Maschine live. Opinions please!

[DubluW]

Hi all.

Ive done a lot of digging about in regards to how to set this all up (MIDI clocks, the works) and thats no issue. Ive also seen the threads discussing how Dubfire/Richie hawtin etc run their setups (IE being absolute wizards!) and people asking how to do it.

Im after some opinions to how well/intuitive it is (the actual use of) maschine live on a fairly simple setup.

What id like to do with it is run basic loops from a traktor/S4 setup (mainly bass and kicks) and have maschine on a 3rd deck as a board to complete the song using its step sequencer/me drumming along, with a pre-set kit for that song ie Snares, melodies, samples and whatnot and have a couple of pads as 'breakdown/buildup' pads that choke the rest of the maschine kit off (alongside me killing the beat through traktor) and maybe have another kit made up to play over the breakdowns/buildups.

I know i could do the whole thing through maschine without the need for the S4/traktor, but id like to retain a bit of normal DJ'ing alongside so i can chop and change.

Now it seems fairly simple on paper, but id like to know if anyone has tried something similar to see if there's any major pitfalls/issues that can hinder the performance.

I know i could spend the next 2-3 weeks going through this myself and probably come back here asking about something when i run into it, but rather than do that id like a headstart on the project so im prepared!

Any help appreciated Sir's/Ma'am's/ladies/gents

[botstein]

Im after some opinions to how well/intuitive it is (the actual use of) maschine live on a fairly simple setup.

It's fun and easy to use with just a little practice.

What id like to do with it is run basic loops from a traktor/S4 setup (mainly bass and kicks) and have maschine on a 3rd deck as a board to complete the song using its step sequencer/me drumming along, with a pre-set kit for that song ie Snares, melodies, samples and whatnot and have a couple of pads as 'breakdown/buildup' pads that choke the rest of the maschine kit off (alongside me killing the beat through traktor) and maybe have another kit made up to play over the breakdowns/buildups.

Why play the loops through Traktor? Will this be remix decks or regular track decks? Does Ableton, which is like a dream looper (session view), can host Maschine instances, and has flexible routing options make more sense?

Building these kits is going to take a minute, but won't take forever to make in aggregate. If you do >4 hour sets or something, it's a big (admirable) commitment to next-level track preparation.

I don't understand why the kicks and bass are in the loops as opposed to melodies. Putting whole melodies on a single Maschine pad is pretty clunky. I don't know what specific kinds of music you play, but playing snares and not kicks just feels unnatural to me.

Two or more kits per track sounds like a good idea.

Choking is easy in Maschine (either by using choke groups, turning down polyphony, muting/soloing, and/or pressing choke), and if you're hosting in Ableton, other options like gates, fades, side chaining, etc are available.

[DubluW]

Thanks botstein!

I'll be using Traktor on the normal decks, as firstly i don't have Ableton and secondly its so i can mix in and out of these tracks that ive made in maschine, into regular tracks in traktor.

I haven't played sets longer than an hour or so to be honest, and don't get gigs very often, but the ones i have played (and hours of Bedroom practice) made me decide that id like to be something a bit more than just Q'ing tracks and mixing, and that id like to be more instrumental and hands on. 4 hour sets are well out of my remit for the time being! id only have a few of these tracks to sling into a set to spice it up, leaving bits that i could drum/trigger myself on the maschine. Of course over time id have a 'crate' of tracks ive made in this manor.

I see what you mean by running kicks through traktor! Melodies that ive made, run as loops through traktor, and the beats/kicks/snares/percussion and what not through the Maschine would be much better now you mention it.

Thanks again.