Maschine advice (and Mikro discussion)

[ajrindy]

I have been eyeing Maschine for a little while now and have done as much research as i could, as i always do before buying more gear. I am however having trouble grasping the flow of production using it. I realize everything is very personal when dealing with music production, but Maschine really seems tailored to producing hip-hoppy beats (i know there is a deep house production video, but i consider it to be an outlier in this case)
So I ask: how efficient/useful is maschine for other genres of music? I specifically am thinking techno, electro, and very minimal electronic. What could it do for these styles that couldn't be achieved easily with other controllers? I use ableton, so would it make sense to use maschine at all? can Maschine do things that are impossible/very difficult/complex to do in Ableton?

I'm really looking into purchasing the Maschine Mikro when it comes out on the 1rst. I'm surprised it isn;t being raved about here on the forums yet...

[DigitalDevil]

The biggest advantage of Maschine is really the tight integration of the software and controller. Everything is laid out easily straight away for you. Many of the same things can certainly be done in Ableton or other DAWs with different controllers if you want to take the time to lay everything out to your liking.

how efficient/useful is maschine

That all depends on you, really. I often find myself just using a mouse/kb for production despite having controllers available because that's all I had when I started and its what I'm used to. That said, there is certainly nothing holding you back from applying the same methods you see in hip hop production to other genres.

[DJZILCH]

hey guys I am really thinking of either getting the maschine or maschine mikro

question is other than the less rotaries, what else am I missing from the Maschine that is not in the maschine mikro?

Would the reduced amount of rotaries have so much effect on the overall workflow of the maschine? I know that with the original maschine it is so good that you rarely need to touch the computer, by the reduction of controls on the mikro does it somehow lose this?

thanks

[GI Trackt]

I'm also planning to buy the Maschine Mikro for my entry into the production world. I'm sold on the fact that it can almost be used entirely as DAW itself. Most people who are already producing with other DAWs and are more experience will most likely disagree, but for somebody starting out and with no production software at all, I think the integration of soft+hardware of the Maschine is the right way to go!

Song mode is awesome!! There are tons of youtube videos ("maschinetutorials"/ SoundsAndGear/a guy named SaintJoe, and many others) which show the capabilities of the Maschine and Mikro.

I think you just have to push a few more buttons to get around with the Mikro. Other than that, from what I've heard, the Mikro can do everything the original did, just in a smaller version.

Here's a thread on the Mikro I started a few months ago, just in case you'd like some more reading: http://www.djtechtools.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36630

[DJZILCH]

ok been watching a lot of videos of both the mikro and the normal maschine and found out that on the mikro it seems so redundant just to load samples, so many shift+something and hold something and then something (due to the control limitations), sure once you get used to it its probably fine but now im really thinking of just getting the full maschine lol

[deathstarchris]

I love my full size maschine!
Super tight integration in CuBase 5. Easy adlib beats into Traktor and huge
built in library to get you started.

Plus since the release of Mikro you can usually pick up the original full size one for $350 off of craigslist. That's what I paid and that's where I got it.

I might even pick up another for my DJ SOUND CONTROL!

[mostapha]

I know that with the original maschine it is so good that you rarely need to touch the computer, by the reduction of controls on the mikro does it somehow lose this?

Apparently, it can do everything. But I'd imagine it's really weird to do things like tweak effects and EQs.

Seriously, using Maschine is like using a groove box. The biggest advantage of the thing is that it's remarkably simple to produce a beat…of any style. And, by "beat" I basically mean anything groove-based, so it's weird to work with things like vocals or long, non-repeating guitar parts or non-groove-based leads. Basically…it works for everything you could do on a groove box.

Once you have that, it's damn-near trivial to record stems into a DAW and finish your song. Add those vocals/guitar/whatever that don't fit with the groove-based workflow, mixdown using real plugins or a real mixer if you've got it, and you're done.

Seriously, think of it as an MPC (or an MC-909 or an RS-7000, if you're stuck on the "MPCs are for hip hop" thing) that comes with a 32-channel sound card (16 stereo sources) to record it into your DAW. The only downside is that it has to be plugged into a computer to do anything.

It doesn't replace a DAW. It's not supposed to. IMHO, you need a DAW to use it to its full potential. But it's freaking awesome at what it is.

[turbo]

I just picked up the full sized maschine like 2 weeks ago. Go for the full sized. The whole reason for getting a groove box is to be able to just kick back and bang out percussive patterns creatively. Having dedicated knobs for everything is a dream. Having to use the mouse to jump around or having to hold shift-alt for everything really takes away from it.

It's worth the extra money for the full size. Making things easier makes me more creative. Less time dealing with technical issues, more time to make music.

[turbo]

Also if you decide to pick one up now, make sure you take advantage of the free plugin voucher and free tshirt. I picked up the transistor drum and synth pack.

[mostapha]

Yeah…the expansion packs are awesome. I'm still delving into transistor punch, but i'm gong to buy vintage heat and whatever the new hip hop centered one are for myself for christmas.

They're seriously awesome.