MASCHINE (NI Groove Controller/Software)

Yeah, well, it shouldn't surprise you: consider the source. This is NI, after all. I did find the skit really stupid, too. The actress was, surprisingly, pretty good, but the whole concept--you're right, totally offensive on so many levels. I'm so sick of companies like this blowing money they COULD be using for adding, oh, I dunno, USEFUL FEATURES LIKE OPERATOR COPY/PASTE back into FM8, but no! They've gotta blow it on ads that scream: if you wanna be cool, first you must a) be black b) have a hot girlfriend who is c) mad at you because all you ever wanna do is make beats with d) our software, which you must buy, because it will make you cool. And your hot, black, vegan girlfriend will buy you a lovely, greasy sandwich, because that's what guys eat. :-\

Marketing makes me sick on so many levels... I feel you.

 

Traktor does have sync out and therefore will be able to send a clock signal out to drive Maschine.

and you should be able to programme the knobs and buttons/pads on the Maschine Hardware Controller to play the Traktor controls. and you will also be able to tweak the Maschine software as well

so yes, this sounds like a great gigging system

sowari

 

Maschine uses "scenes" to change groups of patterns. there are various ways to change a scene (not evident with the video) some involve various quatizes (or not) but you can also have the possibility of waiting for the longest pattern (in a scene) to finish before the scene changes. so if you have a pattern that lasts for 16 bars, you have the possibility of the scene not changing until the last bar finishes... and then it will change to the scene of your choice.

sowari

 

FAN-TAS-TIC !
The demo vids didn't show me that but I understand there is too much to show in just a few demo's.

Thank you for the reply, now maschine is on my "to-buy-list"

 

envelopes, LFOs, etc.

Does Maschine have any other ADSR envelopes other than for amplitude -- as in pitch and modulation? How about LFOs?

How about effect modulation per step via step entry or some kind of graph (as in Guru). A Machinedrum-like parameter-lock implementation would be fantastic for this. Anything similar or future plans via updates?

Also, one of the videos hinted at drum synthesis down the line. How likely is this?

NI seem to be holding back a bit with Maschine. Right down it's little more than a software MPC tied to a hardware front-end. Don't get me wrong, for me the DAW integration aspect of Maschine is ideal, but what strikes me is that it just doesn't appear to have any innovative features that can't already be arrived at through some combination of a drum pad control surface, drum sampler VSTi, and a user friendly host like Ableton Live. What makes Maschine stand out?

 

firstly, the Maschine software has a choice of 3 Amplitude Envelopes: ADSR, AHD and One Shot. in addition there is a Modulation Envelope - ADSR - which can modulate Pitch, Cutoff, Drive and Pan. there is also an LFO which has the same destinations. remember these are for every sampler for every sound. there can be 16 Sounds per Group!

a Modulation track can easily be added for each sound. the Modulation offset can be played in with the Maschine Hardware Controller or with your Mouse. you can then edit it afterwards. see Pic for choices for the Modulation tracks for a Sampler.

Maschine (Software) is quick and fun to use and a great live tool. the Maschine Hardware Controller is fantastic and the way you can use it with any DAW and/or software instrument/effect and still flip its use to programming the software is wonderful i am usually quite critical of sound content, but i am pretty impressed with the Library. i also like the fact i can easily slice some of my own loops to use as a Maschine Sound, and also mapping and playing my own samples is easily done, and i love the possibilities of internal and external sampling.

sowari

 

Another lil' vid, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKqLv98jidg&feature=related. Sowari I must admit the Gui does look sexy on that I mac. The thing that I like the most right now is not only do we get 16 level velocity but also 16 level tuning. Thats that classic mpc ish right there.

here's another one, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YzRh3_mQdk&NR=1

and another, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG0bf7vkVdY&feature=related

I almost bought a mpd 32 today just before I saw these. sheesh! I'm diff going to wait to see how Maschine unfolds.

 

thanks for the info

Thanks for your detailed response, sowari. All of this sounds great! The Maschine interface/GUI looks like the ideal MPC replacement for me. And if the hardware controller is of a good build quality, I think I'm sold.

However:

NI really should make the sequencer capable of driving external VSTs or at least support Kore-like hosting -- what good is chromatic play ability if you are tied to samples only?

Also, I wonder how likely is a future drum synthesis add-on or update would be. It seems like NI are hinting hard at this.

And one last question, is the MIDI control aspect similar to Novation's automap in implementation? Meaning, if I map/edit a VST, will I be able to instantly call up the mapping when I load that instrument?

I think my MPC 1000 is going on ebay very soon.

 

i am not in a position to speculate how Maschine will develop, but like you drum synthesis would be high on my wish list as is driving external vsts. fwiw, chromatic play is great for a multi-sampled piano, or any of the other multi-sampled sounds that come with Maschine

the Maschine Hardware Controller saves maps as Templates. Now I have not actually tried to save a template as part of a Song so I can't be certain is that template would open with the song. however, Templates are programmed and saved with the Hardware Controller Editor Application but they seem to be active (once saved) even when that application is not launched ( i need to confirm this). btw, all edits with the Maschine Software are saved with the Song in your DAW, whenever that is saved. i'll look into templates a bit more on Friday afternoon when i have a bit of time, but what i can say is that the programming of the Hardware Controller to control DAWs and other software is deep.

sowari

 

Could you also check if there is any way to have parameter feedback on the screen and knobs like novation sl series for other VSTis? I know it does the Mackie emulation but I mean for custom mappings.

How do the pads respond compared to padkontrol? They look like the same pads. The padkontrol is very responsive and never misses a trigger, even on the edges.

Another option instead of VST hosting is to have a midi out feature like GURU. If you could sequence a VSTi loaded in the host DAW that would be cool. Of course it would need more than 8 midi tracks.

 

I would like to know if it can sample when being used as a plug-in and can you trigger sounds from your DAW if you wanted to use it like a regular virtual instrument. Oh and what kind of file format are the multi-sampled instruments, how many are there?

 

Templates are indeed active as soon as you attach Maschine to your computer. a group of Templates can be saved as a "Configuration".

sowari

 

i don't know Novation, but you get feedback on the Maschine Controller Screen for the 8 knobs. and you can have the Controller Editor Open as well.

The Pads are brilliant, they are indeed "very responsive and never miss a trigger, even on the edges"

sequencing out would i agree be very cool.

sowari

 

you can Sample when being used a plugin.

The active Sound can be triggered from an external Keyboard which would also mean DAW Sequence.

A Sound can have one Sample or multi-samples. Maschine Sounds have a Maschine Format. it seems the library sounds are all wav, but i have used aif. the LIbrary consists of:

60 x Bass, 11 x Brass, 17 x Guitar, 35 x Keys, 54 x Lead, 20 x Mallet, 17 x Organ, 24 x Pad, 13 x Strings, 3 x Choir, 25 x Waveforms, 9 x Wind.

that doesn't include any Drums or Loops.

sowari

 

Thanks Sowari. I can't wait for this thing to come out.

 

http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/shop/flypage/product_id/39920

 

ETA: 2009-02-13 ?

This is surprising. I thought it was going to be released in March? I went to a music store, here in Montreal, and Maschine wasn't even listed in their system.

 

The official release is March 1st, but there's always some retailers who jump the gun.

The first update probably won't be out until the official release date; due to the lead time needed in getting the DVD duplicated, the software side's undergone numerous improvements since the 1.0 DVD version.

ew

 

maschine haz multiprocessor support?

I'm super excited by the marketing videos and Maschine looks awesme but have been burned before by rushing out to purchase NI hardware. Much to my regret i was an early adopter of KORE1 ...Besides dealing with the many issues documented on these forums one of things that i'm constantly battling is it makes my computer grind to a halt if i have any patches that are slightly elaborate.
Will Maschine software have Multi processor support for multiple cores AND/OR does the maschine hardware do anything more than act as a midi controller and have some dsp built in?

 

Yes, Maschine has multicore support.
No- the controller's just that- a controller.

ew