Maschine perhaps just not for me?

I've had a Machine MK2 for a few years and I like how it works as hardware as well the good quality of the libraries, but I so rarely use it when I'm jamming or creating songs. The reason for this is that the majority of presets to gets me started is either almost full songs in a specific key or just simple sounds where I need to build from scratch. As an alternative I have XLN's XO where I can quickly substitute samples/sounds and tweaks the patterns.

Is there something I've misunderstood about the Machine product or is there any other hardware+software product which seems better suited to me?

I use Reaper as a DAW if that's of use, but I don't mind working inside a plugin. If I just had a way to quickly shuffle/change beats or patterns while tweaking on the hardware.

Find more posts tagged with

Maschine MK2

Comments

LostInFoundation

Quite difficult to understand what you are looking for.

For me everything you say is quite easily achievable with Maschine (tweaking patterns, quickly change beats,…) and this is exactly why I use it

JesterMgee

it may not be the workflow for you if you have had it a few years and don’t use it. Not everyone will get on with how it works, I have a Maschine studio and don’t really use it all that much because I prefer a proper DAW workflow.

could also be you just need to explore it a little deeper.

RedwardMc

Sounds like you’re loading the project demos? Just load your own instruments and one shots, spend some time starring favorites.

6xes

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/13327/maschine-perhaps-just-not-for-me

make everything work together(intergration is key!)... you might be suprised at how well you can work Reaper with the Maschine hardware&software...

Maschine software is very quick and powerful for midi and quick arrangements.... Reaper is suited to controlling the enviroment as a whole.

tools in Reaper like Realearn & the LBX SKS(smart knobs script) are an essential in my setup...

admittedly im using X2 maschine jams and a mk2, which essentially give me plenty control over the whole music enviroment i work with...

heres a mess around i did with maschine + Reaper and a little keyboard improv LOL

i have since ported this template over to the M1 giving me the ability to set more things in play!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCAsDWCyoSM

6xes

knowing what you have at your disposal in Reaper is a big part of understanding where both Maschine & Reaper can complement one another...

as an example... try putting 256 loops into maschine... and bring them in and out as im doing in this video!!... and control things dynamically...it would simply be a night mare to do in Maschine..

in this example.... maschineVST sits on tracks 1 & 2 in the FX slot... unused

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otkcMh8V1p4

basehead617

Don’t load projects from the expansions, just load groups.. that’s the best thing to jumpstart tracks for me and why Maschine is the best thing i’ve found to break my writers block..

just_jump

I think basehead above is addressing your issue: Groups have an option to load or not load preset patterns. I’d feel like they get in the way / direct too much influence loading them when starting / working on a project. Loading without the patterns means you’re starting with a blank page more like a DAW would be.

Samples can be retuned if that’s an issue additionally although then you may need to look at sample file name (in the sampler edit page I think) for the key to adjust. Not bad for just a few samples.

Junolab

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/71787#Comment_71787

Yeah, sorry my question was perhaps not so precise. Tweaking patterns requires a lot of clicking with the mouse or removing or creating new patterns from scratch. I cannot simply toggle between various sounds (as many samples are not layered at the same position so a hi-hat will perhaps change to a ride or a SFX).

How do you change beats when you've selected the kit you want to work with?

Junolab

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/71835#Comment_71835

Don't you experience that the types of samples in each place make a different group go nuts until tweaked?

Junolab

Thanks for the replies. I'm sure I need to dig into it a bit deeper and perhaps the issue is also that it's quite deep which is not something I actually am looking for. I am accustomed to advanced Reaper setups, but I rarely find it very intuitive hence I start to fiddle around more with the options and issue than actually playing music.

But I'm right in that I cannot simply load new patterns from the various libraries if I'm happy about the sound, but want to get inspired by quickly adding various patterns, correct?

basehead617

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/72622#Comment_72622

Can you re-phrase? not sure what you're asking here.

basehead617

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/72624#Comment_72624

I don't think you can load patterns from a group without loading the sounds, correct.. you can add just the sounds, or some combination of sounds with +routing / +patterns

D-One

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/73900#Comment_73900

Correct, I would love to be able to do that... I'd organize all my Groups the same way so that I could interchange patterns to try new drums patterns and such, or load up fills, really endless possibilities.

The only way is to export/import MIDI, which doesn't work from the browser, which... is one of the main things that makes Maschine have a fast workflow.

Flexi

Because in Maschine 1 it had patterns, but hey, whenever you mention the missing features from V1, you are a bad bad person.

Junolab

It seems crazy there's no such thing. Sure I can drag and drop the midi in but then I need the mouse which defeats the purpose of the controller (for me).

Quick links

Unanswered questions