Maschine Jam - Works like magic...

Apiary
Apiary Member Posts: 11 Member
edited October 22 in Maschine

I love my maschine jam, i still believe there is nothing out there quite like it even if it is a bit of a chunky old thing by todays standards.

I've always wondered though, how does the jam talk/connect to the computer? I know we plug it in via USB but what im saying is it doesn't show up anywhere as a device except the DAWS (only place it needs to i suppose). I've never got anything in MIDI studio about the Jam, It's not listed under the devices, I can;t manually talk to it via other back door midi was i can with other machines, I can't merge it with an other controller. Normally this would be a disaster, but in this case - it works perfectly all the time.

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  • reffahcs
    reffahcs Member Posts: 848 Guru

    I'm not sure what you mean by "merge it with another controller" but you can absolutely use it as a generic MIDI controller outside of it's intended purpose (as an extension of the Maschine). The controller editor will even let you remap the keys as well. I used it just the other day with an Arturia instrument because I love the sliders on it. I just wish it had a bank or two of rotary knobs, then it would be the ultimate MIDI knob box. It sure beats paying $400 for a lot of those higher end solutions.

  • 6xes
    6xes Member Posts: 744 Pro
    edited February 4

    i would suggest going into controller editor and copy all your needed templates into Jam-2 slot...

    then go into preferences and change your device from maschine Jam -1 ... to Maschine jam - 2, this requires a unplugging of the Jam usb and replugging in of the USB

    now the maschine Jam should be recognised as a midi controller as maschine jam - 2

    this is a little quirk with the maschine jam set to Maschine jam - 1 (mind you this may only be a issue with Mac's)

  • 6xes
    6xes Member Posts: 744 Pro
    edited February 5

    heres a little trick i implemented with the maschine Jam, it requires a midi program that allows you to create banked mapping... something like Bomes midi translator pro, or if you are a reaper user... Realearn allows for enabling/disabling midi maps(when used in a DAW that can send peak audio values to midi)

    as an example of what you can do....

    lets say you are on bank 1(top Left button 1) of the maschine Jam

    you can hold the first pad button down, then whilst the button is held down, you can rotate the encoder, and control volume 1... hold down button 2 rotate the encoder controls volume 2 hold down button 3 rotate encoder controls volume 3 etc etc....

    the beauty of this.... is a quick means of volume control of 64 tracks on a single page... so you can also press 5 buttons and control all 5 volumes simultaneously if you wanted, whilst buttons are held down, very handy when monitoring whats going on when each track is providing LED feedback on audio of the & at the same time accessing volumes from the 64 pads

    now while you can use the touchstrips to adjust volumes the disadvantage is you can only change the first 8 volumes versus the ability to change any of the 64 track volumes on a single page, by holding down the corresponding track button... and then adjusting the encoder

    which is very handy when the pad LED's are also providing feedback to each pad button, so in essence you can see what Track is providing a audio signal without volume being present...

    many little tricks you can do with Bomes midi translator pro & Maschine Jam, that i have come to utilise!!

  • Apiary
    Apiary Member Posts: 11 Member

    Amazing thank you, is this just when it's in machine mode or does it just work in general as a controller?

  • Apiary
    Apiary Member Posts: 11 Member

    Hey - Im aware you can use it as MIDI controller thats kind of my point, for example, why does't the Jam show up in MIDI studio as a device?

  • Apiary
    Apiary Member Posts: 11 Member

    Sorry forgot to ask, what do you mean by first pad exactly? button A for example or the scene 1 button or the first trigger button?

  • 6xes
    6xes Member Posts: 744 Pro

    when maschine Jam is used as a general controller..ie midi mode

    also referencing the 1st pad.... is the button directly below bank 1

  • 6xes
    6xes Member Posts: 744 Pro
    edited February 5

    i should also point out... this is something i've setup in reaper using Realearn re button hold+encoder changes track volume....

    and doesnt actually require Bomes midi translator pro to achieve this....

    i would gather some DAW's beside Reaper may have the ability to map controllers to fit their DAW... but unless a DAW has a remapping type functionality where an entire map can be enabled & and other mappings simultaneously disabled.. it would be diffucult to carry out

  • 6xes
    6xes Member Posts: 744 Pro

    ill do a quick video of what i mean..

  • reffahcs
    reffahcs Member Posts: 848 Guru

    No idea, as long as it shows up in other programs as a MIDI device.


  • 6xes
    6xes Member Posts: 744 Pro
    edited February 5

    heres what i mean by using button press + encoder

    in this particular video im running 4 instances of maschine in the background

    each instance has 4 assigned groups, which are seen at the top in a column of 4(groups correspond to the touchstrip levels in that the touchstrip is the master at the same time(summed groups))

    Drums

    instruments 1

    instruments 2

    Bass

    on the bottom layer they are going from left to right. track 1 --> upward to 32



  • 6xes
    6xes Member Posts: 744 Pro
    edited February 5

    the use of this button press+encoder is purely for monitor and volume adjustment... as the other jam on the right has controls mapped to the touchstrips... but becos im changing between touch banks to control different aspects of other applications(virtualDJ remixlive etc)... i need a overview of everything + level control and this single page allows for that despite its messy looking colour layout lol

    if i want instrument sound level control within maschine.... i would use Shift+H in Maschine Jam to switch between Maschine instances if needed

  • Apiary
    Apiary Member Posts: 11 Member

    Yeah it shows up in all my DAWS etc. I probably wasn't clear in my original post -> I don't have any problems/issues here im trying to solve, my JAM works fine, Ive just wondered out of interest why its a bit different to everything else i;ve got like it

  • D-One
    D-One Moderator Posts: 3,575 mod

    How is it different? It's a dedicated controller like any other, it functions in plain old MIDI mode, or can use proprietary communication when connected to supported SW such as Maschine.

    Some DAW's have their own control surface methods, Ableton, Logic, etc... In that case it's a matter of how they interpret plain MIDI, or OSC in some cases, handled by the NI background services.

  • Apiary
    Apiary Member Posts: 11 Member

    Oh ok, got you. I must admit i haven't done it that way, I've got the MK3 as well and i almost always use them in combination so i probably havent noticed it - im also pretty new to the maschine world in general.,

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