Arranging Your Project
Arranging patterns and scenes into a full fledged song can be done via Maschine’s Song view. This chapter guides you through it.
A song is made of a variety of Scenes. Each Scene contains a specific set of Patterns that make up a part of the song, for example, intro, verse, chorus, break, second verse, etc. By assigning your Scenes to Sections to the Timeline in the Song view you can start to organize your track.
The Maschine Song view is where you can sequence Scenes to create your final arrangement. This process involves creating a Section on the Timeline and assigning a Scene to it. Any Scene that exists in the Ideas view can be assigned to a Section in the Song view.
One powerful aspect of the relationship between the Ideas view and Song view is that the content in these two areas are actually one-in-the-same. This means that if you make a change to a Scene, it will automatically affect all other instances of that Scene. If you place a Scene in three different Sections of the Timeline and then proceed to change the Patterns assigned to that Scene, the other two instances of that Scene also play the newly assigned Patterns. Therefore, it’s straightforward to make changes to individual Patterns and Scenes after the arrangement has been made and immediately hear the results in the context of the arrangement. Those changes can be made in either the Ideas or Song view.
In Song view, Maschine+ provides a perfect overview of all your Sections, Patterns, Clips, and Groups. Here you can create a Section and assign a Scene to it, duplicate your Sections, clear a Section, and more importantly, quickly and easily assign your Sections to the Timeline in the order you would like them to play.
Arranger Basics
This section describes some of the essential functions that enable you to navigate the Ideas view and Song view when arranging your song.
Switching Between Ideas View and Song View
The Arranger has two different views: Ideas view and Song view. Each view has a specific purpose in the workflow of creating a song, but essentially they represent the same content.
Following the Playback Position
If the Song view doesn’t display the entire Loop Range currently selected, at some point the play head will go beyond the portion of your Project currently displayed and you might lose track of the playback position. To prevent this, you can force the Song view to follow the playhead.
To follow the playhead position during playback:
Press FOLLOW button in the Transport section.
The FOLLOW button lights up. The Arranger will now switch to the next portion of your Project (with the same zoom factor) as soon as the playhead reaches the end of the portion currently displayed. This way, you always see the portion of the Project that is being played.
Caution
The Follow function is automatically deactivated as soon as you manually scroll to another portion of the Arranger or of the Pattern Editor.
The Follow function affects the displays in Song mode, Pattern mode, Step mode, and Note Repeat mode. Additionally, in Step mode the Follow function affects the pads: When Follow is activated and the playhead has gone across all 16 steps shown by the pads, the pads automatically switch to the next 16 steps of the Pattern, if any.
Performing with Scenes and Sections
Maschine+ provides you with settings to fine-tune the timing of the jump between the Scenes and Sections:
The Perform Grid lets you quantize the Scene transitions: You can choose the point at which the playback will leave the current Scene (Ideas view) or Section (Song view). For example, you might not want a newly selected loop to fire off immediately, you might want it to wait until the next bar line. The available quantization values are: one bar, one-half note, one-quarter note, one-eighth note, one-sixteenth note, the whole Scene/Section, and Off. If you choose Off, the Scene/Section change will be performed immediately after you select the next loop.
The Retrigger setting lets you decide where the next loop will start:
If Retrigger is activated, the next Section (Ideas view) or Section (Song view) that is selected will be forced to play from the start. This is useful if you always want your Scenes or Sections to play from the beginning regardless of what’s happening elsewhere in the music.
If Retrigger is deacrivated (default setting), the next Scene or Section that is selected will play from the same offset to the beginning: for example, leaving the current Section on beat 3 will cause the new Section to start playing on its beat 3. This ensures that the global groove of your track is not interrupted.
Jumping between Scenes and Sections
In Ideas view, the Perform Grid and the Retrigger control the setting for the jump between Scenes, and in Song view, it sets the grid for the jump between Sections.
To set the Perform Grid and the Retrigger settings:
Press SHIFT + IDEAS , then press Button 1 or 2 to select Ideas view or Song View.
Press SHIFT + FOLLOW (Grid) to enter Grid mode (or pin it by pressing SHIFT + FOLLOW (Grid) then Button 1).
Press Button 2 to select PERFORM.
Press a pad to select the desired value, for example, pad 9 (for 1/4, a quarter note).
The next time you select a new Scene/Section or loop range, the switch will happen on the next quarter note.
Adjusting the Scene Retrigger Setting
To adjust the Scene Retrigger setting:
Press SHIFT + IDEAS (Song), then press Button 1 to select Ideas view.
Press SCENE (Section) to enter Scene mode (or pin it by pressing SCENE + Button 1).
At the bottom left corner of the left display, you see the current RETRIGGER value (Off by default).
Turn Knob 1 to select On.
The next time you select a new Scene or loop range, it will start from the beginning.
Adjusting the Section Retrigger Setting
To adjust the Section Retrigger setting:
Press SHIFT + IDEAS (Song), then press Button 2 to select Song view.
Press SCENE to enter Section mode (or pin it by pressing SCENE + Button 1).
Press the Right Page button to access page 2.
At the bottom left corner of the left display, you see the current RETRIGGER value (Off by default).
Turn Knob 1 to select On.
The next time you select a new Section or loop range, it will start from the beginning.
Using Ideas View
The Ideas view allows you to experiment with your musical ideas without being tied to a timeline or any arrangement. Here you can create Patterns for each Group and combine them into a Scene.
In Ideas view, Maschine+ provides a perfect overview of all your Scenes, Patterns, and Groups. Here you can create a Scene by selecting a Pattern for each Group, duplicate your Scenes, clear a Scene and, more importantly, trigger your Scenes so you can hear how they sound when played in a particular order.
Pressing a pad in Scene mode will trigger a Scene and, in turn, trigger all the assigned Patterns. In addition to creating ideas, the Scene mode is fantastic for improvisation during a performance.
Using Scene Mode
The Scene mode focuses on Scene selection and manipulation, and all Scenes can be managed from the Ideas view.
In Scene mode, you see all Scene slots of the selected Scene bank represented cells:
The fully lit pad indicates the selected Scene slot.
Dim lit pads indicate Scene slots containing a Scene.
Unlit pads represent empty Scene slots.
This grid of cells shown in the right display corresponds to the pads, which have the same functionality as in Scene Arrange mode:
The highlighted cell indicates the selected Scene slot.
Cells showing a name represent Scene slots containing a Scene.
Empty cells represent empty Scene slots.
In addition, the Scene mode provides useful Scene management commands similar to those of the Scene Arrange mode. These are described in the following sections.
Creating a New Scene
In Ideas view, you can create a new Scene.
Assigning and Removing Patterns
Each Pattern placed in the Arranger (Ideas view or Song view) references one of the Patterns available in the Pattern Editor for the corresponding Group.
In the Ideas view, each column represents a Group. After selecting a Scene it is possible to assign and remove Patterns from their slots.
Removing a Pattern in Ideas View
You can remove a Pattern from a Scene in Ideas view.
Selecting a Scene
You can select Scenes from the current Scene bank.
Tip
To learn how to trigger Scenes, Sections or Lock snapshots using MIDI notes or Program Change messages, refer to MIDI Change.
Deleting a Scene
You can delete a Scene in Ideas view.
Duplicating a Scene
The Ideas view allows you to duplicate a Scene. When using Maschine+ in Controller mode this feature works in connection with settings made in the Default page of the Preferences.
Together they offer you options to:
duplicate Scenes
duplicate Scenes and Patterns
link when duplicating Sections
For more information on the Default page of the Preferences, refer to the Maschine Software Manual.
Selecting a Scene Bank
It is possible to select a Scene located in another Scene bank.
Creating and Deleting Scene Banks
A new Scene bank is automatically created once you fill an entire bank with Scenes.
Making a Scene Unique
If a Scene is referencing the same Patterns you can make a separate (unique) copy of the Scene and its Patterns by selecting Unique. This allows you to work on a new separate copy of the Scene and its Pattern in isolation. Use Unique in combination with the Duplicate option.
Appending a Scene to the Arrangement
Once you are satisfied with a Scene you can append it directly to your arrangement in the Song view.
Changing the Color of a Scene
You can change the color of each Scene.
Using Song View
In Maschine, a song is made of a variable number of Scenes, which represent the different parts of the song, for example, intro, verse, chorus, break, another verse. By assigning your Scenes to Sections to the Timeline in the Song view you can start to organize your track.
The Song view is where you can sequence Scenes to create your final arrangement. This process involves creating a Section on the Timeline and assigning a Scene to it. Any Scene that exists in the Ideas view can be assigned to a Section in the Song view. You can change the length of the Section (determining the playback length of the Scene) or re-order the Sections as you see fit. You can also re-use the same Scene in multiple Sections in the timeline, or you can choose to assign no Scene to the Section at all.
One powerful aspect of the relationship between the Ideas view and Song view is that the content in these two areas are actually one-in-the-same. This means that if you make a change to a Scene it will affect all other instances of that Scene automatically. If you place a Scene in three different Sections of the Timeline and then proceed to change the Patterns assigned to that Scene, the other two instances of that Scene also play the newly-assigned Patterns. It’s therefore very easy to make changes to individual Patterns and Scenes after the arrangement has been made and immediately hear the results in the context of the arrangement, and those changes can be made in either Ideas or Song view.
Creating Sections
You can create a new Section directly in the Song view.
Assigning a Scene to a Section
Now you have created an empty Section on the timeline of the Arranger, you can now add a Scene from the Ideas view to the Song view.
Selecting a Section
You can select a Section directly in the Song view.
Tip
To learn how to trigger Scenes, Sections or Lock snapshots using MIDI notes or Program Change messages, refer to MIDI Change.
Creating and Deleting Section Banks
A new Section bank is automatically created once you fill an entire bank with Sections.
Selecting a Section Bank
You can select a Section located in another Section bank.
Moving a Section
Reordering Sections is essential to organize and arrange your song.
Adjusting the Length of a Section
Here are a few rules on how Sections, Scenes, Patterns, Clips are displayed within the Arranger: By default, the length of a Section is automatically set to the longest Pattern used within the referenced Scene (Auto Length), unless the length of the Section is manually set to a specific bar range (Manual Length).
Auto Length: By default, the length of a Section corresponds to the longest Pattern used in the referenced Scene. Inserting a new Pattern that is longer than the Section automatically extends the Section. Removing the longest Pattern from the Section automatically shrinks the Section. Extending/shrinking the longest Pattern automatically extends/shrinks the Section accordingly.
Manual Length: A Section can be manually adjusted to a set length. This can be shorter or longer than the Pattern contained within the referenced Scene. Inserting or removing Patterns from the Scene will not alter the length of the Section, however, the length of a Section can be altered by using the Length parameter.
If a Pattern is shorter than the Section it is placed in, it is automatically repeated until the end of the Section (the last repetition might be shortened). These repetitions are automatically generated and cannot be edited. They reference the same Pattern placed at the beginning of the Section. Repetitions of a Pattern are indicated by darker blocks in the Arranger, and a Truncated Pattern marker will appear on the right-hand side of the Section to indicate that a section of the Pattern is hidden:
If a Section has been manually shortened, only the visible part of the Pattern within the set length will be audible.
Scenes always start at the beginning of the Section.
Duplicating a Sections
The Ideas view allows you to duplicate a Section. This feature works in connection with settings made in the Scene/Section page of the Maschine+ General Settings, refer to General Settings .
Together they offer you options to:
duplicate Scenes
duplicate Scenes and Patterns
link when duplicating Sections
For more information on the Default page of the Preferences, refer to the Maschine Software Manual.
Making a Section Unique
If a Scene is referencing the same Patterns you can make a separate (unique) copy of the Scene and its Patterns by selecting Unique. This allows you to work on a new separate copy of the Scene and its Pattern in isolation. Use Unique in combination with the Duplicate option.
Removing a Section
Sections can be removed from the arrangement.
Enabling Auto Length
By default, a Section is set to Auto Length allowing it to resize automatically to the content within the Section. If the length of a Section is manually adjusted by truncating or lengthening the Section end marker, Auto Length is discarded and the Section automatically set to Manual Length. It is possible to quickly reset a Section to back to Auto Length in order to return to the Section to its default state and reveal any truncated (hidden) content. When Auto Length is activated, the Manual Length settings are discarded and the Section is resized according to the Patterns in the assigned Scene, and will continue to resize with the content unless the length is again manually adjusted.
The Arrange Grid
The Arrange Grid is used to quantize all modifications related to the timeline. The value set here is used for the following features:
Loop start / length
Loop position
Pattern length
Scene length
Song Clip start/length
Playhead relocation
Quick Grid
The Quick Grid setting allows you to quickly and conveniently set the most common Pattern lengths.
When the Quick Grid is used, the following rules apply:
The available Pattern lengths are as follows:1 bar, 2 bars, 4 bars, 8 bars, 12 bars, 16 bars, etc. (+ 4 bars each time starting from 4 bars).
The Quick Grid is exclusively applied to Pattern Length. For all other features related to the Grid (for example, adjusting the playback position or the Loop Range), the Arrange Grid is used.
The Quick Grid setting is global and applies to all Patterns.
When the Quick Grid is set to OFF, the Arrange Grid is used.