Friend had a stroke is Maschine 3 right?

Noclue n' Deaftone

Hi there, a best mate suffered a terrible stroke a month ago, life changing. This guy can't sit still, he was a Smoke Jumper and a Vetranarian, build his own house, and is in 3 bands. Now in a wheelchair and has trouble opening his eyes, and can barely hold a guitar. As you can see, he is an amazing person and a VERY talented musician. To be honest he is more of a Bluegrass musician than a Digital music guy. That said, he will be coming home from the the hospital in a couple weeks and I am working to find some things to stimulate his mind…which is still at 100%. Looking at the Machine 3 it seems like something that he would be able to work with from a wheelchair and scratch that music itch, while challenging himself to learn something new. My question, is can he potentially learn how to make more "Bluegrass'y" music with this than digital dance music? Are there downloadable sound packs that are more up his alley? Will an iMac work with a Machine 3? What level processor? we are getting him a new computer and turning on a ton of the accessibility features.

Sorry, I don't know too much about music here so I'm asking ignorant questions here. Just trying to help a buddy out and keep spirits high!!

Thanks in advance

AsylumSpeaker

Slightly more generic advice than you're probably looking for: I wouldn't try to second guess someone's additional needs in terms of whether he might be able to play Maschine well. To know that you need to know a lot about his dexterity in particular, along with screen interaction and possibly even concentration levels or endurance. It's also worth thinking about his mental state and his recovery goals. If, for example, he already gave up on music and is committed to being a lawyer now, the gift would fall flat at best or potentially pressure him into making music just to seem grateful. If he has vowed to himself he will play guitar again, no matter how, then a pivot to electronic music might seem like accepting failure.

Definitely find out whether this gift is a good idea before you commit to it. Source: I'm a musician who works with music students with additional needs.

Psyearth5

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/190182#Comment_190182

Amazing, I like when I see good person's. Honestly, great advice.

tetsuneko

On the topic of making things that sound more like traditional band music, there are several products that come to mind, and while these could also be made to work with Maschine, I would recommend starting out with another DAW. Sure enough, Maschine is kind of simple to use, but so is Garageband, and many other apps out there.

Why would I advise against Maschine for "band music"? It has no plugin latency compensation. And having plugin latency compensation is important when you want to utilize many of the modern plugins "imitating" acoustic instruments and more traditional band instruments, since they often introduce some plugin latency. Stuff such as acoustic space modelers, which can be used to making close miked and virtual instruments sound more "recorded / realistic" from an acoustical POV (examples of these: UA Ocean Way, UA Sound City Studios, Eventide Tverb) introduce significant latency.

Lionzinio

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/38404/friend-had-a-stroke-is-maschine-3-right

I'm glad he has friends like you.

My advice would be to talk to both the people who are treating him and your friend himself. It may be that your thoughts are absolutely on cue and the best thing for him, but equally it may be the wrong path.

If it was the right path, then, yes, he could use Maschine to make bluegrass music, but it would be as much from a 'sampling bluegrass and working with the samples' way of playing rather than a 'working with a band, playing a live instrument' direction. So maybe there are better ways of making music and retaining his contact with bluegrass.

If you're thinking about the hardware, I suspect you'd need to look at options that are as small as the Maschine Mikro, which someone could use without a desk, or an Ableton Move, which could be used with no connection to a computer.

The best thing you could do would be to ask your friend what they need and help them on their new musical journey.

Cretin Dilettante

Try rigging up something w/ the Xbox Adaptive Controller & VCV Rack, or some comparable midi program that takes controller or CV input. Depending on their individual mobility issues, you can hook up different kinds of peripherals to stand-in as a traditional button/trigger/analog stick….and if you build a good enough VCV Rack patch, maybe hook it up to some Kontakt Instruments that represent instruments in a bluegrass band…maybe that could work?

https://www.xbox.com/en-US/accessories/controllers/xbox-adaptive-controller

D-One

You're a good friend man.

Technically it's possible to do any music genre, but ones heavily dependent on acoustic instruments are very hard to nail without actual instruments, virtual ones will sound super flat and artificial for people who actually play real instruments… Maybe he is open to experiment tho.. Every musician I've met on the road that asked about my M+ and pressed some Pads had a smile on their face.

 Are there downloadable sound packs that are more up his alley?

Not official ones from NI, but in todays era you can find any genre, if he is open to work with sampling or virtual instruments.

Will an iMac work with a Machine 3? What level processor? we are getting him a new computer and turning on a ton of the accessibility features.

Anything modern (last 5 years or so should do) but try to stick with Apple Silicon.

An iMac doesn't sound like the best choice for someone with mobility issues. The new Mac Mini M4 is about 599$, nothing offers so much power at that uber-tiny size and low price on the market right now, but then you need a separate screen, keyboard, etc..

Noclue n' Deaftone

You all are AWESOME! I can't thank you enough, this is a great start and direction to get him going. I will have a conversation with him today about all this. I think while he is a bluegrass guy, musicians appreciate sound, and while his body recovers, using these tools/products are mentally stimulating and will help with the fine motor dexterity that will hopefully get him back to his instruments. Not a replacement, but an addition. who know where he will take all this, the Journey is the Journey, and after the stroke, he is on a new Journey.

Cheers!