Maschine 2 plug-in / Logic recording — What am I doing wrong?

Kirtland Peterson

Aloha from Honolulu,

I've finally got my MK3 Mikro coming into Logic Pro on 16 different channels.

But I still cannot record into Logic, which is my goal.

Here's where I've got to so far:

I set it up using the Maschine 2 plug-in from inside Logic. (I am not using Maschine 2 in standalone mode; Maschine 2 as a standalone program is not running.)

Then:

• INPUT: Each track has its own Sound/MIDI channel, the source is the HOST

• OUTPUT: Each Audio output goes to it's own channel

• OUTPUT: Each MIDI has its own channel, the destination is the HOST.

Now, if I play the 16 pads on my MK3 Mikro, they show up in different channels on my Logic:

So, so far so good.

Now...

To RECORD, I must press RECORD on BOTH the MK3 Mikro and Logic Pro.

When I play the MK3 Mikro pads, the performance is recorded in the Maschine 2 plug in; nothing is recorded in Logic:

I can PLAY what I've recorded from Logic, and the 16 pad sounds map onto the 16 Logic tracks.

The 8-bar pattern above loops, but the loop is governed by the Maschine 2 plug in; the Logic play arrow just goes and goes and goes.

QUESTION: How do I get what's recorded in the Machine 2 plug-in into Logic, with each of the 16 pads recording onto the 16 separate tracks in Logic?

If I drag from the MIDI icon in the Maschine 2 plug-in, all MIDI notes map to one Logic MIDI track; they do not spread out amongst the 16 tracks.

Again, I was hoping to play my MK3 Mikro and record onto the 16 tracks in Logic.

But so far I can't seem to manage this.

Obviously I'm doing something wrong and/or missing an important step.

Any ideas?

Mahalo!

Cat

D-One

Ok so... Apparently in Logic the 'Aux Tracks' that we add to receive multi-outs from Plugins are hybrid, as in they receive Audio but can also hold the MIDI. So, you can indeed have separate MIDI Tracks triggering Maschine, (very unintuitive tbh.)

So... even tho my previous explanation is technically correct with respect to "External MIDI Tracks" it will induce people into error, I'll delete/edit that reply.

As to why when you drag-and-drop you get a single MIDI it's probably because you used "Sounds to MIDI Notes" at some point, or have messed with Group Settings... Not sure but I've tested and everything works fine here, I'll attach my project so you can have a look and test it out:

Logic x Mas Template.zip

If by any chance you want to clear all sounds but not remove the routing just make a new empty Group, save it, delete it then load the Saved one over the main one with +Routings disabled.

Uwe303

Hello,

as far as I know you can't record midi from a plugin into logic, cause au plugins do not support midi out. You've set up aux channels so maybe you want to record as audio into logic? And that maschine does not work stand alone is also not right, what happens if you try? What os version are you using? I'm not a mac and logic user myself so i can't help you further. But if you answer my questions maybe someone else can help you better, if he knows all that stuff about your system.

Kirtland Peterson

Aloha Uwe303,

Thank you for your thoughts.

I thought I'd seen YouTube videos where folks were recording MIDI into Logic. This enabled the users to fine-tune beats in Logic, apply FX, etc.

OR they were able to drop midi from the Maschine 2 plug in window into the 16 tracks in Logic to do the same.

At present, I am able to do neither.

I want the music information in Logic as MIDI that I can manipulate.

Not sure I understand your thought about Maschine 2 in standalone mode.

Yes, I can use it in standalone mode.

But my take on how to record into the 16 tracks in Logic was that you should use Maschine 2 as a plug in, and not in standalone mode. So I did not open Maschine 2 in standalone mode when using the Machine 2 plug in.

My understanding was that proper integration with Logic meant using the Maschine 2 plug in only.

As for macOS, I am always using the latest version. The same with Logic.

For security reasons, I keep everything up to date.

Thanks again! Appreciated.

Cat

Uwe303

Drag and drop midi should work and is also a good way, you only have to setup midi output settings before cause it also influences midi drag and drop. For a group you set sounds to midi notes and then drag and drop midi into a midi track.

D-One

This question comes up a lot.

Logic is an oddity in this regard compared to nearly all other DAW's, not only AU Plugins can't send their own MIDI Out they also can't receive MIDI from another MIDI Track (*), I guess that's why in Logic they only have "External MIDI Tracks" instead of just "MIDI Tracks", apparently they're meant for external devices only...

This image sums it up:

So, Maschine Plugin can't directly record MIDI into Logic nor can it receive MIDI from several MIDI tracks. EDIT: Technically it actually can receive MIDI, but only from "AUX" tracks under the plugin. More details here.

Some folks say AU v3 allows for MIDI In/Out from plugins, but Maschine is AU v2, I'm not sure if AUv3 is even used in desktop computers or if it's mostly an iPadOS/iOS thing, to be honest.

I thought I'd seen YouTube videos where folks were recording MIDI into Logic. This enabled the users to fine-tune beats in Logic, apply FX, etc.

Only with their controller in MIDI Mode, usually controlling something else other than MAS-Plug, with this method, your MM3 basically becames a regular dumb MIDI controller as opposed to a dedicated one.

D-One

Hummm Hold up... I just tried using my virtual MIDI "IAC driver" and it sort of works to send MIDI from the External MIDI tracks to the MAS-Plug-AU. It's ignoring MIDI channels for some reason but by using notes it might be possible to have separate MIDI Tracks, I'll test again tomorrow and let you know.

Kirtland Peterson

Aloha D-One,

Thank you. Appreciated.

It IS more complicated than the "just do this" manual/video instructions suggest!

Your explanation does beg the question: Why have 16 tracks in Logic, each mapped to one of the 16 MK3 Micro pads if... you can't record into those tracks?

And how did those guys on the YouTube videos get MIDI data on Logic's 16 tracks so they could then add effects from inside Logic?

Rhetorical questions. i'll figure out some efficient way to work with Logic, Machine 2, and the MK3 Micro!

Thanks again,

Cat

D-One

Ok so... Apparently in Logic the 'Aux Tracks' that we add to receive multi-outs from Plugins are hybrid, as in they receive Audio but can also hold the MIDI. So, you can indeed have separate MIDI Tracks triggering Maschine, (very unintuitive tbh.)

So... even tho my previous explanation is technically correct with respect to "External MIDI Tracks" it will induce people into error, I'll delete/edit that reply.

As to why when you drag-and-drop you get a single MIDI it's probably because you used "Sounds to MIDI Notes" at some point, or have messed with Group Settings... Not sure but I've tested and everything works fine here, I'll attach my project so you can have a look and test it out:

Logic x Mas Template.zip

If by any chance you want to clear all sounds but not remove the routing just make a new empty Group, save it, delete it then load the Saved one over the main one with +Routings disabled.

Kirtland Peterson

Aloha e D-One,

Again — wow — mahalo nui loa! So appreciated.

Many thanks for the template. I've often wondered why someone (NI? A 3rd party?) doesn't make "typical" templates available for the most-used DAWs.

So, again — wow — どうもありがとうございます!

All may change after I use your template, but my goal now is to find a "simple" way to get MK3 Mikro sounds into Logic. I know I can drag audio over, and some MIDI info (all info into a single Logic track), and I'll just have to get it sounding "perfect" in the MK3 Mikro, knowing what I can do to the sounds in Logic will be limited.

I believe I can also use Maschine sounds in Massive X. Maybe that's where I can manipulate the MIDI!

Tack så mycket again. Appreciated!

Cat

Peter Ladka

Hello all,

If you're interested in recording Midi live from Maschine Hardware into Logic directly here's an approach I crafted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ_gMVOoMes

PS-Sorry for the lousy quality and lack of a camera on the Maschine. It's my first video . . . ever.