How do you build tracks?

I am using the step mode just now, which seems to be against the point of Maschine? But I am just familiarising myself with it.

I put my kick, bassline, hats etc all into different groups. But they all play at the same time.

I want to maybe have the kick only for 16 beats, then some hats or whatever come in and joint the kick.

How do I achieve this?

Do I need to work with the mouse?

Thanks.

 

Sounds like you have not yet discovered Scenes. I recommend reading at least the Getting Started document, but also the sections in the manual on Patterns and Scenes. And/or even watching some videos about it.

Scenes essentially allow you to have a Pattern of each Group playing, but different Scenes can be different combinations and use different Patterns.

 

Watched the NI videos. None the wiser really.

I want my kicks, hats, bass, lead etc - anything I construct - always to be separate.

If i make a simple 4/4 kick pattern... how do I make a new separate patten of hats that are totally separate to the kicks?

I can press group B, that lets me dial in the hats, though they are now tied to the kicks.

If I press the 2nd pad - patten 2 appears (looks promising!) but when I choose a hat, the kicks on pattern 1 change to hats also. WTF?

Do you know what I am talking about? If I could achieve this simple step of getting the kicks and hats separate, then the rest should fall into place.


Thanks.

 

I'm not exactly getting what you are trying to do but I can tell you how I do things.

Drums for me are usually in one group. Every pad in that group is a sound which you can "dial in" as you say" If you are using the step sequencer. You select the kick put in your pattern, then press select and select the hihat and put in your pattern there, so on and so forth. To get a better idea of what is going on check out he interface on your computer screen and things will hopefully become clearer to you.

 

As I said before, you need to get your head around Patterns (and their relationship to Groups) and Scenes.

Two possible ways to do what I think you want are using different Patterns in the same Group for the different combinations e.g., Pattern 1 is kick only, Pattern 2 is hihat only, Pattern 3 is kick and hihat or using different Groups e.g., one Group for kick and one Group for hats.

 

da OP is all types of confused it aint rocket science brah

 

Not rocket science, but it's not as simple, straightforward or instinctive as a DAW, which I learned easily without any tutorials or help.

Thought Maschine was all about simplicity,.

The official tutorials are a let down to say the least... that's IF you can bear his voice!

 

Press Step button / Press Play button/ Engage Grey Matter...

 

forget about the official vids do a youtube search for saint joe's vid he has one that explains the sequencer or u could check the maschinetutorials by knocked squared and joe they break **** down in there if my memory serves me correctly.

 

Thanks, will hunt them down.

 

There are a number of videos on various aspects of Maschine on YouTube, but when I bought my Mikro in January, I immediately bought the Maschine 2 tutorial from Groove3 (I had bought a number of their other tutorials previously, so I knew that it would get me up to speed quickly on using Maschine software and hardware). While I could have hunted down similar content on YouTube, the Groove3 videos are well designed, taking things step by step, and even though the hardware aspect was shown on Maschine Studio (not Mikro), I was still able to follow everything. I also see that the tutorial has been updated for Maschine 2.1 and is also $5 off right now: http://www.groove3.com/str/MASCHINE-2.0-Explained.html

As for YouTube fare, I strongly suggest ADSR Sound Design & Synth Tutorials - they put out at least a half-dozen videos per week, covering Maschine, Reaktor, Massive, and other NI products. Most of these are beyond the beginner level, but once you are familiar with the basic concepts of Maschine/etc., these can at least spark some ideas or provide better explanation of specific areas of each product.

 

Have bought a few tutorials before, found them full of useless waffle.

I have taken to loading full track demos that come with Maschine and expansion packs, and trying to sort of reverse engineer them - or at least trying to work out how they are structured.

I have my kick, lead, bass and hats up on the top half of the window. Where I see the demos also have them on the bottom too... usually if you click on drums on the top, they are expanded down the bottom window - into hats, toms, snare, shaker etc.

 

Machines' workflow and logic is different from a DAW, you will get used to it.
Machine is all about hw/sw integration, not simplicity. It is simple though but after you learned it, not before.
And the learning curve is normal (not easy, not hard) IMO. Take your time, be patient, avoid yourself using the mouse (sometimes it will seem easier to do things in the software, force yourself to use hw. this wil improve you.)

Besides Saint Joe and ADSR tuts (both are very good), this helped me to learn couple things too:
https://www.youtube.com/user/andrewchellmanmusic/videos

 

if you know how to use a daw you know how to use half of maschine already, take your time with the rest it's convoluted.

 

What is the bottom half of the software called?

Seems you can save all your instruments - kick, snare, hi hats, and bass, synth leads and stuff, down the bottom section of the Maschine software. That would be useful, and more DAW-like. How do you achieve this?

All I have are the patterns up on the top half...

 

Anthonypappa, I think you would really benefit from reading the Getting Started manual and going through those activities on your Maschine.

It's really helpful in teaching the basics of the product. I did this and within 2-3 hours I had a good grasp of the concept.

People on this forum can be really helpful, but you also need to take steps to help yourself or you won't get as much out of Maschine as you potentially can.

 

I definitely concur on Andrew Chellman - thankfully he is also now part of ADSR

 

it does work diffenent to a DAW but still isn't overly complex. just a quick read of the getting started manual is enough

 

I don't get on well with manuals. I'm not lazy but they give me brain damage.

 

Maschine is not a DAW... when I first got mine I was almost pissed that is was not more like a DAW in terms of workflow and it never will be. It took me two weeks too grasp the concepts and then a few more weeks to really get it. Now I love how easy and fun it is and once you know it well you can do linear type recording and automation but not exactly like a DAW. I have read the quick start and the manual complete and did tutorials so if you are going to just rely on trial and error you might need longer.

Basically the top part "your scenes" are your "song mode"... you use it to chain together patterns that make up a song. You can have unlimited patterns and groups but only one pattern per group, per scene. This might seem limiting but that's only because you don't get it yet. ;-)

I'm not going to type out the whole quick start guide so do yourself a favor take two Advil for your brain damage and read just the quick start and then use the manual to reference all the things you can't figure out as they come up.

If your mind is stuck in the tradition DAW paradigm your going to need more time to really enjoy Maschine. I would learn it stand alone first instead of trying to make it something it's not by complicating it with a DAW. Once you get it... you can use a DAW to fill in any gaps you still find in the workflow, if any. I don't need a DAW for now... it just adds a layer of complication that get in the way of the quick and fun Maschine workflow.