Maschine for Production/Live Sets

Performance & Techniques Music Production
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Maschine for Production/Live Sets

Hey there!

So, I’ve been thinking about buying Maschine mk2 to develop my production skills (that are almost none :roll_eyes: ), but I’d like to know more infos about it.

  1. Let’s say that I buy Maschine mk2… do I need anything else to make it work on my pc? Maschine have a proper software, so I don’t need anything, right?

  2. What if I also want to use Maschine as a MIDI controller on my live sets, just to add some extra effects to them? What do I need then? I have an Audio 4 Dj w/ Traktor Scratch Duo, but I guess it’s not enough, isn’t it? Do I need to upgrade to Traktor Scratch Pro w/ Audio 6/8 to do so?

These are my main questions, I’d really appreciate your help.

Thanks! :sunglasses:

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You don’t need anything, but laptop and a DAW (digital audio workstation = software to make songs in) with some basic effects and synth to make a #1 hit nowadays. Don’t be fooled that you need anything more! That beeing said Maschine does come with a DAW-like software, but I’d not say it’s a full DAW. Usually you’d runn the Maschine software as a plug-in in a full DAW. You can use it standalone, but I’d not recommend it as main DAW.

Since you don’t need anything more than a DAW starting is easy: Chose one, buy or download demo, start making music.

Well… music production is damn complex, but that’s at least how you get started. I’d recommend looking into Reaper because it is the cheapest full DAW. Add some free VST-plugins (just google “best free vst plugins”) and you are good to go. Free doesn’t necessarily mean worse! Give it a shot. At least make some first steps in the demo version of Reaper before doing anything else or buying a Maschine. You can make a full song without spending a single dollar! After you have created your first songs, you’ll soon have a better understanding of what a Maschine does exactly and can judge yourself it the fun is worth the money.

I don’t have Traktor Scratch Duo so I can’t help you on that part.

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You can totally use just Maschine for makign your tracks, you don’t HAVE to get a DAW if you don’t want that style of workflow. There’s more than enough instruments and effects to do professional tracks either in the studio or live on stage if that’s your thing. Might be a bit overkill just as a midi controllerfor some DJ effects, but it’s certainly capable of that too.

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Thank you so much for answering!

I still don’t know what am I going to do. I would really like to know how to produce, I’ve already tried with Ableton and Fruity Loops but I can’t produce what I’m thinking, I have some ideias but then I can’t execute them in those softwares, it’s kinda frustrating, but I’ll keep trying.

About Maschine… I heard that it was a good replacement for the common DAW’s and it was easier to learn there. I really don’t know, I guess I’ll keep watching some tutorials on Youtube.

Thanks again! :slight_smile:

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  1. It includes everythinig you need and then some. Since 2.3 you’ll get a bunch of other vst’s like Monark and Drum Lab which are really good.

  2. When in MIDI mode Maschine has some presets to use with Traktor out of the box. Here in the mappings section of DJTT there are some more.