Play a midi file on Maschine+

mutk · 2022-05-24T11:52:07+00:00

There was an error rendering this rich post.

Greetings all, complete novice here. I have had a Maschine+ for 2 days or so. I have a rudimentary midi file of drums.

I'd like to somehow play it back utilising my Maschine+.

I have Reaper as a DAW it shows Maschine+ as a device for sending midi to, and I have it enabled. I have the midi file itself 'playing' in Reaper and it emits awful sounds when I use the built in Windows midi.

I have tried a couple of things but none have resulted in sounds triggered by midi playing on the Maschine+.

I had assumed that I could in fact simply upload the file to the SD storage. I have done that but browsing the SD card I find nothing I can access or load.

I guess I should ask - is copying a MIDI file to the SD and playing that a valid use case, or something I should give up? If so how should I set up the Maschine+ to trigger drums via MIDI where the Windows host is the controller?

Thanks a bunch in advance to anyone that answers :)

Find more posts tagged with

Maschine Plus

Accepted answers

D-One

You have to configure the Group receiving the MIDI and tell it some basics about the MIDI it will receive, to make it simple lets assume your MIDI is in a single DAW track, using Channel 1 and starts at C3, this:

Then you would have to go to GROUP > Input change the Key Mode to Manual and use the rest of following settings:

I guess I should ask - is copying a MIDI file to the SD and playing that a valid use case, or something I should give up?

I'm not aware of any way to import/load MIDI files in M+ standalone mode.

You can load (drag and drop) the MIDI in the computer SW version of Maschine, it gets converted to a Pattern, then save the Group and copy it to your SD. SD > Native Instruments > Maschine 2 > Groups You're able to access it thru the USER Group Browser.

All comments

PK The DJ

Start by reading the manual 😁

No, the M+ cannot read/play MIDI files. The desktop software can though, so import to there, then transfer to the M+.

D-One

Then you would have to go to GROUP > Input change the Key Mode to Manual and use the rest of following settings:

I guess I should ask - is copying a MIDI file to the SD and playing that a valid use case, or something I should give up?

I'm not aware of any way to import/load MIDI files in M+ standalone mode.

mutk

Thanks all that answered.

Note I am one that reads manuals, but I have only had the thing for three days now, I have scanned through the manual and found nothing that definitively said you cannot load midi files on to the storage and play them.

I feel that the Maschine+ is not quite standalone if, as a novice one of the very first practical things I wanted to do with it cannot be done without desktop software. I can see that maybe what I want to do is not a common use case though.

So now I have a clue that I can run some 'Desktop Software' that can load a MIDI file and then send that to the Maschine+ somehow. I have several more q's, the first one is 'Where is this desktop software' and 'What is it called'. I presume its called Mascine 2 as per the downloads page. There is reference to the software in the manual but they don't name it or say where you get it.

See? I am a complete novice here. My intro to Native Instruments is the Maschine+, never touched anything else before.

I do believe I am on my way now. Thanks again.

Cheers

Flexi

Install Maschine 2 on your computer, it offers a lot of advantages to use the computer version, no matter if you use the M+ or Mk3 etc, file management will always be better on a computer for example.

It is also worth using the computer version for a few days with the mouse and keyboard, this will give you a solid overview of Maschines basic features in a super quick way, then you can start to muscle memory the hardware.

M+ is definitely a standalone, but it is within the definition of the NI model for the last bunch of years, they are more of a content company nowadays than anything else, and the M+ very much plays a ton of content, and can be expanded with more content by NI too.

FYI I have used Maschine since its very first release all those years ago, I still haven't read the manual yet.

ozon

The MPC product line can’t load MIDI files directly either. Which irritated me at first as well.

I think it’s actually a valid point that loading a MIDI file into a Drum Computer / Percussion Sampler (which is the provenience of both product lines) is not a common use case. In general, these products are used to create drum/percussion patterns.

mutk

I have taken the advice on board :)

I have the Maschine desktop software and run the + as a controller
I gave up on using the MIDI file as it was just terrible and not worth the time to 'fix'
I have created a couple of patterns that replicate the MIDI file I wanted to use in just a couple of hours
Straight up, I have an end product way better than the MIDI file and it was honestly much easier anyway

Its clear to me how to best utilise the Maschine+ - avoid MIDI generally unless you have a keyboard or something.

Cheers

D-One

@mutk said:

I can see that maybe what I want to do is not a common use case though.

I don't think it's quite uncommon... I'd love to be able to Import / Export MIDI directly from the browser or in the M+ because is an awesome way to have pre-prepared common patterns, mainly to work faster.

It's subjective but IMHO this feature should be included, loading MIDI from the browser is something that has been requested for years, way before a standalone but because this is a mouse-dependent feature it wasn't added to the M+, at least not yet.

So now I have a clue that I can run some 'Desktop Software' that can load a MIDI file and then send that to the Maschine+ somehow.

Not quite "some" software, it's Maschine but the computer version, exactly the same but with more features. M+ is not a device built from the ground up, it's an adaptation of a computer SW put into a box, so to speak.

PK The DJ

Agreed about being able to use MIDI files, especially with the restriction of patterns being tied to groups.

MIDI files are standard and ubiquitous. They can be used almost anywhere/everywhere. Better than saving to a format which isn't compatible with other stuff.

O.k.

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/18487#Comment_18487

Mpc line can import midi files !

ozon

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/18598#Comment_18598

Well, that's new then. Haven't touched my MPC since I got the M+.

lwpweb

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/18422#Comment_18422

you say: then transfer to m+. What is to transfer in detail? Is it the project?, or what else do you have to transfer?

ozon

You can transfer Projects, groups and Sounds.

Patterns live within Groups. Therefore you can import the MIDI file into a Pattern and then save and transfer either the Project or Group. If you want to import the Pattern into a different Project, transfer the Group.

Quick links

Unanswered questions