This thing is alot to take in

I am completley new to producing any kind of music what so ever. I have never touched a MPC or a midi keyboard or built a song or even know what the hell a scene is. But this thing has me just totally lost...Although i guess i leaned a decent amount in the 2hrs i messed with it. So Im hopeing with time i will begin to undersatnd what the hell I am doing...

 

lol well that was just a statement so i cant really help you but if u have questions about maschine or music in general, i can help. u tryin to make hip hop?

 

lol! Ya i was just talking out loud!

Electronic! Mostly Trance, house, progressive house!

 

Djboots,

I too am also new at producing music, I have had a MPC before this. and I can tell you, similar to the MPC, reading the manual does you half justice (if your learning style is the same as mine), I played around with the MPC almost daily to familiarize myself with the controls, and what not.

Same with this, just today I learned a easy noobish trick (i shall remain silent as to what so I don't make myself look more amateur than i am ) but you just have to play around with it.

don't be afraid to loose patterns, and tweak things. lol

 

it s a lot to take in you are right but this is a beast of a unit - it has much to offer so it has to be a reasonable learning curve.

taking small things at a time is the way to go, understand pattern manipulation and what can be achieved is a great starting point. the manual is very logical and if you open a blank project and work through the manual it will make sense - dont forget this place is a wealth of knowledge and the majority of people will be constructive with advice.

forget trying to make a whole track @ once as there is so much in it, get the small things together and the rest falls in.

 

Have a look at some of the house & techno kits and the patterns that come with them, see how those grooves are constructed, modify, experiment and emulate. Eventually you will find your own style.

 

i suggest watching as many beat making videos as possible on utube to get familar with the process

 

you haven't exactly picked the easiest starting point for music production, tho Maschine isn't overly complicated. i would've suggested starting with something more simpler, like garagband or fruity loops, to get a hang for it, then move on.

 

The main things for house/trance etc are:

Learn to use the step sequencer for your drum samples or record on the fly and then quantize. You may also want to change the swing settings for each sound/group to get some groove going.

Use a keyboard for your leads and basslines, record these in on the fly and then quantize if needed. You can always edit / draw in with the software as well but keep focused on using the Maschine only rather than the screen otherwise it is wasted money.

Look around on the net for various samples but Maschine does have a great library already.

Get some VSTs for your basslines and leads, maybe things like Z3TA, Synth 1, TAL plug ins etc etc.

 

Just watched the tutorial on the step sequencer. Definatley looks to be the trick for getting a good beat down for a dance song!

 

check ur PM disco boots.

 

I Agree!

 

lol

print out the manual at Staples, Office Depot, etc and throw it in a 3 ring binder. its nice to be able to just grab it and flip through pages to find something instead of having to open the help and scroll through pages in a PDF.

well for me anyway.

 

Hey, don't feel too bad. I have been making music a long time with drum machines like the ASR-X, and the MPC, and software. I just purchased Maschine last week and it is A LOT to take in. I feel overwhelmed to be honest. Just think of it like a job, they give you three months to get it down. And by the looks of it, I will need at least that! Just keep pluging away at it my friend. I have started to see the amazing potential this unit has, and I want to tap into it as many users have already, but I just don't know how yet.

 

Welcome to Maschine! Stick with it, it won't be long till you make a couple of big breakthroughs.

The doc I linked to in this thread might be useful reading too.

 

maschine is simple as u want it to be or as complex as it needs to be

 

Hey, I'm not saying this to big note myself...but I am also a complete beginner to production, and can honestly say if you put aside an afternoon (3-4 hours, maybe a little more) to just watch the youtube clips, or read the quickstart manual - you will feel comfortable with Maschine, and be familiar with the main functions.

Compared to other production tools, I think that the Maschine has a relatively small learning curve.... but there is further depth to it, once you get beyond the basics.

Honestly, between toying with the step sequencer, and deconstructing/rearranging some of the demo tracks - you could have a little groove created after a little bit of tinkering.

Just put in the time - it does get easier!

 

I'm old-school like that too, I always prefer a paper manual.

STRATEGY

 

Veritas

 

welcome to the world of Maschine and music production.

If you have never made music on a Computer this is going to be a hell of a trip....

BUT

Now i am over the "I will never understand this whole crap" mood. And its making fun again. (1,5 Years)

But it is a learning process which always continues(sometimes slow sometimes fast).

I have tryed out every DAW out there just to see which is mine. First i thought Maschine is all i would need to produce music and basically it is true....

But in this time there was no VST support so i needed a DAW.

What i want to say is there is sooooooo much to learn about general stuff like compression, eqing, synth, creating your own workflow and what not that understanding the functions of Maschine and your DAW is a basic.

But now the thing which gives you this crappy mood is, that you understood all functions but you are not able to use them efficently because you lack knowlage of production process.

Get as many tuts about everything you can. (AND READ THE MANUAL)

AND NEVER GIVE UP

Sparksta