Automation in Maschine+ song mode

Djprimbeats

I've tried searching for information about automating in song mode and I'm seeing posts from 2022 that say it's actually not possible unless I move my project to MAS software and do it in controller mode. To me, that defeats the purpose of being standalone. Am I missing something or is there automation capability in standalone? If not, is there a workaround.

A lock state lane in song mode would be perfect

D-One

Modulation works fine in song mode, it's recorded into Patterns, here I am modulating a Cutoff in Song mode across Sections with "Auto" locked by just twisting a knob on the controller:

(Using the computer version as it's way easier to visualize, the M+/Controllers do not show modulation lanes anyway)

Works fine. You can also use Step Modulation by holding Pads in the Step Menu and changing things for example.

What won't work is Modulating anything on the Master channel, only works in Sound/Pad and Group.

Also, there is zero "Automation" inside Maschine, all you get is Modulation. Automation is external, meaning it has to come from something else, in the case of the M+ it means MIDI mapping Knobs and then some external MIDI device can control it. Since the M+ requires using a computer for the mapping it's not very intuitive to do.

The manual does seem to use the terms interchangeably seemingly randomly even tho it states the above.

AdelV

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/21299/automation-in-maschine-song-mode

You can always press AUTO and record automation but if you want edit it or deep dive - you need to transfer your project to Maschine SW.

D-One

Modulation works fine in song mode, it's recorded into Patterns, here I am modulating a Cutoff in Song mode across Sections with "Auto" locked by just twisting a knob on the controller:

(Using the computer version as it's way easier to visualize, the M+/Controllers do not show modulation lanes anyway)

Works fine. You can also use Step Modulation by holding Pads in the Step Menu and changing things for example.

What won't work is Modulating anything on the Master channel, only works in Sound/Pad and Group.

Also, there is zero "Automation" inside Maschine, all you get is Modulation. Automation is external, meaning it has to come from something else, in the case of the M+ it means MIDI mapping Knobs and then some external MIDI device can control it. Since the M+ requires using a computer for the mapping it's not very intuitive to do.

The manual does seem to use the terms interchangeably seemingly randomly even tho it states the above.

tetsuneko

so, the modulation in this case is recorded directly into the patterns themselves, not to the "Song"? Therefore, if your song uses any duplicate instances of your patterns, the same modulation will allways be played back, unless you manually "clone" your patterns via DUPLICATE command

Did I get that right?

D-One

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/124569#Comment_124569

Yes, pretty much.

You can Duplicate then use the "Unique" button, although this makes copies ALL Patterns for the Section so might make the project bloated and confusing if you only want automation in one Pattern. So I personally prefer to dupe the Section than dupe only the Pattern I need Modulation in.

Also if your Pattern is shorter than the Section you might have to "Double" it.

darkwaves

I think it's worth stating:

I hate clips. They don't belong in maschine and I'm going to fight you if you disagree...

...but clips are good for this stuff. Route your sounds/groups to another group. Create a clip the length of your project and twiddle away.

...or don't use clips and just create patterns in another group. So if you want to do a filter sweep; you'd put the filter in a second group (or in a sound in a second group) and then do the automation there. Your actual patterns stay the same and you get DAW style automation.

I generally route everything into a single group. It looks something like:

I simply always route to it and then, typically, use these sounds to route out to my DAW (or to route over ADAT from M+). I might have 2 or 3 kicks; they all route to this Sound 1 in this group. If I want to do mute automation (using audio mute); no problem. I like doing sweeps with the bit crusher. I'm going to probably put it on a sound in this group

There are limitations or workflow "gotchas". For example; I'm not putting effects on the group of a drumkit because I'm never routing through the group. If I'm doing that processing in maschine; pads 1-4 route to pad 14 which acts as my drum bus. That said; having a basic routing template setup in your groups makes this pretty quick to setup.