The small & subtle but ingenious design of the maschine Jam's touchstrips

6xes
6xes Member Posts: 743 Pro
edited October 22 in Maschine

if you are a owner of one of Native instruments best midi controllers.... The Maschine Jam

you will know of the advantage of having 8 touchstirps...

one of the unique designs although subtle, sets it apart from touch TouchOSC controllers that would emulate the similar functional behaviour of touchstrips on lets say an ipad...

is the added design of the slighly indented trough, which lets you know without looking at your fingers are where they need to be to make contact with the strips!!

i also find if i map a EQ plugin to the touchstrips... running quickly over the strips to create a bell EQ is so effortless it is one of the small joys of owning such a unit!!

if ever Native instruments were to improve off the design of the Maschine Jam... i dont know what else they could add as the design of the Maschine jam is awesome in my view!!... perhaps having 8 extra banks.. both on the touchbanks and on the pad banks,, or perhaps having a extra click encoder on the opposite side... for the lefties out there

Its really the best designed Midi controller... granted it has no real velocity aspects in the buttons, but thats best overcome with midi keyboards... which are dime a dozen!!

edit: if velocity sensitive buttons were added to the mJAM... i think it would ruin the design... as you wouldnt be able to rest your palm or fingers on the controller without triggering something if it were velocity sensitive!! the pressure required to trigger the maschine jam pads are perfect!!

button double press actions... are recognised easily with the Jam.. which is something most people dont consider valueable... but if you use double clicks for triggering... reliable triggering is a must!!

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Comments

  • LostInFoundation
    LostInFoundation Member Posts: 4,466 Expert

    Yeah…a very cool device…yet abandoned by NI 😔

  • 6xes
    6xes Member Posts: 743 Pro
    https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/135752#Comment_135752

    makes it more sought after!!

  • LostInFoundation
    LostInFoundation Member Posts: 4,466 Expert

    Don’t even look at mine…I will never part from it 😏

  • 6xes
    6xes Member Posts: 743 Pro

    im constantly on the lookout to see if someone puts one on the second hand market in my part of the world....

    i think buying a fourth one might be a bit excessive LOL

  • LostInFoundation
    LostInFoundation Member Posts: 4,466 Expert

    It depends. Knowing how you use it (with your different midi mappings covering thousands of controls) maybe 4 are even not enough 😂

    Think about having 20 of them and not having to page diving for anything…isn’t that your dream? 😏

  • 6xes
    6xes Member Posts: 743 Pro
    edited February 25

    one has to anticipate wear and tear.... its something you become very aware of when purchasing 2nd hand goods!

    it only takes one button on the maschine Jam pad surface that responds intermittently to become annoying... and as every pad bank is affected... one can imagine the affect it has on the multiple pad banks/templates created

    i've thought about pulling it apart and investigating... but arrrrgghk! i have a spare one, which i will copy the templates and change the banks around... gotta love the controller editor for doing the bank swapping and template mapping!!

  • LostInFoundation
    LostInFoundation Member Posts: 4,466 Expert

    …which gets me worried about: for how long will we have access to Controller editor?

    Late NI isn’t very reassuring about these kind of questions…

  • LostInFoundation
    LostInFoundation Member Posts: 4,466 Expert

    @6xes i quite hate you…after our discussion, I’m about to buy a second Jam… it’s true that the price is more than good (120€…and it seems in very good shape…never seen a lower price than this one, specially since, as you said, is quite a sought after second hand device) , but I didn’t feel the need before this thread ☺️

  • djadidai
    djadidai Member Posts: 485 Pro

    I love my Jam!

  • rasta777
    rasta777 Member Posts: 7 Member

    the best controller out there. if i had a wish will be able to use 2 with maschine

  • 6xes
    6xes Member Posts: 743 Pro
    https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/135891#Comment_135891

    good on ya mate!!

  • Kubrak
    Kubrak Member Posts: 3,061 Expert

    I use only one and have one spare... But consider to buy one more... Unless NI makes Mk2 soon....

  • HugoClubs
    HugoClubs Member Posts: 78 Helper
    edited February 26

    I am also a big fan of the jam… in fact I bought the jam before anything else (got the plus later), to use it primarily as a mixer for Logic and the selling point where those touch strips which are superior to motorized faders that tend to stop working over time.


    The jam was the Trojan horse that brought me to the Maschine ecosystem and even though the maschineDAW is limited and really bad, the fact I could quickly load instruments without reaching for the mouse, greatly improved my workflow.


    And now recently I found out that Bitwig studio has deep integration with the jam… it’s even possible to switch between controlling Bitwig or controlling the Maschine daw (see from minute 3:15, it’s amazing):

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e-ZCEFNGDXg&t=615s&pp=ygUaQml0d2lnIHN0dWRpbyBtYXNjaGluZSBqYW0%3D


    Maybe Native instruments did a bad job marketing and selling this thing as an all-in DAW controller. They should have also given more connections to control other external gear (not even 5pin midi lol), but their problem is they are too focus on their own ecosystem they fail to realize people nowadays want flexible gear that can be connected to their existing stuff.

    I personally didn’t buy the jam for what it was advertised… It’s a great product and I am running the Bitwig demo version, which after 2 days already convinced me to switch from logic+maschineDAW to only Bitwig.


    Will they launch a Mk2? I would have thought they would after they launched the Maschine+ , but now I don’t think they will because AKAI already filled the gap with their new APC64 which has a lot more to offer including connectivity options, and for the same price of a Jam (when it launched), so that market gap is filled and native instruments let that boat sail for the competition.

    Props to AKAI for making a better jam. Only downside for me is the location of the strips, I wish they were at the bottom like the jam.


    P.S. I still enjoy my jam and I am now using it more than ever :D

  • 6xes
    6xes Member Posts: 743 Pro
    edited February 26

    @HugoClubs

    i downloaded the APC64 editor ... which would allow you to program the APC64

    there seems to be alot missing in the editor... just from my quick browsing over the app


    for example

    doesnt seem like the "single encoder" can be mapped (i could be wrong as i dont have a APC64 to connect to fully test)

    the pads seem to only send note values... vs the many midi types the Mjam controller editor has

    now granted the APC64 editor may be updated at a later date, and the inclusion of these missing aspects "might" be added... however as it stands currently the mJam, still has it over the APC64...

    only a person who has spent time in customising the mJAM in midi-mode will understand & appreciate how valuable these added midi-types are

  • HugoClubs
    HugoClubs Member Posts: 78 Helper
    https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/136004#Comment_136004

    No idea about the what mappings are available, but pretty sure the pads can do much more than note values. It’s a stand alone step sequencer. Loopop as always did a great deep dive in all the features.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S0QUSct37zY&t=579s&pp=ygUdYXBjNjQgYWJsZXRvbiBsaXZlIGNvbnRyb2xsZXI%3D

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