![]() There's a good reason for this: it's very much like it was previously! That means we're dealing with a loop-based interactive sequencer and sampler. You'll notice I haven't talked much about Maschine's functionality so far. Steps ForwardĬolour comes to Groups, Instruments, Scenes, Pads and individual patterns. Coloration is one of a handful of operations that can only be executed using the Maschine software. Choosing the right colours is an absorbing process, and once you've adopted the idea, you won't be satisfied until your older songs look right too. The slight down side of this approach is that if you've made judicious use of colour (and you will), selections don't always stand out so obviously amongst multiple subtly different shades. I must have changed my mind half a dozen times already, which isn't a complaint, incidentally.Įach colour has two intensities, the higher one showing selection of a pad, scene or group (for example). The only difficulty is in settling on a scheme and sticking to it. Say your first group is a drum kit: you can choose a colour for the whole group, then paint kicks, snares, hi-hats and percussion in a range of hues you'll instantly recognise. There are 16 colours to choose from and they can be freely assigned per group, per pattern, per scene, and at the level of samples or individual instruments. It offers the chance of performance visibility for those using laptops on stage, where their human input often can't be appreciated by the audience. ![]() At a stroke, the MkII Maschine's pad matrix is more meaningful. (Synaesthesia, or the blending of senses, is a complex neurological condition in which, for example, sounds, numbers, or even days of the week are perceived as colours.) Even if you're not synaesthesic, the ability to locate a kick drum or vocal sample by colour alone is instantly useful - you'll wonder how you ever managed without it. Who's going to deny that colour and music, especially hi-tech dance music, are born to be together? Whether it's synchronised LED lighting rigs and VJ virtuosos or the many tastefully glowing controllers for Ableton Live, synaesthesic synthesists have never had it so good. But for the real gains to be appreciated, we should take the plunge into that all-new dimension: colour. Speaking of latency, the buttons and pads are snappy and responsive, while the pads' aftertouch breathes extra life into those traditional Maschine note-repeats. Finally, there's a very snug USB 2 connection that should never drop out accidentally. Recognising the usual issues of computer latency, there are a number of synchronisation offset options, vital for achieving tightness with your hardware. The rear panel features MIDI In and Out sockets, so you can drive external synths or drum machines and even sync Maschine to external MIDI clock sources. Most importantly, the pads, buttons and encoders all feel fantastic, and the simple 'eight parameters per page' integration with Massive (and other synths) renders the controller/sequencer experience slick and painless. The two 64 x 256-pixel displays are a tangible improvement, their white text on black background instantly clearer and easier on the eye than the previous model's inverse video. It has dropped the dedicated knobs for Volume, Tempo and Swing, and in their place is a single fat, pushable encoder, plus extra buttons as compensation. The new model is the same size as its forerunner and a little heavier, at 2.1kg. This review concentrates on the full-sized Maschine controller but there's also a MkII version of the smaller, cheaper Mikro. This should come as some relief to existing owners who might be feeling slightly miffed. However, apart from the coloured pads, the two are functionally almost identical. In comparison, even the stylish earlier model looks a bit cautious. The Maschine MkII hardware is undeniably a thing of beauty. If you were ever tempted by Maschine in the past, the theory is that you'll now be massively tempted. As a further sweetener, Massive - Native Instruments' bass and lead synth - joins the package. Sadly, there's no way to physically transform the older controllers into multi-hued marvels, but existing users can at least enjoy the new effects and other enhancements this update brings. Colour now shines at the heart of the Maschine's universe and, thanks to upgrades in the host software, it can be applied as extravagantly or as sparsely as your taste dictates. Hot on the heels of last year's trimmed-down Maschine Mikro are two eye-catching new hardware controllers for Native Instruments' Maschine. Maschine's MkII hardware gets a Technicolour make-over, while its software increments to v1.8.
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