So my most current performance hero is without question Jeremy Ellis. That said, I’m wondering if a MIDI Fighter could be a realistic alternative to Maschine as a controller for such routines. I have never played one - are the buttons too small? I know they are not velocity sensitive, but 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.
Anyway, I am planning on taking my studio prowess on the road for 2013 and shedding my self-granted title of producer and adopting the “dj” hat (though I won’t jokey discs, I will perform EDM style music in dance settings).
If I am going to be getting one controller to start and don’t need jogs (or, really, even an xfader), what controllers are popular for “controllerists” who gig but are not DJs?
The other thought I had was for the Novation Twitch (to use with Traktor or possibly midi mapped to Live8, etc)
[or, after all this, do I need to be able to DJ for real to get gigs, and I should just give in and get an S2 or something in that vein?]
The thing is I can’t just let songs play out - I’m very much an active performer (a la 18 years of cello, 10 of piano, bass, etc.) I do know how to mix, beatmatching by ear and all that, I’m just not a master of picking tunes, which is the artistic part of DJing. Is that simply a requirement for gigging as an electronic musician?
I didn’t think of the smaller NI controllers… I’ll look into that!
The other option being the Twitch (that i found for 319) seems to have enough buttons to do stuff and not need a second controller… Though I might just end up with a maschine and APC20/40…
I know they are, I had one last year for a minute. I just meant that it seems that performers like Jeremy Ellis might have some fixed velocity for some of the pads (or some samples are set to not scale volume with velocity?) depending on what finger is used for each sample, because it can sound weak if the snare is on your pinky and the hats are on your thumb (for example) unless you fix the snare at high volume, or fix the hats low.
Or is it all done in the mixer?
I never really put much thought into that part, I’m not quite there yet
Well I recently bought a PadKontrol and this thing is going back to the store. Not all pads are created equal! Getting a response like you can from an acoustic instrument (as far as playing dynamically) the maschine had the best pads I’ve felt so far, maybe the Mk2 is better (so they say) and who knows about the push, maybe it could be usable as a pad controller for some things… But that’s a ways off.
It is indeed where it happens, especially together with a Komplete package. But to be fair, I love using my maschine as a midi controller too, since it has all these different pages of midi notes logically layed out for you plus assignable knob pages where you can edit the texts. It makes it feel ever so logical to use.
It’s an expensive controller, but a very nice one to use when you’ve got it anyway for the software.
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…
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.
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.
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?
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…
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.
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.
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!)
