How to use Maschine Step Sequencer while its a plugin inside Ableton

[Superfreak]

Hey.

I've just managed to get ableton and my Xone92 linked together. I've mapped my Kontrol X1 to control the parameters of a plugin that i have in Ableton, (Lexicon PSP 42 delay plugin). And I've managed to get the plugin to effect sounds that I trigger on Maschine, and the sound comes out from a Return/Mic channel on my mixer. I have Traktor and my Audio 10 all linked up too.

I got Maschine plugin in Ableton open all okay, but i just want to run Maschine in step sequencer mode.. But when i press step and then play, nothing happens? Can anyone shed any light? thanks.

[Superfreak]

EDIT: Okay, I foud out that i just had to press the 'play' button actually inside of Ableton, and now step sequence works. Only one problem - Maschine is not in time with my Traktor tracks, previously i had synced maschine and traktor up so that its all in time, now how do i re do this, with maschine as a plugin in Ableton... Help please!

Thanks/.

[botstein]

Just sync Ableton with Traktor.

[Superfreak]

Yeah I figured that's what i had to do. Im just about to watch/read this: http://blog.dubspot.com/syncing-ableton-live-traktor/

It says that it'll work as long as my tracks are beat-gridded in Traktor, (that's fine they are)
"and my tracks are properly warped in Ableton" < this is what threw me off, i haven warped any tracks in ableton, and i dont want to put tracks in ableton, i just want my sounds from maschine to sync up to my traktor tracks.

Do i need to worry about warping? Or just simply sync ableton and traktor and then when i open maschine as a plugin, it'll sync to traktor automatically?

I'm just worrying because i have already synced maschine to traktor via MIDI clock, following DJ Endo's tutorial, now ill have to overwrite it when i sync ableton and traktor, is that okay?

[botstein]

Yeah I figured that's what i had to do. Im just about to watch/read this: http://blog.dubspot.com/syncing-ableton-live-traktor/

It says that it'll work as long as my tracks are beat-gridded in Traktor, (that's fine they are)
"and my tracks are properly warped in Ableton" < this is what threw me off, i haven warped any tracks in ableton, and i dont want to put tracks in ableton, i just want my sounds from maschine to sync up to my traktor tracks.

Don't do that, then.

Do i need to worry about warping?

No.

Or just simply sync ableton and traktor and then when i open maschine as a plugin, it'll sync to traktor automatically?

Yes, exactly.

I'm just worrying because i have already synced maschine to traktor via MIDI clock, following DJ Endo's tutorial, now ill have to overwrite it when i sync ableton and traktor, is that okay?

Don't worry about this.

[Superfreak]

Great okay cheers. I'm going to watch that tutorial and then get them synced up, will let you know how it goes fella, thank you.

[Shishdisma]

Unless you need to deal with tonnes of raw audio, which you most likely don't, you dont really need to bother with Ableton at all. People tend to get caught up with "using Maschine as a plugin" when they really can shrug off Ableton entirely. Just run your VSTs through Maschine, and route it though Maschine's 8 billion potential output busses.

[Superfreak]

Hm.. I've just started getting in Ableton so I'm going play with it and see how I go, but maybe just using Maschine could be a way to go, so is it simple to route it all? I've managed to get it all working now, all I need to do is sync up Traktor and Maschine so that my Maschine step sequence is locked to my traktor decks music.

After that, my main thing is to be able to apply FX plugins over my tracks in traktor.

[Superfreak]

Okay, @Botstein - Got it all working now, synced it all up fine, thanks for your help dude.
Now, all I need to do now is leanrn how to apply this over tunes that I'm playing in Traktor, are you the man for this too? Could you assist? Cheers dude.

[botstein]

Yes! Absolutely. I wish people would ask more performance or at least music-related questions rather than just technical stuff.

I am currently working on a tutorial series for Maschine Masters that answers your very question.

What kind of music do you play? This matters a lot.

In terms of just sequencer stuff:

There's live step sequencing, which is exactly what it sounds like, while mixing out of a track or between grooves / tracks on Maschine. If you're playing really minimal stuff or most kinds of techno, this works very well.

You could also change the sequence as it repeats, by adding and then removing parts of the pattern (such that they play only once). This is great for techno and can work for drums in all kinds of dance music.

You could DJ between different grooves set up in Maschine by holding PATTERN and switching between them. This is pretty low risk, as it switches between them in legato (in phase, in time, etc).

There's always the option to work mutes and solos. This can be important if you're for example playing Maschine over something that does not have hi-hats, but know that hats are about to be introduced, or that the material in the next section will sound not-so-good with hats, so you mute them to avoid hats-on-hats or hats over vocals.

If you've sliced some of your favorite tracks, you could do a remix with the sequencer. This works well if you play the original, or part of it, and then drop the sequenced remix in Maschine.

Stuff not in the sequencer:

Stings, transitions, and risers. In Maschine, you have all sorts of control that you can't get in Traktor.

I use big hits, designed to be used with a MIDI keyboard, with tails controlled by the mod wheel, a lot. An example of one (very, very heavy) set of these is the "Damage Hits MW" instrument in Heavyocity's DAMAGE.

You could also have a noise-based synth that could be mixed in and out (and the patch of which can otherwise also be fully controlled) with the end of one track and the beginning of the next, or a groove in Maschine. This is great for moving between tempos.

The same goes for risers. You could have it automatically react to the music being played, and/or control it up on the encoders.


Pad drumming is another whole world, but gives one the immediacy of playing an instrument. I have tons of tuition on this coming out over the next few months. It's worth noting that if you're drumming, you don't necessarily need to bother with the sync stuff with which you had trouble.