5–8 on the selected track). Double press upper row in Mix mode opens Edit Channel Settings. Long press upper row in Inserts opens the plugin UI without entering parameter mode. Clear Monitor / Clear Rec (Shift+Mute/Solo in Mon/Rec mode) clears all monitors or rec arms across all tracks.

About Page — displays Bridge version and JS Script version.

Windows Installation Guide — a step-by-step PDF covering Python setup, loopMIDI, libusb/Zadig, and running the bridge from source. Windows support is still experimental and untested on my end, but this should help anyone willing to try.

Full details and download:

https://github.com/mbourque-mix/Push2Nuendo-Bridge

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Has anyone here tested the bridge on Windows 11?

I’ve seen the experimental Windows guide in the latest update, but before I dive in, I’d like to know if anyone has already tried it on Win11 and how stable it is in real‑world use.

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I tried to get this working on Windows 11 Pro but got metadata errors trying to install some of the python dependencies (push2-python and rtmidi I noticed errors with) and it had an error starting Microsoft visual Studio when running the scripts, so I’ve not been able to test if the install works with Push 2 on Windows. Also, with the recent changes in Windows regarding MIDI, I don’t know how that changes the install procedure re: LoopMidi (which I assume is no longer necessary as this is capable in the new midi driver). I have no coding or python knowledge so don’t know how to try to resolve these install issues. I’ll give it some time and keep an eye on this thread and see if anyone else has any success or ideas for how to get all the necessary files installed. Good luck if you give it a go, it’d be great to get more functionality from the Push 2 in Cubase!

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I’m sorry that you were not able to make it work… I really wish I could test it myself but I don’t have any computer with Windows at hands. You could try to upload all the files in Claude or ChatGPT and ask to find a way to make it work on Windows. It will guide you, and even modify the files if needed.

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Hi everyone,

Version 1.0.3 of the Push 2 / Nuendo Bridge is now available. This is a significant update that takes advantage of Steinberg’s new MIDI Remote API 1.3 (available in Nuendo 15 and Cubase 15) to add features that weren’t possible before.

:globe_with_meridians: Website: push2bridge.kaikuaudio.com :package: GitHub: github.com/mbourque-mix/Push2Nuendo-Bridge

What’s new

Plugin Browser — You can now browse and load plugins directly from the Push 2, without touching the mouse. Press Add Device, pick an insert slot, scroll through your plugin collection, and load. There’s also a collection picker that lets you switch between your Nuendo plugin collections (Default, custom collections, etc.).

Plugin Mapper — A web-based tool (http://localhost:8100) for creating custom parameter mappings for your VST3 plugins. It scans your installed plugins, lets you drag-and-drop parameters into pages of 8 encoders, and saves the mappings. When you focus a mapped plugin in Inserts mode, the Push 2 automatically loads your custom layout. The mapper uses Spotify’s pedalboard library to read plugin parameters, then matches them to Nuendo’s internal parameter names using fuzzy matching.

DirectAccess — Insert bypass, plugin UI control, and encoder parameter control now use Steinberg’s DirectAccess API for instant response. No more viewer-based workarounds.

Other improvements:

  • Record button LED with 3 states (orange idle, blinking red when armed, solid red when recording)

  • Shift+◄► nudges the bank by 1 track instead of 8 in Volume and Pan modes

  • CC pick-up mode to prevent parameter jumps

  • Adaptive text color on track headers (white or black depending on background)

  • Long press on lower row buttons for quick Monitor/Record Arm toggle

About Nuendo/Cubase 15 compatibility

The Plugin Browser and DirectAccess features require MIDI Remote API 1.3, which is only available in Nuendo 15 and Cubase 15. If you’re still on version 14, the bridge works fine — you just won’t have access to the Plugin Browser and DA insert control. Everything else (mixer, sends, inserts parameter editing, transport, automation, Control Room, pads, etc.) works the same on both versions.

About the Plugin Mapper

The Plugin Mapper is entirely optional. The bridge works perfectly without it. If you want to try it, install the dependencies (pip install fastapi uvicorn pedalboard) and the mapper server starts automatically with the bridge. If you don’t install them, the bridge simply skips the mapper and runs normally. No errors, no missing features — just no custom parameter mappings.

Note that the scanner currently supports VST3 plugins only. VST2 plugins are not scanned.

Mappings are saved as plain JSON files in ~/.push2bridge/mappings/ and can be shared between systems.

Windows compatibility

The bridge is developed and tested on macOS. Windows support exists but requires some manual setup (Python, loopMIDI for virtual MIDI ports, Zadig for USB). There’s a Windows Installation Guide included in the release, but I know it can feel intimidating if you’re not used to command-line tools.

A tip: if you’re stuck, try uploading the guide (or even the source files) to ChatGPT or Claude and ask it to walk you through the installation step by step for your specific setup. These tools are surprisingly good at adapting technical instructions to your situation and troubleshooting errors in real time. They can even modify the code to adapt it to your specific system if there are compatibility issues. That’s essentially how this entire project was built — I’m a mixing engineer and musician, not a programmer.

As always, this project is free and open-source (GPL-3.0). If you find it useful, there’s a Buy Me a Coffee link on the GitHub page. Bug reports and contributions are welcome.

Thanks for reading, and happy mixing!

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@ mbourque - Thanks for all your efforts to get this working at all with Cubase, especially as the only other option I’ve seen (Shove) is no longer available!! I’ll play around again with trying to get all the python dependencies installed when I get a chance. I completed all of the other steps in the guide (replacing the LoopMidi steps with the new Windows MIDI port setup but keeping the names exactly as named in LoopMidi) so I just need to get the python dependencies installed to be able to test it. I’ll update here if I manage to get it working. Thanks again.

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This is good.
Push 3 with Cubase 15 integration would be ideal. I don’t have a push 3 but a factory integration would make me think about it. I think the push 3 is the best pad controller out there so its a win.

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Buy me one and I’ll do it :wink:

What I like about the Push 2 is the price. It’s easily found on Marketplace for the third of the price of a Push 3. Feature wise, the Push 3 has MPE but except for that, it’s almost the same as the Push 2.

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That’s tempting… :thinking:
You have a push 2? Are the pads soft and squishy? Are they silent when hitting them?

I’m thinking that maybe two Machine Mikro Mk3’s butted up to each other, one upside down, is a good workaround for getting 32 decent pads.

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Yeah, I have the Push 2. I like the feel of the pads, they are kinda firm but soft at the same time. I find it easy to play at different velocities. I don’t find them noisy, but still, your finger tap on something, there is some noise.

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Let’s not loose topic and get Push 2 to work with Cubase/Nuendo in Windows 11. It would be fantastic get it to work as a controller and using the pads for Groove Agent or the new Drum rack.

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The irony isn’t lost on me; that of all the people in the world, a drummer would be the last one to ask for the material that makes the *least amount of sound when hit.

I’m looking and you’re right, the Push 2 used can be half price as Push 3 new. But for me only a factory made integration (the unit was designed for this one purpose only) would be worth those prices. I also don’t trust any second hand electronic music gear.

I almost went with ableton just for the Push 3. But cubase surprised me.

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Did you get Push to work under Windows 11?
I’ve tried it but somehow I cannot get it to work with Cubase 15.