4x4 (Buttons or Pads??) Maschine vs MF

[LmnLm3]

I have Reason, Live, Logic, and K8U (I know, sounds overkill for EDM... mostly for film score type music). I'm not sure what the maschine software can do for me that I can't without the software. I guess it's just a workflow thing - I do love me a hardware step sequencer...

I can get the Mk1 new for 330, or (since I already own Maschine software license) I could find just a controller used, but it's the pads I care about, and they get worn over time - also the new ones are supposed to be better... Though I haven't heard any real anecdotal evidence besides Jeremy Ellis saying so... I figured BF would be the time to buy, but it seems nobody is interested in selling me a Mk2 for less than 500.

That's why I thought of the MF and came here (haven't graced these halls in some time, I miss DJTT!)

Once I got here I realized that the Twitch is not a far cry form the MF, and I found that for 319... At that point, it's only a stone's throw to the S2, and now I'm nowhere near where I started. It's like watching 1 youtube video that turns into 5, then you end up in that weird part of youtube.... You know the part I'm talking about...

[botstein]

Maschine definitely translates most easily from traditional musicianship/instrumentalism.

[Gokari]

Well the reason why I think Maschine would be great is the fact that you can switch between midi mode and Maschine mode so easily. I use the Instant Grat mappings on the Maschine while djing for some great FXs during songs, but with a push of a button, I can switch over to the Maschine software and start banging out a beat over a track in Traktor. It's as easy as that to switch from Maschine to Traktor which is why I find it so useful in live controllerism.

[sobi]

for that type of routine it is almost better to have all the pads on a fixed velocity anyway, because (in my limited experience) different fingers have different strength, and using fingers 4 and 5 can throw off a balance sonically.

I'd disagree with that, only being due to the fact that losing velocity range gives you less "musicality". If different fingers having different strengths were a lasting handicap, playing most string instruments might not have progressed as far as they have.

[LmnLm3]

.... oh ....

[lol]

I suppose my left hand (from cello) has pretty strong fingers - it's the right hand (that I have been using to practice pad work) that must simply need exercise... (and the pads are so far apart, it's almost like playing an upright bass - an instrument that, to be honest, hasn't progressed nearly as far as cello, violin, guitar, banjo, etc.)

Are MF buttons closer together than pads on controllers?

[MoeHawk]

keep an eye on guitar center. they had a code for 100$ off 499$+ that ended yesterday( so a 499 plus tax maschine). im waiting to see a $150 off 499 or 599+ and then go snag a Mk2 maschine. i know theyll have one out soon with holidays nearing.

[LmnLm3]

keep an eye on guitar center. they had a code for 100$ off 499$+ that ended yesterday( so a 499 plus tax maschine). im waiting to see a $150 off 499 or 599+ and then go snag a Mk2 maschine. i know theyll have one out soon with holidays nearing.

So true, I didn't know that sale was ending. I almost bought that. I hope I find a good deal Friday... not sure if it would be wiser to wait until Monday! What to do...

[botstein]

I suppose my left hand (from cello) has pretty strong fingers - it's the right hand (that I have been using to practice pad work) that must simply need exercise... (and the pads are so far apart, it's almost like playing an upright bass - an instrument that, to be honest, hasn't progressed nearly as far as cello, violin, guitar, banjo, etc.)

O RLY?! There are some awesome bassists out there. I understand that the rep for cello and violin are incredible, and there is an incredible world around the guitar, but to say that bass hasn't progressed nearly as far as BANJO?! GAH!

The strength of different fingers, as well as the ability to use two fingers to play a pad or not, are analogous in some ways to characteristics of traditional instrumentalism. Playing the trumpet in the pedal register as opposed to above double C as opposed to inside of the tessitura all have different characters to some degree. The different strings on the cello in different registers have different character to some degree!

Also - I use both hands when playing on just one Maschine, and set up the kits in a way that makes sense to the situation. This essentially never involves stretching across four pads in a row with four fingers (not including the thumb) - the factory 909s are unnatural to play with just the left hand, for example.

[MoeHawk]

So true, I didn't know that sale was ending. I almost bought that. I hope I find a good deal Friday... not sure if it would be wiser to wait until Monday! What to do...

yeah not sure. my local GC doesnt even have any in stock according to online and i works so ill keep an eye online. not sure what thier monday stuff with be like. im sure even these weeks proceeding to xmas there will be a ton of deals and coupons (just sub to thier emails, i get em everyday telling me the discounts going on). sometimes even watch for when they are doing sales in dept like pro audio and stuff taht they wont list items online. i went in expecting to pay 250 for the F1 and they had a dj sale going on and i got it for 199.

[LmnLm3]

I mean the best technical banjo players in the past 200 years have experienced higher technical abilities than bass players. I know there is a lot of modern bass technique, but in the lower positions, you can't stretch your hand out far enough to get a fifth on one string, and, to me, that is a sever technical limitation (*of the instrument, and *by design). I feel a similar limitation with "standard" pad controllers (compared to, say, a piano). To reach from pad 1 to 16 (thumb and pinky) is about 1 octave on a piano, and that position makes it very difficult for that same hand to have much ability to use other fingers simultaneously in a different rhythm from the thumb or pinky.

But I digress.

The purpose of this thread was to determine which controller would be the best for an instrumentalists first forray into the world of digital DJ performance insofar as EDM gigs and (ultimately) getting paid.

I suppose the other "controller" should be an APC40 or similar, so I can incorporate other instruments into the set (plugged in, mic'ed, etc) and use Live as a sampler (each clip being a sample) which I know fully well that the maschine does, but is probably not as suited to be used as a loop machine as Live is.

(though if I could do a "loop pedal" type edm set with just a Maschine, someone PLEASE correct me!)