Native Instruments Maschine
For those of you who don’t know (shame on you!), Maschine is Native Instruments’ answer to the legendary Akai MPC, and users of that iconic beat-box will feel familiar and comfortable in the Maschine environment. Like the MPC, Maschine features 16 touch-sensitive and highly responsive pads, rhythmic tools such as swing, quantization controls and note repeat, and the ability to sample external sounds. Unlike the MPC, Maschine comes bundled with powerful software designed to work closely with the hardware unit in both live and studio environments. In effect, Maschine is an MPC for the digital age. Its hardware/software hybrid works in perfect conjunction and combines the hands-on feel of using analog gear with the power of the modern DAW.
Getting Maschine set up was a breeze for me, although one can expect to set aside perhaps an hour to both register the unit with Native Instruments and subsequently download and install the latest sample libraries from NI (all done online). Once all that is done, Maschine is ready to be plugged in, and good to go.
The sample library provided by NI – weighing in, at the time of this writing, at over 6 GB, is superb and will inspire creativity right off the bat. Of course, users are able to import their own sample libraries and create kits from those as well, although this process is not yet nearly as streamlined as it ought to be. Hopefully NI will sort this out in a future update.
Maschine also features a comprehensive collection of onboard effects. These range from the standard delays, reverbs and distortions to more exotic effects such as Grain Delay, Ice, and Resochord. Also included is a full palette of engineer’s tools – compressors, limiters, EQs, saturators – you name it. If you would like to use third party effects with Maschine, it is possible to send Maschine’s output, for both individual hits as well as kits, out to your DAW for external processing.
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Aesthetically, Maschine is a beauty (in this reviewer’s opinion, at least); it’s layout has a simple elegance that belies the sophisticated programmability underneath. Each pad and button is illuminated, and there are two LCD screens with easily navigable menus. In a dark room, a Maschine at work is a lovely sight that is guaranteed to bring out your inner gear lust…
As a physical experience, Maschine is a pleasure to use. In addition to the 16 pads, there are 8 knobs, (not including the 3 master knobs for volume, tempo and swing). The pads are highly responsive, and the knobs move smoothly.
Maschine’s work flow is relatively simple and intuitive. There is a bit of a learning curve, akin to learning a new instrument, but nothing that any producer, DJ or artist will find particularly challenging. After spending a few hours with Maschine, you will start to feel like a seasoned pro, setting up kits, patterns and song layouts with lightning speed.
It would be more than satisfactory if Maschine functioned solely as a groove production center, but it’s capabilites as a MIDI-controller are truly impressive. Included with the software package is an advanced Controller Editor, which allows the user to create custom control maps for just about any plug-in with MIDI CC assignability. The user can switch between Maschine-control and external MIDI-control with the flick of a button. I gave Maschine’s Controller Editor a test run by creating a custom map for Fxpansion’s excellent monophonic synthesizer, Strobe. The end result is that I gained complete hands-on control of every parameter of Strobe, in a labeled, organized and intuitive layout, which basically makes the synth about a hundred times more enjoyable to use! Template layouts are automatically saved, which means that one can set up templates for all their plug-ins and switch between templates instantaneously.
One concern voiced by many after Maschine’s release was that it sounded too “digital” – that it lacked the analog warmth naturally produced by circuitry in such analog beatboxes as the MPC. Indeed, Maschine is a digital instrument. The great news, however, is that the latest update – Maschine 1.5 – free to download for all registered users of Maschine, includes a new feature called “Vintage Mode”. Vintage Mode is essentially a cutting-edge digital emulation of analog circuitry, that can be applied at will to any sample to “warm up” the sound. This is achieved by subtly adding harmonics at various areas of the frequency spectrum, depending on the model being emulated. Currently, there are two emulations available – of the MPC 60 and of the EMU SP-1200. I can’t comment on the MPC 60 emulation as I have never used that hardware, but the SP-1200 emulation is spot-on and is guaranteed to warm up your samples in the same way as its hardware counterpart.
In conclusion, Native Instruments has kicked it up a notch with Maschine. It is an immensely powerful tool for the producer, composer or artist, and it will be a major addition to, and quite possibly even the centerpiece of your studio or live rig. It has stylish yet timeless looks and a high-quality build, and comes bundled with excellent software. NI has taken a best-of-both-worlds approach which succeeds in spades!
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