Maschine+ file cleanup question

JRGariano
JRGariano Member Posts: 22 Member
edited November 2022 in Maschine

I use Maschine+ exclusively in standalone mode.

To date, I've primarily used the device to create projects that take weeks to produce, and I've made sure I save those projects every time with the "Save Project With Samples" and "Delete Unused Samples" options in an attempt to keep my SD card tidy.

I now want to also start using Maschine+ like a guitar looper for practice and playing around with ideas. In most cases, when using the Maschine+ in this way, I'm not going to save the project, and will consider the samples/loops I make as throwaway artifacts. However, it is my understanding that even if I don't save the project, the samples are still saved to my SD card when doing this. (Please correct me if I'm wrong about that.)

What's the best way to go about deleting unused samples from throwaway practice sessions without deleting any of the samples from projects I'd like to keep?

Best Answer

  • D-One
    D-One Moderator Posts: 2,811 mod
    edited November 2022 Answer ✓

    Sorry I wasn't at home when I replied to test and I had forgotten how this worked. Get ready for some weirdness:

    M+ does not delete what you record/sample, ever... Not even Sample Edits (bug maybe?, this is too crazy to be by design); while the desktop version also keeps unused recordings it does delete any destructive edits of those recordings.

    Why? No idea, none of those behaviors make any sense to me on the desktop and surely not on a standalone with limited disk space.


    Everything you sample goes to:

    • /Native Instruments/Maschine 2/Recordings

    Anything you edit from the lib goes to:

    • /Native Instruments/Maschine 2/Sample

    Anything user content you edit goes to:

    • Whatever folder Maschine is loading the sample from, Maschine adds a new file with a number at the end of the filename every time you make a destructive edit.


    If you always use "Save with Samples" it should be safe to empty those folders, but, test things yourself and exercise caution.

Answers

  • D-One
    D-One Moderator Posts: 2,811 mod
    edited November 2022

    I never tried but I bet it works the same way as the Maschine desktop app:

    It does delete unused stuff but only when you restart the app, in the case of M+ it prob needs a reboot.

  • JRGariano
    JRGariano Member Posts: 22 Member

    Thanks D-One, I can try that, though I'm not sure I want to reboot the unit like that every time.

    I'd be ok with periodically opening the storage connection to my computer and doing a deletion of unwanted files. But I'm not very familiar with how the files and folders are organized on the SD card. Do you, or anyone else, know where the sample files are stored for unsaved projects versus samples stored for saved projects?

  • D-One
    D-One Moderator Posts: 2,811 mod
    edited November 2022 Answer ✓

    Sorry I wasn't at home when I replied to test and I had forgotten how this worked. Get ready for some weirdness:

    M+ does not delete what you record/sample, ever... Not even Sample Edits (bug maybe?, this is too crazy to be by design); while the desktop version also keeps unused recordings it does delete any destructive edits of those recordings.

    Why? No idea, none of those behaviors make any sense to me on the desktop and surely not on a standalone with limited disk space.


    Everything you sample goes to:

    • /Native Instruments/Maschine 2/Recordings

    Anything you edit from the lib goes to:

    • /Native Instruments/Maschine 2/Sample

    Anything user content you edit goes to:

    • Whatever folder Maschine is loading the sample from, Maschine adds a new file with a number at the end of the filename every time you make a destructive edit.


    If you always use "Save with Samples" it should be safe to empty those folders, but, test things yourself and exercise caution.

  • ozon
    ozon Member Posts: 1,301 Expert

    @D-One wrote:

    Whatever folder Maschine is loading the sample from, Maschine adds a new file with a number at the end of the filename every time you make a destructive edit.

    Is this also true for Samples from the Factory Library and Expansions? That would be a desaster, wouldn’t it?

  • D-One
    D-One Moderator Posts: 2,811 mod
    edited November 2022

    Yes.

    It might be because the SW cleans up unused samples on shutdown and since it's crashing due to the 1.4.4 bug it doesn't get to that point. Just a guess tho..

  • ozon
    ozon Member Posts: 1,301 Expert

    IMO no application should ever write into any read only installed factory library locations. This behavior is worrying!

  • D-One
    D-One Moderator Posts: 2,811 mod

    Read-only? No, wait.. There's some misunderstanding here... It writes edits to the User Sample folder when the original sample is from a lib/expansion.

    It doesn't mess up the official lib, only clutters your user lib and of course, fills your card with things you never used.

  • ozon
    ozon Member Posts: 1,301 Expert

    Okay! Then I misinterpreted your first explanation! Thank you for the additional information.

    Now I can sleep again at night…

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