NI Maschine - Anyone use?

[nowaysj]

Rule the world! Just looking for midlevel sort of stuff. Workflow stuff. Anything that can make me faster.

[dilliot2k]

Cool, I got a bunch on youtube, but i'll start posting them here on this forum.

[nowaysj]

I feel violated.

[-[2]DAY_-]

just bought maschine. Need to learn it... must revive this thread. Gonna be plundering youtube for tuts and R'ing TFM. will report my findings =]

[nowaysj]

Welcome to Maschine!

Post up how you're doing. I absolutely went head over heals for maschine. I cannot wait to get back in there.

I haven't rtfm at all but when I've had a question I've just gone web searching and found the answer to all of my questions.

A lot of times, unfortunately, the answer is Maschine doesn't do that... for now. Which is a drag, it doesn't do some stuff that a beat machine should do. But because it is 50% software, the future is brighter, those Germans are always working away towards complete software dominance.

[Manic Harmonic]

Look up fmajor on youtube, he's got some great maschine tutorials. Another really cool thing about maschine is that they're constantly updating the software, which you can't do with an mpc.

[fragments]

Ok, this might be a ridiculous question...but...a while back I decided to start saving (slowly) for Komplete 7...but I keep reading about Maschine...it looks bad ass...beat making, sampling etc is my favorite part of creating electronic music. And I know it all depends on my needs in the studio are...but for those of you that own both or either Komplete 7 and/or Maschine...which do you think is more worth it? Seems like a lot of people are just fuckin' head over heels for Maschine.

[nowaysj]

Some thoughts on the subject:

What do you have on lock right now? Sound design or song making? If you have sound design on lock, go for maschine. If you have song making on lock, go for Komplete.

I've got Komplete 5 (will be upgrading this month) and maschine. All things being equal, I think I'd go with maschine and just go with freeware synths and fx if I had to.

I personally think you'll still need vst fx with maschine (or komplete for that matter). You'll need a good eq, comp, and limiter, at the least, and wouldn't hurt to have a good delay, reverb, and chorus. Make sure you can run all those with 0 latency, because maschine is not capable of latency compensation at this time.

[fragments]

Some thoughts on the subject:

What do you have on lock right now? Sound design or song making? If you have sound design on lock, go for maschine. If you have song making on lock, go for Komplete.

I've got Komplete 5 (will be upgrading this month) and maschine. All things being equal, I think I'd go with maschine and just go with freeware synths and fx if I had to.

I personally think you'll still need vst fx with maschine (or komplete for that matter). You'll need a good eq, comp, and limiter, at the least, and wouldn't hurt to have a good delay, reverb, and chorus. Make sure you can run all those with 0 latency, because maschine is not capable of latency compensation at this time.

Hard question to answer about one self! Personally I don't feel like I've got either "on lock" LOL... sound design wise I own Z3TA though I feel like at my skill level I'm not taking full advantage of it's features and am pretty handy with 3xOSC (FL Studio user here). I feel like my sound design is improving.

Not sure exactly what you mean by song making. Like drum programming writing melodies and chord progressions etc? I could use all the help I could get with melodies/chords etc! Drum programming I feel like I'm getting good at, can get decent shuffle in my percussion and some funky break beat action going when I want to.

Just pimped out my FX rack w/ the d16 Silverline Group buy. I dunno if people consider the standard FL comp and Limiter "good" or not...I usually use the Visual EQ 2 in FL studio...

I guess what intrigues me most about Maschine are all the claims about workflow...and I like the idea that I can load any VST into to it and play them w/ the maschine hardware.

I've got a pretty beasty PC. AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 ghz, 8 gigs of DDR3 Ram. I don't generally have latency issues, but I'm using zero hardware right now (except my Griffin jog wheel).

[fragments]

Also, I'll add that really I just wanted Absynth 5, but thought...wtf...why pay 200 for that when I could have Komplete for a bit more?

[-[2]DAY_-]

i was getting places with stock sounds at work today on lappy, got home, installed on desktop fine, but USB hub isn't powering it... dead in tha water. kinda disappointed there's no alternative power supply but i'm gonna try using the hub i had at work

[Manic Harmonic]

2Day, I don't know what kind of hub you're using, but I had the same problem with a cheap hub that I had. I've heard maschine doesn't like USB hubs in general, but I've never had a problem with the new 7-port I got. Just plug it straight into the computer for now.

As far as Maschine vs. Komplete goes... Both are outrageously awesome. But Reaktor, Kontakt, FM8, Absynth, and pretty much all the Komplete Software takes some getting used to. Maschine... Well, watch the tutorials, figure out how to integrate it into FL, and start banging away. Maschine is a much easier to use instrument. I'd get Maschine first, and save up for Komplete.

[nowaysj]

Hard question to answer about one self! Personally I don't feel like I've got either "on lock" LOL... sound design wise I own Z3TA though I feel like at my skill level I'm not taking full advantage of it's features and am pretty handy with 3xOSC (FL Studio user here). I feel like my sound design is improving.

Okay, a couple of things - Just because your synth has a flux capacitor doesn't mean that you have to use it. You're taking full advantage if you like the sounds it produces. Zeta is a good synth, so sounds go so far.

Komplete has so many sound generating tools this would greatly expand your sound creation arsenal, but honestly there is a pretty serious learning curve for all of komplete together. I bought at 5, and JUST made my first patch in absynth, was awesome by the way. N.B. --> seems like the freeware crystal synth is similar to absynth.

But maschine may help you develop your sound design skills because of the ability to easily resample, you will likely find yourself taking your sounds to the next level. So this is good.

Not sure exactly what you mean by song making. Like drum programming writing melodies and chord progressions etc? I could use all the help I could get with melodies/chords etc! Drum programming I feel like I'm getting good at, can get decent shuffle in my percussion and some funky break beat action going when I want to.

Yeah, song making, like integrating all those aspects into one coherent discreet recording I think a lot of people, myself included, tend to get focused on sounds and beats or whatever, and don't focus on actually building songs that move and arc in the right way/places. Song writing is tough, imo at least. Maschine can really help with this. Because you can do just about everything without a monitor, you have to actually listen to the music you're working on , it may become obvious that that 8 loop is just too long, or the B section can go on for another 32 bars.

Also because you have the ability to play scenes somewhat like ableton live, you can experiment and quickly restructure songs on the fly, can try a bunch of permutations that you might not otherwise try in an elaborate daw project with 100 lanes of audio, midi and automation.

Just pimped out my FX rack w/ the d16 Silverline Group buy. I dunno if people consider the standard FL comp and Limiter "good" or not...I usually use the Visual EQ 2 in FL studio...

Such a good deal, man. Feel guilty for that one. I've already used decimort and fazortran heavily. FL's comp and limiter are good enough if you don't have any problems with the way they work or sound. You know the limiter has a compressor section also (as well as a noise gate)? I personally haven't used either of those for a while. PEQ2 is fine too, see section later though...

I guess what intrigues me most about Maschine are all the claims about workflow

It is legit. You can sample so quickly! Just bam, and you are chopped and making a beat. Resampling that beat, layering a bass, and then building a bridge. The single most significant thing with maschine is it is FUN, fucking making music should be fun. Some times I feel like a nasa geek sitting at one of those banks of monitors staring intently into the monitor, not moving a muscle. Fuck that. It is fun just banging away.

I've got a pretty beasty PC. AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 ghz, 8 gigs of DDR3 Ram. I don't generally have latency issues, but I'm using zero hardware right now (except my Griffin jog wheel).

Haha, you have latency issues you just don't know it. There is a thing called pdc, plugin delay compensation, this is a technical term that refers to the mechanism that some daws employ to manage the delay caused by some plugins. Because of the way some plugins work, they may introduce a varying amount of latency into the signal. Having a powerful processor will not alleviate this problem, it is inherit in the way the plug works, and the math it employs.

Maschine does not have a pdc system. So if you are using a limiter that is introducing delay on one channel, your tracks/channels may start to fall out of alignment with each other. Fruity's limiter and the PEQ2 both introduce delay. I don't know what version of FL you're on, but they have just implemented APDC, or Auto PDC. This is much better, but it doesn't always work. Some plugs do not report the correct delay to the host, etc. If you are working with FL at the 9 release level or below, you have problems with pdc and don't know it.

But back to maschine, they have no pdc system so you will need to use plugs that introduce no delay. Also note, that many of fl's plugs are not vst's so you may need to find freeware, or purchase some vst's if you don't find maschine's plugs to be satisfactory.

Tired of typing. Best of luck!

[nowaysj]

i was getting places with stock sounds at work today on lappy, got home, installed on desktop fine, but USB hub isn't powering it... dead in tha water. kinda disappointed there's no alternative power supply but i'm gonna try using the hub i had at work

Wait, wut, your fancy boy (my apologies) mac doesn't have enough usb ports, or what, you will commute daily with maschine?

Just plug the thing in to your computer!

Maschine has two lcd's and an array of led's capable of signaling to aliens, I'm sure it draws juice.

[hifi]

I'm thinking about picking up maschine. had that for consideration for a while. don't know if it worth the money, it might be. I really haven't looked into the specs yet, just know it is a sampler. of course it can definitely do more than that just saying that is all i know of it

[fragments]

First, thanks for the awesome response nowaysj! A lot of solid information here.

Okay, a couple of things - Just because your synth has a flux capacitor doesn't mean that you have to use it. You're taking full advantage if you like the sounds it produces. Zeta is a good synth, so sounds go so far.

Komplete has so many sound generating tools this would greatly expand your sound creation arsenal, but honestly there is a pretty serious learning curve for all of komplete together. I bought at 5, and JUST made my first patch in absynth, was awesome by the way. N.B. --> seems like the freeware crystal synth is similar to absynth.

But maschine may help you develop your sound design skills because of the ability to easily resample, you will likely find yourself taking your sounds to the next level. So this is good.

I have Crystal but... When I upgraded to Windows 7 64bit it stopped working. Admittedly haven't gone back to figure out if it just incompatible or what. I'd read several places that Crystal was very similar to Absynth.

As for the flux capacitor bit, duly noted. I think that is a solid notion.

I haven't done a ton of resampling. When I do it's been a single bounce & resample. If Maschine encourages that. It seems like a win in my book.

Yeah, song making, like integrating all those aspects into one coherent discreet recording I think a lot of people, myself included, tend to get focused on sounds and beats or whatever, and don't focus on actually building songs that move and arc in the right way/places. Song writing is tough, imo at least. Maschine can really help with this. Because you can do just about everything without a monitor, you have to actually listen to the music you're working on , it may become obvious that that 8 loop is just too long, or the B section can go on for another 32 bars.

Also because you have the ability to play scenes somewhat like ableton live, you can experiment and quickly restructure songs on the fly, can try a bunch of permutations that you might not otherwise try in an elaborate daw project with 100 lanes of audio, midi and automation.

This pretty much sold me. Have to admit I haven't played with Ableton much, so I'm not sure what these scenes are, but it sounds great. I could really use with song writing...getting the ebb and flow of a sonic narrative down.

Such a good deal, man. Feel guilty for that one. I've already used decimort and fazortran heavily. FL's comp and limiter are good enough if you don't have any problems with the way they work or sound. You know the limiter has a compressor section also (as well as a noise gate)? I personally haven't used either of those for a while. PEQ2 is fine too, see section later though...

Yea. Nice one. Had to jump on that one. I haven't used anything much else, but I like the FL limiter. I've been using the transient shaper and gate settings for drums and percussion. LOVE using the gate on hi hats.

It is legit. You can sample so quickly! Just bam, and you are chopped and making a beat. Resampling that beat, layering a bass, and then building a bridge. The single most significant thing with maschine is it is FUN, fucking making music should be fun. Some times I feel like a nasa geek sitting at one of those banks of monitors staring intently into the monitor, not moving a muscle. Fuck that. It is fun just banging away.

Again. Sold. Music should be banging away having fun...I am that NASA nerd : (

Haha, you have latency issues you just don't know it. There is a thing called pdc, plugin delay compensation, this is a technical term that refers to the mechanism that some daws employ to manage the delay caused by some plugins. Because of the way some plugins work, they may introduce a varying amount of latency into the signal. Having a powerful processor will not alleviate this problem, it is inherit in the way the plug works, and the math it employs.

Yea...in this regard I am not that NASA nerd. But, heard and understood.

Maschine does not have a pdc system. So if you are using a limiter that is introducing delay on one channel, your tracks/channels may start to fall out of alignment with each other. Fruity's limiter and the PEQ2 both introduce delay. I don't know what version of FL you're on, but they have just implemented APDC, or Auto PDC. This is much better, but it doesn't always work. Some plugs do not report the correct delay to the host, etc. If you are working with FL at the 9 release level or below, you have problems with pdc and don't know it.

But back to maschine, they have no pdc system so you will need to use plugs that introduce no delay. Also note, that many of fl's plugs are not vst's so you may need to find freeware, or purchase some vst's if you don't find maschine's plugs to be satisfactory.

Tired of typing. Best of luck!

Ok. Yea, I am on 9, but *shrugs*...life time free upgrades will update as soon as I get home from work. Good to know though! I've been thinking about getting myself a new decent limiter and EQ (since d16 sorted me on the ear candy).

All in all I have to say you've completely sold me. Absynth's mutate button would have ruined me anyway Now to go rob a liquor store...

[nowaysj]

One thing I forgot to mention You have to like playing in everything into your song. You can do programming on screen, but what is the point. The midi editor in maschine is like playschool "My First Midi Editor" compared to fl's midi editor.

Got to play everything in, which incidentally, is another benefit of maschine

[fragments]

Don't be knocking playschool! They've got some solid gear!

[Manic Harmonic]

If you want to edit the midi using your daw, go to batch settings on each group and set each group all notes on its own designated midi channel. Create a midi channel track in your daw and edit the notes in there with maschine in midi control mode. That's how you do it in logic at least but it should be a similar concept. I know in logic you have to create a new multichannel instrument in the environemnt window, I don't know how that part would differ in another daw. But its a similar concept to using reason in rewire mode.

[-[2]DAY_-]

i was getting places with stock sounds at work today on lappy, got home, installed on desktop fine, but USB hub isn't powering it... dead in tha water. kinda disappointed there's no alternative power supply but i'm gonna try using the hub i had at work

Wait, wut, your fancy boy (my apologies) mac doesn't have enough usb ports, or what, you will commute daily with maschine?

Just plug the thing in to your computer!

Maschine has two lcd's and an array of led's capable of signaling to aliens, I'm sure it draws juice.

oy... it is a fancy boy mac. and its got four ports, but I have dongles and controllers. It said in the manual to use with powered USB hub. My hub is just a POS i think.
I don't know though, because Maschine is happy being powered by the macbook pro's regular port at work (it is my manager's laptop). I think i've just got too many things trying to run off usb bus.

I don't even defend mac from jeers and lowblows like that.... i kind of fucking hate the thing myself. im just hooked on its OS. same thing with the piece of shit iPhone. It sucks, but I need it. more power to you if you use windows. fuck mac as a company too. hate the bastards with every ounce of hate in me.