Understanding Maschine

logicpromachine
logicpromachine Member Posts: 37 Member
edited October 2024 in Maschine

After nearly a year I am happy to say I finally figured out how to make the Maschine Mikro MK3 work with Logic Pro like a regular plug-in! At first it seemed impossible, but now I am able to select a kit in the Maschine plug-in and then get back to Logic for recording the midi notes, after some careful tweaking within Maschine. This is ideal for staying out of the Maschine plug-in itself and doing all the creative work in Logic.

With that solved, now I am curious about possibly learning how to use the Maschine DAW for creative work. So far I find it unintuitive and confusing even after watching the tutorials by Native Instruments. This is why I was initially afraid of it and had to learn how to make it work with Logic. There was no manual in the box or tutorials included with the product. I am interested in suggestions you all may have for videos and other tutorials that make learning Maschine easy. It seems like something that is difficult to learn but becomes easy after you learn it. Thanks.

Comments

  • reffahcs
    reffahcs Member Posts: 848 Guru

    Personally I think Jef Gibbons has some really good Maschine videos. He uses a MK3 as a controller though so you may have to adapt it to fit the Mikro.


  • logicpromachine
    logicpromachine Member Posts: 37 Member

    thanks a lot! On the Mikro things are different and it takes memorizing key combinations that use the SHIFT key, as well as using the computer because the Mikro can only do certain things. Getting comfortable with this is proving to be extremely difficult for me. It seems I may never understand it because it requires memorizing so many key combinations to make a simple beat. This is going to take a lot of work.

  • solsta
    solsta Member Posts: 131 Helper
    edited February 2024

    @logicpromachine try this:


    and if you haven't seen this:

    you are right there can be many key combinations potentially but I used to use my maschine mk1 by itself and I found that once you know how to load sounds and activate certain shortcuts like plugins and mixer and volume then you can get a lot done before you have to start relying on the screen alone

  • tetsuneko
    tetsuneko Member Posts: 807 Expert

    Certainly says something about how terrible the UX on a mikro is, if you consider Logic easier to use..

  • logicpromachine
    logicpromachine Member Posts: 37 Member

    It really is horrible for me. I am not sure why but using the Maschine software is endlessly complicated to me to the point of being something I avoid. With Maschine I find myself totally frozen with my mind and hands unable to move.

  • reffahcs
    reffahcs Member Posts: 848 Guru

    +1 for @solsta 's rec

    same vid, just easier on the eyes.

  • D-One
    D-One Moderator Posts: 3,627 mod

    How are you copy pasting the url to end up with those giant links? I edited your post.

  • logicpromachine
    logicpromachine Member Posts: 37 Member

    I guess I am wondering if learning Maschine would be worth all the work. Is there anything important it can do that I can't just do in Logic itself?

  • solsta
    solsta Member Posts: 131 Helper

    literally from the website, even I was surprised at the length of the links. not sure why that happened to be honest

  • dmori
    dmori Member Posts: 91 Advisor


    Here's a selection of Maschine courses and Youtube tutorials you should check out.


    It's a different approach to working with Maschine. I've pretty much had Logic X since it launched, but never really felt it when using it. When I started using Maschine, the fun came back. There is definitely a learning curve - but I find I'm more creative, able to experiment with different approaches and create different types of music.

    When I started, I found the best approach was to look at it with a beginners mind, ignoring everything I thought I new, following tutorials, and learning what its strengths were.

    From my experience, I feel it's best not to compare it with a DAW, but see it as a new way of creating. As you've already experienced using Maschine in Logic, you're more than half way there.

    If you give yourself 30 days - look at some the project templates in Maschine and reverse-engineer them - and work with what Maschine can do, rather than wishing it can do something else.

    If you enjoy the experience you'll want to continue (and probably want to upgrade to a MK3 in the future).

    Spend some time each day over the next month in Maschine, follow some of the youtube tutorials and you'll be surprised how quickly you'll pick it up. And also amazed at what you can create (and how different the experience is compared to Logic.)

    Good luck on your journey - and tell us what you think after your next 30 days!!




    She's also just launched a new course:



    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    His course:


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    His course:


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    His course:


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



  • solsta
    solsta Member Posts: 131 Helper

    fizzEnt and low heat have taught me many things about my maschine that I did not know they're great.

    good list thanks for posting!!

  • djadidai
    djadidai Member Posts: 518 Pro

    Yo! Fellow Logic Pro user here. I can’t speak for Mikro I’m afraid, but even if you learn to use Maschine 2 as an AU it’s definitely worth while!! I’m actually making a track now using ONLY Logics plugs and everything and I must say there is NOT anything Maschine can do that Logic can’t but Maschine is definitely not a daw. I usually sketch out my tracks in Maschine first and when I feel it’s time to pull it out of there and finish a track I do the rest in Logic. However the workflow and groove making is much more fun inside maschine than Logic tbh. At least for me.

    It helps to think of Maschine as an onion of 3 layers (master, group, sound). All your 16 pads in group A (or any group) for example can contain ANYTHING, not just drums or hits. 16 separate channels or tracks to use Logics terms. So let’s say you have 16 different drum and perc sounds, and say you create a summing track stack containing these 16 tracks. That’s what a group is in Maschine. So you can add eq on every channel separately for example or a general eq for the whole stack by adding an eq to the stack channel that will be applied to all channels within that track stack. So if you are on sound and select groups instead and apply effects there it will affect all the pads within that group. Not to mention the third layer, master, same applies here, whatever you add there will be applied to EVERYTHING.

    I’ve used maschine 2 routed to midi channels in logic and so forth but one instance of multi timbral Maschine isn’t enough for me, so what I did is that I stopped working that way and started exporting my pads separately as wav instead. So if I export the kick from maschine I create an audio track in Logic and put the wav loop there. This way I only have one “software instrument” channel with Maschine open and work there and then export my stuff to the audio channels. Keep in mind that you have to mute Maschine when hitting play or make Maschine play an empty scene so no sound is triggered inside maschine otherwise you’ll have the same 2 kicks playing

  • logicpromachine
    logicpromachine Member Posts: 37 Member

    I'm still not seeing any advantage to learning Maschine itself VS using the Maschine plug-in in Logic as a regular instrument. This lets me work in Logic without interrupting the workflow of creativity. To do this was not easy but I finally figured it out by using MIDI mode on the Mikro MK3. Once you add the instrument of Maschine in Logic, you have to go into the Maschine plug-in, click the tiny little Channel icon that appears in Maschine as a little knob. Then click on the word Group. Then click on Input. Change Key Mode to Manual. Change Source to Host. Then pull up a kit and return to Logic Pro and it will function like any other instrument. One pesky thing about doing this is that the unit constantly reverts back to Maschine mode which requires frequent changing it back to MIDI mode.

This discussion has been closed.
Back To Top