The Maschine
Hey Guys!
I wanted to ask you what you think about the Maschine from native instruments.
I am thinking about starting to produce songs, but i am an absolute newbie in that matter. Would be the maschline alone be enough to produce or what would you need?
Moreover i would like to know if you could use it like a midi-fighter, because then it would be a 2 in 1 solution.
Plus there are the new machine micro would that be sufficient?
thank you!
greets,
chris de lux
I’ve had it for over a year now. It is unparalleled in producing and playability IMO. Yes you can definitely use it as a midi device for pretty much anything that is mappable or use it with Traktor and Live with its built in templates.
Now with integration with Komplete it will even get better.
I honestly think that using it with Traktor is stupid…but I also don’t see the appeal of midi fighters. So…I just won’t comment further on that.
As for Maschine for production…the Mikro version blows. You need knobs. Yes, I mean need. And I think that it’s best used when incorporated into a real DAW mostly because it’s mixdown features are really limited. But, using just Maschine would be a fine way to start…and you could add Logic, Pro Tools, Ableton, Cubase, or whatever else when you’re ready to actually start finishing songs.
I’ve had the Mashine (full size?) for a few weeks now and have been shocked at how straight forward and intuitive it is. I almost never have to look at the computer screen, everything is right at your fingertips. You technically can create complete songs with it but like Mostapha said it’s better and I think intended to be used with a DAW to finish things off.
I got one a few weeks ago as well and its completely refuelled my enthusiasm for producing. Sometimes (like tonight) i just practice finger drumming for hours… its so much fun 
I also love how easy and quick it is to chop up and play samples. But i agree it only makes for writing whole songs (instead of just loops) when used within a DAW.
its a solid start and the stuff that comes bundled with it is more then enough to learn the basics before you invest time into learning a DAW. the kore elements collection has some good synths too to get you started
Thank you for the answers!
Why has nobody given him a better alternative of picking up a midi keyboard which has some spare knobs and 8 drum pads?
With the money you could spend on the Maschine or Mikro I recommend you get a Akai MPK 25 or 49 key or Novation Nocturn 25 or 49 key.
Not only will you find yourself wanting a midi keyboard in 3 months but you’ll also want some knobs to control parameters which both of these come with. Assignable knobs!!
They also have drum pads much like the Maschine and the MPK has probably the best known out there pads at that in terms of quality and response.
This is just my 2cents but just think when your producing your gunna wanna write your own melody in piano roll (midi keyboard part here hint), want something for controlling parameters in filters, synths and mixing (assignable knobs part hint) and the drum pads for drum racks or drum programming (I think you get it now…)
I hope I gave you some insight!!
I’ve had my maschine for about 3 months now and i love it!
i use it for as a manipulated midi fighter with a mapping i found here its the deckalized mapping and it works flawlessly the large pads are hell of fun to play with especially in the beat slicer mode! and as far as for production i would say its more than enough to get you started and if you want you can add a cheap walmart plastic keyboard to it later on when ur ready by using its midi in/out ports of the maschine. i bought my keyboard at a garage sale for $5 then just bought two midi cables at guitar center $10 and i was set! very cheap solution ;D
heres a link to the mapping thread:
I have to disagree on the first point. Recently i lost the power chord for my mixer so i have been forced to work with my audio 4, my maschine, and my kontrol x1. Let me tell u it has opened a whole new world of controllerism for me… I have midi mapped everything possible to the maschine thqat i would want and remapped the x1 one a lil. It makes me more creative and has broadened my understanding of midid mapping. I use a mapping that has the instant gratification mapping, eq and filters. All of the x1’s shift features have a separate place now on the maschine. And i have a hot cue juggling page which allows me to replay tracks the way i want them to. And finally my most recent exploration has been integrating the maschine software in my sets. The way i can go from song to song when i can always make drum beats that would fit perfectly or adding in a synth at a drop to add drama it’s great… I would have agreed with you when i knew nothing about mapping and was using endo’s mapping but now i must disagree…
Maybe if you’re using a sledgehammer… The MPK pads are obnoxious for finger drumming.
I disagree with you wholeheartedly.
First, the Maschine controller can act as a keyboard. Second, Maschine can use a keyboard. Third, the point of Maschine is the software.
Yeah…the hardware is pretty darn good. The pads are soft and extremely responsive and have the best aftertouch that I’ve used. The LCDs and all of the control layouts are amazing, they’re good enough that you kind of forget it’s attached to a computer most of the time.
But, it is still–primarily–a groove box that happens to reside on a computer application instead of hardware. There really isn’t a great alternative for exactly what it does, except for pure-hardware stuff that costs a lot more and is more difficult to integrate with a DAW.
If you’re just using it as a controller…absolutely. Buy a controller. Don’t spend $600 on what is essentially a trigger finger with better components.
If you want the groove box that integrates incredibly well with a DAW, buy a Maschine.
Oh…and set the Maschine Mikro on fire…it’s a piece of crap that’s missing basically every useful feature.
I see what you’re getting at…I just don’t like it. It’s a personal thing. If nothing else, the Maschine is pretty expensive for a pad-controller with a few knobs, some pages, and after-touch. Akai, M-Audio, and a few other companies make cheaper alternatives with what I think are equal or better feature sets for that purpose, especially if all you end up doing is cue point drumming and stuff that should be on a mixer anyway.
If you’ve already got it, that’s one thing, but I just can’t see spending that much money on Maschine if you’re just going to use it as a controller.
Incorporating Maschine into a DJ set sounds brilliant to me, and is something I’m working on in my spare time. Frankly, the brilliance of Maschine’s hardware is what I think makes it possible. You really never have to look at Maschine’s software UI at any point to use it like this…you can do everything straight from the hardware.
Apart from actually writing songs and finding the right samples, the issues to me are mostly figuring out audio routing that makes sense. I also haven’t even really gotten around to testing MIDI sync b/t the applications…I just kind of assume that it works.