yeah so here's the thing, for the last 4-5 years i've been struggling with writing new music. i try but almost nothing comes out, not sure what it is. decided to sell a bunch of gear to slim down my choices which seems to be working kinda. so now i wanna see if changing a part of my workflow might do the trick.

a few years back a good friend of mine said he bought the maschine and was wild about it, great workflow, inspiring, spontanious ejaculation. and in all fairness the CD he released after he got the maschine is 'DAMN!?!'

and from what i've seen in tutorial and demonstration video's (ofcourse by people who spend 6 months in a training camp) it seems like this could get in the right direction again

so long story short: Maschine users, how do you like the workflow and how often do you get a boner from the results?

 

I'm seriously thinking about dropping some cash on one of these. I bought myself an electronic drum kit to learn some grooves last year, but I couldn't get in to it. I should have bought maschine back then, now I want to sell the drum kit and buy maschine.

 

what type of music do you write? what daw/workflow are you using?

 

Industrialtechno, started out dawless with an mc-303, later an mc-505 until i came across FL, been working with FL since 3.5 for creating, used sonar for mixing until i switched to OSX, still used FL but now logic for mixing, tried to use logic only for a while but always ended up going back to FL. i have been trying out maschine the last few weeks and i sorta get a similair feeling but with a pinch of ableton added. wonder how much of a change the controller will be, i know certain functions can only be accessed through the controller, also, the scales, chords and pads seems like a rather nice option.

this is some of my shit

 

Hey statik, you perv..;) ..jk, -> <3 U! ;))

I can tell you first hand, because some months ago I was asking myself the same Q. Short story long, I am quite good on piano/keys and usually that can be a bad thing if you want to learn a different instrument like guitar or tuba.. (frustration kicks in cause you know you could easily play smth on your.. thing).

Bored noodling my virtuoso inventions on keyboard I wanted to put under my fingers something that would break the routine ..or expand the possibilities.. or both. I was also looking at the Push and MPCs. I saw many ppl using Push to play like on piano and that was too close - sure a fine step sequencer (prob nice for techno), but just for that you can get something much cheaper and add to rig.

I wanted the ol' 16 pads.. so I could get a MPC. See, I had some NI toys like F1s and wannabe-DJ S4s.. some of them broke down - just not the Pioneer stuff (obviously, considering the price..). Anyway didn't want to invest a lot into it.

Then the end of the world started to unfold here in EU, also have lots of legit expansions that came with my K12 krypton VIP CE whatever (many techno-oriented) optimized for Maschine and my audio dealer gave me a nice price of 470€ (at that time mk3 almost reached 600€, it was in fact difficult to get your hands on one). I remember when I phoned him after the order, he said nothing was moving anywhere anymore. Then he looked again and my box was the last he got..

So now here it is, Maschine mk3. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. The build quality is better than that of the other NI products I own. You don't need 6 months of sexual slavery to start enjoying it. You can just start with basic functions and start "making beats" or what's the fancy term.. but it sure can be as complex as much as you want. You can finish a track with the hardware only, but you'll probably bump into something that's easier to make/fix with SW.

Not exactly brilliant integration with DAW's, but that's just what I wanted. Put down the idea and then (eventually) develop it in a DAW. Obviously not a battery powered standalone, which for some religious ol' MPC users sure is a deal breaker. Studio HW, I would say, although I know many that use it live from the first version onward (built-in audio interface). Of course a NI tentative to get you into buying the overpriced expansions.. but loading/sampling your own beats&pieces is same if not more fun.

..yp, lots of fun. Plenty of YT tuts. I was playing with it almost every day.. in fact one of the reasons I didn't do something stupid these crazy times. ;P

 

me?? a perv?? what on earth gave you that idea? kinda sucks about those 6 months, i was looking forward to those (funfact: my first serious demo-cd was called 6 months of pain)

thanx for the detailed description of your experience, this is basically what i'm expecting from it. the expansions arent that interesting to me as i wanna use my hardware more again, fiddling with those knobs always was part of the magic. i'm also not a great keyboard player so the pads and scales should help out, also with everything i forgot in the last few years. and in a trump case pandemic response scenario i have 120 days to return it with no questions asked

so now it's waiting until wednesday/friday when the money comes in

 

Long time Machine user here, owned an MK2 and now an MK3.

I grew up making music before I even owned a computer on a Roland SP808 back in the 90s, so my first initial production workflow was on a groovebox. When I bought my first Maschine, I was already well acquainted with a pattern based workflow and that's important to point out, because some people really enjoy it and others HATE it. I'm as comfortable working in a regular DAW as I am a groovebox but I have found that if you've never used a groovebox or pattern based workflow before, it can be a little weird to wrap your head around at first. But once you do, it just becomes so much easier and more immediate to lay down ideas.

I think Maschine bridges a gap between the two because if you're coming from a traditional DAW, you can still reference your computer screen or use a mouse if you want. You can do all that on Maschine just with the controller, but for the way I work, I tend to use a bit of both. It's very flexible to how you work and I think once you find your workflow, it's very difficult to go back to fully working with a traditional linear based daw. Most people who buy a Maschine, myself included, prefer sketching out ideas on Maschine before they bring those ideas into a daw for mixing and finalizing.

I love using Maschine but I'm not married to it. For me its more about workflow and Maschine a does a great job at making creative workflow quick and easy. If you're struggling to make music and stay inspired, definitely give it a chance. You can pick up a used MK2 for next to nothing so its a small investment.

 

I would have thought you were better off with Ableton and a push device for the music you are into if you aren't getting inspired by FL.

 

got one last wednesday, but had to go back and get a replacement caus weirdly enough the serial number was already used, which is rather bizarre as the sticker seal from NI was intact. anyways now to start the long process of learning how this damn thing works. most important thing i already know, how to set the colors of the pads to pink and purple.