Drums "instrument" to "group" in maschine 3

Jordi A · 2025-06-16T21:54:54+00:00

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Is it possible to configure drums, such as "Drum Lab," "ButchVigDrums," "Empire Breaks," "Studio Drummer," etc., so that these "Instruments" become "Groups" in the Maschine 3 software and hardware? That is, they can transfer the drum sounds and patterns to the Maschine software, filling out the 16 sound options for a group. No all in one sound. Best regards!

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Butch Vig Drums

Drumlab

Studio Drummer

Empire Breaks

Maschine 3 SW

Accepted answers

D-One

Another way to word it is you want to use Drum Instruments in Pad Mode.

Load the Instrument in Pad-1, for example.
In all other empty Pads set Sound > Output > MIDI Destination to be Pad-1.
In each empty Pad also rotate the Transpose Knob so it sends the right MIDI Note to trigger whatever drum hit you want.
Save the Group, so you can use it later in other projects without re-doing all the routing.

Drum Instruments In Pad Mode Maschine.png

D-One

@Jordi A
it wasn't possible to route the patterns suggested by Studio Drummer.

That's a whole other topic.

The "Grooves" inside Plugins like Studio Drummer are made to use the full keyboard range of possible drum hits, way more than 16, it starts around C0 and ends on C6, that's a lot of octaves…

Since we limit all those possibilities to just 16 by using Transpose on the Output , if you drop the MIDI Grooves into Maschine they will no longer send the right MIDI. You can go into Studio Drummers Options and use the MIDI Mapping there and save a preset, this is not very beginner-friendly and would take a bibble to explain in text.

In "Empire Breaks," each proposed pattern occupied a sound; it wasn't possible to route each drum sound.I assume this is correct.

It's possible, but since you only have 16 Pads and not 32 you have to pick. I dont own Empire Breaks but it should be the same as on ButchVigDrums.

Understand this: A Pad in Pad Mode by default sends a C3 note, these instruments expect specific notes, so it's just a matter of transposition. Transpose starting on -23 for individual drum hits and starting on 0 to trigger the Instrument Patterns.

Now that Maschine 3 can show you NKS colors on the Piano Roll you can quickly inspect why we need these specific transposition values…

If you want both Drum Hits and the Patterns, then duplicate the Group and configure each with the right transpositions — Unfortunatly Maschine does not allow sending MIDI In between Groups.

Olivier57

It is not necessarily necessary to transpose each pad, for example Beat Maker or Virtual Drummer accept 16 inputs (and many other plugins too). Just set the output of each soundslot to soundslot 1 and Maschine will automatically assign the MIDI channel.

D-One

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/231268#Comment_231268

For IO related stuff to load you have to enable +Routing, it's a button in the bottom of browser.

All comments

Rebelkleff

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/45976/drums-instrument-to-group-in-maschine-3

I’m not T my maschine right now, but in short yes there is. You have to route each sound int he kit ti a midis channel/pad in maschine. Then each sound will exist in independently for patterns/insert fx etc. i have a template set up I will try and find out the steps when I’m back at the studio

Jordi A

Knowing the steps would be great. I've missed some details. I haven't found a specific tutorial on how to route drums, but if it's possible to understand each step, I'll try it that way and maybe I'll be able to understand the process. (Some time ago, I tried to route with Cubase in Maschine for reasons other than the current one, following tutorials, but I couldn't.)
Thank you Rebelkleff!

D-One

Another way to word it is you want to use Drum Instruments in Pad Mode.

Load the Instrument in Pad-1, for example.
In all other empty Pads set Sound > Output > MIDI Destination to be Pad-1.
In each empty Pad also rotate the Transpose Knob so it sends the right MIDI Note to trigger whatever drum hit you want.
Save the Group, so you can use it later in other projects without re-doing all the routing.

Jordi A

I followed the steps. In "Studio Drummer," each drum sound occupied a pad. I was able to record an improvised pattern, but it wasn't possible to route the patterns suggested by Studio Drummer.

In "Empire Breaks," each proposed pattern occupied a sound; it wasn't possible to route each drum sound.I assume this is correct.

I thought it would be possible to route with a similar result to downloading a "Group."Thank you very much. I wasn't familiar with these steps. It's starting to work. Thanks, D-One.

D-One

@Jordi A
it wasn't possible to route the patterns suggested by Studio Drummer.

That's a whole other topic.

The "Grooves" inside Plugins like Studio Drummer are made to use the full keyboard range of possible drum hits, way more than 16, it starts around C0 and ends on C6, that's a lot of octaves…

In "Empire Breaks," each proposed pattern occupied a sound; it wasn't possible to route each drum sound.I assume this is correct.

It's possible, but since you only have 16 Pads and not 32 you have to pick. I dont own Empire Breaks but it should be the same as on ButchVigDrums.

Now that Maschine 3 can show you NKS colors on the Piano Roll you can quickly inspect why we need these specific transposition values…

If you want both Drum Hits and the Patterns, then duplicate the Group and configure each with the right transpositions — Unfortunatly Maschine does not allow sending MIDI In between Groups.

Olivier57

D-One

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/231255#Comment_231255

Correct, it depends on what the Plugin expects, you have to know.

I reckon that in your examples, based on the picture, those plugins expect things separated by MIDI Channels, not notes.

By default, Maschine has each Pad sending MIDI on a different channel.

Olivier57

The MIDI channels remain at the user's choice depending on what he wants to do, we can very well send all the sounds of a kit on the same MIDI channel, that will work too.

Olivier57

To configure DRUMLAB from NI, it will be more complicated and you will have to transpose. I won't venture into that. 🤣

D-One

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/231260#Comment_231260

Han? Then the plugin receives a tons of C3 notes in the same Channel, how will it know what triggers a Kick or a Snare? We are talking Pad Mode here… to tell things apart, instruments need either notes or channels.

Olivier57

I tried it, it works with Beatmaker from UJAM.

On the other hand, I just realized that when you save the GROUP, the output destination is not saved. (When you reload the group in a new GROUP, you have to reconfigure all the outputs for each soundslot)

D-One, can you confirm this ? Is this normal ?

D-One

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/231268#Comment_231268

For IO related stuff to load you have to enable +Routing, it's a button in the bottom of browser.

Olivier57

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/231389#Comment_231389

Great, thanks.

Olivier57

Hello,

Other tips:

-You can add a VST effect on each 'Soundslot' which are redirected to 'Soundslot 1'.

-You can also add a VST effect on 'Soundslot 1', which will act as an effects bus.

-And if your drum VST instrument accepts multiple individual inputs you can easily premix each element.

At the time I made videos for MA2 in french.

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