Running 2 Maschine Controllers off of 1 laptop in Ableton?

[mor4sso]

So my partner and I have been producing with 1 Maschine for a while, and we're considering picking up a second. We plan on using them for production, which is simple enough, but as far as a rough idea for live performance, we've had an idea of running 2 Maschines in Ableton.

The way I was thinking of it was using 1 Maschine as a clip launcher/effect system in Midi Mode, then the other Maschine running just the Maschine as a VST. All on 1 laptop, so everything is synced. Allowing 1 person to "DJ" the set, and the other to improv over it with Maschine.

Now i'm not sure if these would even work. Would Ableton be able to recognize 2 Maschines at one time? Even if 1 is in Midi mode and the other is in Native mode? Would it even be possible to control Maschine as a VST, in the background, while controlling Ableton with another controller at the same time?

I figured an APC 40 would work as well, but I prefer the versatility of the Maschine, and would rather be able to use that.

Thanks guys, hopefully that makes sense.

EDIT: I noticed this Jeremy Ellis video where he's running a Maschine MK2 and a Mikro at the same time, with what looks like 1 laptop. Is this possible within Maschine as well? Running 2 Maschines in 1 instance of Maschine software?

[mor4sso]

No one knows!?

[balakoth]

No one knows!?

Never tried that... Im going to assume that you can dual a Micro and a Full simply because they are recognized differently in Windows. On OSX this may just not be an issue period.

[balakoth]

You also only posted this an hour and a half ago :P

[mor4sso]

Never tried that... Im going to assume that you can dual a Micro and a Full simply because they are recognized differently in Windows. On OSX this may just not be an issue period.

We are running Windows 7, but we'd rather run 2 full fledged Maschine instead of a Mikro.

You also only posted this an hour and a half ago :P

I posted it yesterday at 8:00 PM...

[botstein]

So my partner and I have been producing with 1 Maschine for a while, and we're considering picking up a second. We plan on using them for production, which is simple enough, but as far as a rough idea for live performance, we've had an idea of running 2 Maschines in Ableton.

You should totally do so it'll be fun.

You can run as many instances of the Maschine software as your computer can handle, with 1 Maschine hardware controller in full control of each instance.

The way I was thinking of it was using 1 Maschine as a clip launcher/effect system in Midi Mode, then the other Maschine running just the Maschine as a VST. All on 1 laptop, so everything is synced. Allowing 1 person to "DJ" the set, and the other to improv over it with Maschine.

No problem.

Now i'm not sure if these would even work. Would Ableton be able to recognize 2 Maschines at one time? Even if 1 is in Midi mode and the other is in Native mode?

Sure. You'd run in to trouble if you wanted to use more than six control surfaces at a time, but this is no problem - I do it literally every day.

Would it even be possible to control Maschine as a VST, in the background, while controlling Ableton with another controller at the same time?

Yes - just set one to control the instance(s) you'd like to - if there's just the one it ought to be plug and play - and use the other in MIDI mode with the remote script for live.

I figured an APC 40 would work as well, but I prefer the versatility of the Maschine, and would rather be able to use that.

Sure - you could use an APC40 in lieu or in addition to the second Maschine. I love Maschines and recommend them, especially if that's what you want.

Thanks guys, hopefully that makes sense.

You're welcome!

EDIT: I noticed this Jeremy Ellis video where he's running a Maschine MK2 and a Mikro at the same time, with what looks like 1 laptop. Is this possible within Maschine as well? Running 2 Maschines in 1 instance of Maschine software?

Jeremy can bee seen running two instances of the software inside of Ableton is various other performances. I think that's probably what is happening here.

[mor4sso]

botstein! Thank you very much for your responses. So I take it you've run 2 maschines in a similar configuration? Were there any conflicts you ran into?

[botstein]

botstein! Thank you very much for your responses. So I take it you've run 2 maschines in a similar configuration? Were there any conflicts you ran into?

Yes! I've run 2 just as you've described. I've also run... many more than two. There were no conflicts whatsoever.

I do have several recommendations, though. I almost always use instances of the VST like this: http://forum.djtechtools.com/showthread.php?t=48092

I would grab a great USB hub that has buttons or switches to turn each port on and off. Maschines don't have power switches and I don't like the system of plugging and unplugging them all the time, so this is really nice and clean.

The new remote script for the mkii controller and Ableton is incredimazing and highly recommended. It has a number of features shared by the upcoming Push - colour coded scales, etc.

[mor4sso]

Yes! I've run 2 just as you've described. I've also run... many more than two. There were no conflicts whatsoever.

I do have several recommendations, though. I almost always use instances of the VST like this: http://forum.djtechtools.com/showthread.php?t=48092

I would grab a great USB hub that has buttons or switches to turn each port on and off. Maschines don't have power switches and I don't like the system of plugging and unplugging them all the time, so this is really nice and clean.

The new remote script for the mkii controller and Ableton is incredimazing and highly recommended. It has a number of features shared by the upcoming Push - colour coded scales, etc.

Dude thanks a bunch for the info. Do you mind if I PM you with some additional questions?

[botstein]

No problem.