Maschine 3.4 Update: The New Modulation Editor is Here

We're excited to announce the release of Maschine 3.4, a free update that delivers a completely modernized modulation and automation editor.

This has been one of the most requested updates, and we're thrilled to get it into your hands. We’ve rebuilt the entire modulation system from the ground up to be smoother, more powerful, and far more creative, moving from the classic "stair-case" steps to a new linear-point workflow.

What's New in Maschine 3.4

Modernized Modulation Editor The editor has been rebuilt on a new technical foundation for a smoother, high-DPI visual experience.
New Linear Point Workflow This is the new default. Maschine now creates smooth, linear transitions between any two modulation points, allowing you to create predictable ramps and sweeps with ease.
NEW: Curve Editing This is a huge new creative tool. You can now create smooth, curved slopes by simply holding Alt (Option on macOS) + dragging any line segment. This is perfect for filter sweeps, synth swells, and dynamic, expressive modulation.
Optimized Hardware Automation Recording Your hardware performances are now captured as clean, optimized linear points. This means no more cluttered lanes with micro-steps, just the smooth performance you played, ready to be edited.
Improved Editing Tools
- Pencil Tool: Freely draw complex modulation shapes. Turn on the grid to draw quantized, stepped automation, just like the classic workflow.
- Advanced Selection: Use the Marquee Tool to select groups of points at once , or use Shift-Click to select multiple individual points, even if they aren't next to each other.
Smarter Workflow & Visuals
- Modulation in the Arranger: You can see a preview of your modulation directly on clips in the Arranger view, letting you see modulation in context.
- New Visuals: The editor has a refreshed design, a new background grid, and helpful tooltips that show you the precise value of a point when you hover over it.
- New Zoom Shortcut: Use Cmd + Scroll (macOS) or Ctrl + Scroll (Windows) for quick horizontal zooming in the editor.

NEW: Play Series & Effects for Maschine+ should also be available very soon.

This update also brings massive new power to standalone. A selection of Play Series instruments (like Empire Breaks, 24K Keys) and studio effects (like Solid Bus Comp, Replika) are now compatible with Maschine+. Details coming soon

Learn How to Use It

This update changes the way modulation works, so we've put together a full "How to Use" guide to get you up to speed quickly.

Check out the full "How to Use the New Modulation Editor" guide here

How to use the Modulation Editor in Maschine 3.4

We can't wait to see what you create with these new tools.

Thanks for your feedback, and happy beat-making!

There will be a live Q&A on our Discord Server on November 11th 5:00 pm CET, more info here:

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/48488/maschine-3-4-q-a-with-product-designer-marcel-kussel

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Comments

Nyla

Optimized Hardware Automation Recording Your hardware performances are now captured as clean, optimized linear points. This means no more cluttered lanes with micro-steps, just the smooth performance you played, ready to be edited."

What does this mean? Is external automation recording now supported? If so, does that mean we have more than one bank of CC's now?

Why do I feel like I know the answer..

Jeremy_NI

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/245980#Comment_245980

No that doesn't mean external CC control, it just means better definition of the recording of automations from the Maschine controller.

SpencerTyler

is the automation updated for the maschine + as well? I understand that most of it needs a mouse to operate but I’m curious about the smoother automation/snap to grid within the hardware

OhulahanBass

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/245988#Comment_245988

So if I record automation from my synth will it be as it was or recorded in the new and improved way?

I saw the press release on SS about the M+ update, hope to see a list of everything available soon! Excited for Replika and driver in M+!

Jeremy_NI

FYI the M+ update is also live now:

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/48473/maschine-plus-2-1-0-update-play-series-new-effects-unlocked

If you have questions about the Maschine Plus update, please post them over there, let's keep this thread for Maschine (Desktop) 3.4.

PeterB49

Very smart step (maybe a huge technicaly).

now it should be possible to develope miditools, like lfo´s and envelope modulation plugins.

Also important would be Aftertouch and midi from plugins (like Kontakt ect.).

Good Job with this one :)

Kymeia

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/246002#Comment_246002

Absolutely I am hoping these new automation capabilities will finally make it possible for aftertouch from keyboards to be recordable in Maschine

naturaldichotomy

thanks for the update! Cant wait to check it out…there is even Kontakt 8 in the Maschine+ update. If you gonna implement Kontakt 8 Tools into Maschine+ Workflow it will be a powerhouse!

timrae_NI

There was meant to be one more item on the release notes:

You can now connect your Maschine instances running as a plugin in the DAW to your Kontrol MK3 😎 Requires FW 2.0.7 and one of the (currently 5) DAWs that supports FW 2.0.

Iernesto

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/246024#Comment_246024

The only thing is needed is the 4D encoder to select proyects, groups and sounds in Maschine.

D-One

Amazing! Hoping Copy/Cut/Paste modulation comes soon too.

cal

This is a nice update and congrats to the team on good work, Ctrl and zoom is great but why no vertical zoom as well? Why was only one axis done without the other? Was there a technical reason?

Not that Im ungrateful! Ive waited forever for linear and interpolated ramps (dont know if thats the right term lol) and its awesome! Took a wee while but its very, very cool now its here!

Edit:Ok after playing with it Im trying to maintain excitement but it is super finicky and doesnt behave like any automation lane Ive ever used. You create a point but it doesnt automatically select the point you just created? You try and move a point by clicking on it but instead of selecting it, it sometimes selects the line between the points and moves the whole thing, sometimes when you create a new point it selects the two points either side of it. Theres just unexpected behaviour all over the place.Also even with the grid turned off, when you zoom in after drawing with pencil, isnt it still creating tiny steps but just at a higher resolution? If you want to drag a point to a certain position and there are points after it, theres no way to do that without manually deleting those points, you cant just hold a hot key and over ride them. If you switch between selecting points and using the pencil tool, it creates all kinds of issues as it still treats the points created by the pencil as steps so if you go to select a point and create a line instead of a ramp you get right angles as the points created by the pencil seem to remember the step automation from the pencil. Not sure Im describing that right

Maybe its just me but i can jump between the automation lanes of Ableton, Studio one and Bitwig and they have very similar behaviour but this is just…weird. Can def do simple ramps now but detailed, accurate editing is still very frustrating. Maybe I just need to get used to it? Hard to explain it but Ill see if I can make a video showing it but this wasnt quite what I expected

YOKA

I waited a long time to see automation improved and I like the general direction, but I am disappointed because I was in hope of real automation not modulation.

I really like the workflow of Maschine to get in the flow and I would like to use it more, but I am not able to modulate or automate parameters across clips. I can only see and edit the modulation of one clip. But in my style of music, parameters evolving sometimes over 32 bars together with changing the midi in the clips, and I don't want to stretch all clips to that size and manipulate midi in the clip view.

For me, that is not intuitive, I have always to think about if I want to automate it later and change the length according to the modulation time beforehand.

Also don't like the idea of export synth to audio and arrange it in Ableton because I lose all the flexibility.

If I export the midi and use Maschine as an “Instrument” makes also no sense because then I could use Ableton directly

It's strange for me that the feature of arranging exists but without automation/modulation lanes in the arranger as a separate track underneath every group in the arranger.

Maybe I just want too much out of Maschine, and it is not working for my use case 🤷‍♂️

olafmol

Also underwhelmed. Dunno why it's such a big thing to be proud about to be able to add splines and straight lines to an existing modulation lane. That should be a few weeks work. Also, as pointed above by @cal, the UX is totally strange and non-intuitive. It's not if there is something new invented here, this is a common feature for ages.

Anyway, I would understand the marketing-hype much better if NI would have added "cross channel/device/lane" automation, as @YOKA also is referring to: adding a clip in a separate track that would be able to modulate devices and parameters in other lanes/channels/groups, including mixer and send parameters, that would be much more useful. Adding a real modulation system with a mod-matrix and LFO's a la bitwig would be even better.

Anyway, I guess it is what it is…at least there is (some) progress…

Lionzinio

Where is the manual for these new features? Or do we simply have to 'play around' and discover them?

Manuals and instructional material should be accessible immediately from inside both Native Access and the Maschine app. We shouldn't have to go crate diving to try to find out how to use new features. Because that disrespects the amount of work the developers have put in to implement these changes and is immensely frustrating for users.

And, if you've rebuilt it from the ground up, why not give users the option to control the blackness of the background, which makes actually seeing any of the gridlines all but impossible?

With all that said, this is a decent improvement on Maschine's previously rather pitiful modulation editing capabilities. It's now in line with that of DAWs from the early part of this century. Which means I might use it if I was recording material solely on my Maschine. I'll still do all my automation and programming via my DAW most of the time, using Maschine as a hardware controller and sound box rather than a sequencer.

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