Anyone moved from Live to Maschine?

[DrGonzo]

Hi all,

I'm a long time Live/Push 2 user that has had Maschine Mk3 for about 3 years. I've had about 3 attempts at using it standalone, and have always ended up trying to integrate it into Ableton with various levels of complexity. Inevitably I would end up putting the MK3 back in its box and carry on using Live/Push.

However seeing as NI just released Arrange View 'Clips' functionality I thought I'd dust off the box and upgrade the software for another crack.

So at present I am using it in Ideas View just as I would use Session View in Ableton, and then appending the scenes to it's Arranger view to create a linear project for arranging/editing. Once at this stage the new 'Clips' can be applied around the place in the Arrange View to augment the patterns. They can be applied across pattern boundaries and can contain midi or/and audio in the one clip. They can even contain takes of audio loops if you are so inclined.

Yes the software is very different from Ableton (and in many cases not as full featured), but man I'm getting some work done and also venturing into different creative places. The hardware integration with the Ideas View is really amazing workflow wise (up there with Session View in my opinion), so I feel like I've finally broken through Maschine previous barriers in my head.

Look up Jeff Gibbons on Youtube as his Maschine videos are great.

All in all its a less is more creative environment for me - will I finish tunes only in Maschine? Prob not, but that doesn't mean it isn't a highly streamlined creative environment that currently adds hugely to my productivity.

Cheers
Jed

Hey Jed and thanks for chiming in. I've heard this from so many people that they always try to integrate Maschine in Live, and that always seems to be the point when they give up and put Maschine back in the box. Just out of personal curiosity - what are you missing from Live?

/C

[drdriller]

there is no delay compensation for plugins in maschine, no automation, no audio track..

maschine needs a daw, live do not really need a groovebox.

(i've own a mk1 for 8 years, i'm now a happy push 2 user..)

[Jed]

Hi DrGonzo,

Nothing really, but I'm currently into Maschine's tight workflow and browser built into the hardware. I think when you use something for a long time (for me Ableton and Push 2) a change is as good as a holiday creatively.

Its really great to see NI developing Maschine at a faster pace now so I'm looking forward to seeing where it ends up. Also if NI worked on seriously usable integration with Ableton, I reckon lots of people would buy their hardware to get the best of both worlds.

Cheers
Jed

[antic604]

Also if NI worked on seriously usable integration with Ableton, I reckon lots of people would buy their hardware to get the best of both worlds.

That would hurt sales of standalone Push3 next year

[antic604]

...no automation...

There is automation, you just can't edit it after it's been recorded. You have to re-do it.

[drdriller]

...no automation...

There is automation, you just can't edit it after it's been recorded. You have to re-do it.

there is no automation (absolute value), only modulation (relative value) and you can edit it with the mouse after recording

[antic604]

...no automation...

There is automation, you just can't edit it after it's been recorded. You have to re-do it.

there is no automation (absolute value), only modulation (relative value) and you can edit it with the mouse after recording

Right. I'd prefer to have my arm chopped off rather than edit automation or MIDI in Maschine software, though

I guess the whole point of OP's question is to replace Live+Push (where you really have to go to software at some point), with Mk3 + Maschine software (or M+ altogether) and NOT having to touch keyboard + mouse? Although I might be wrong.

[bmanic]

I have both Push2 + Live and Maschine Micro mk2 + Maschine. Even this little tiny Maschine Micro, the original, is more capable of doing basic edits and stuff compared to the Push2. It was a quite frustrating experience to notice just how limited the Push2 out of the box functionality is for Live.

Having said that, you can use tons of 3rd party scripts and what-not to make Push2 hundreds of times more capable and actually super useful.

As for OP's original question: I had Maschine before Live but can definitely see myself ditch Live in the future and go with Maschine's much more simplified and more hands-on workflow. My issue has been with NI being even slower than Ableton when it comes to updates! Yes I know, crazy.. somebody even slower than Ableton.

[anttimaatteri]

why should i buy maschine in the first place?

its a piece of extended sbc-computer hardware with shitty tec specs. i could do the same and more with a decent laptop and certain controllers. heck i could even use push1 if i really need more than the usual 16pads on any given middleclass controller. so why should i buy it as an laptop/live replacement in a studio environment and why shoudl i buy it as an replacement (for what???) for live environment. its like a modern approach of hardware for the solo entertainers

[Schmidi]

3 years ago I switched from Live v9 (user since V1) to MPC Live and I'm much happier with the workflow.

[SLiC]

It obviously depends what type of music you are making and your preferred workflow. I use Maschine in Live (and other DAWS) and occasionally stand alone- it is very fast for putting down beats but I don't use 'pads' for putting down instruments (as I have a keyboard sat in front of me!).

Maschine Mikro is about £175 UK (£460 if yiou want the big one with screens and audio I/O) vs - about £800+ for Live + PUSH, so there is a big difference in price as well.

Maschine Mikro is one of the best value music making products you can buy IMHO, the software and content is worth the asking prices, but you get a really nice controller with great pads thrown in...The workflow is very fast with 40 button and 16 pads that also act as 'shift' shortcuts. I can do a lot without ever touching my mouse/keyboard...you cant ask for more than that, and if you have a computer screen it is really all you need.

[DrGonzo]

why should i buy maschine in the first place?

its a piece of extended sbc-computer hardware with shitty tec specs.

That can be said about anything. Elektrons, grooveboxes, analog synthesizers, old samplers, iPads whatever. Strangely enough it doesn't seem that is keeping people from making good music. Maybe because it has to do with... workflow and how that suits you as a producer?

[anttimaatteri]

why should i buy maschine in the first place?

its a piece of extended sbc-computer hardware with shitty tec specs.

That can be said about anything. Elektrons, grooveboxes, analog synthesizers, old samplers, iPads whatever. Strangely enough it doesn't seem that is keeping people from making good music. Maybe because it has to do with... workflow and how that suits you as a producer?

thats why ni is so confident with it that their own website is showing the product with a laptop and a controller as the "perfect matchup".
if i use laptop and any decent midicontroller, or two, presuming i run ableton or bitwig, the two best live performance daws in and out of the studio, eventually with push hardware too....who needs maschine and its "daw".
its native inst´s way to lure people into using their whole proprietary solutions and all it missed is a daw made by ni so far.
maschine is a way to get into that daw market the other way round, compared to ableton, who first developed the software then its hardware.

[DrGonzo]

I used Push 2 a year back and I didn't like it that much. If the Live/Push combo works for you, great. It shows that different hardware solutions work for different people.

[Kinh]

wha-ya-talkin' bout? you're comparing a daw to a midi controller. they have next to nothing in common