Bass Kleph shares his tricks for Maschine performances [Video]

Austrialian tech house producer, live remixer and finger drummer Bass Kleph shares some of his tips and tricks he uses when building a performance on his Maschine. 

Chris Liebing Interview: How I Play (Ableton, Traktor, Maschine)

For me if you play live or play with out actually physically putting records together and beat matching. THIS IS WHAT YOU SHOULD ASPIRE TO.

At soundcheck before his recent San Francisco show, we had a chance to get German techno producer and DJ Chris Liebing to walk you through his entire workflow including: two laptops running Traktor, Ableton, and Maschine, two Allen and Heath K2s, a Faderfox and more. Check out his extremely modular setup and hear how he uses all four channels on his Xone:92 mixer at the same time to great success. 

Tuesdays Tech: Native Instruments Reaktor

Rolodecks - New Multi-FX VST + Maschine

Maschine Mikro : Finger Drumming

Native Instruments reveals some big news for Maschine that’s … well, smaller. A new package has smaller hardware and lower price, with the same full-sized software. And an iOS version lets you use Maschine on iPad or iPhone.

As their drum machine / drum sampler / groove workstation with plug-in hosting and doubling as plug-in matures, and becomes a focus of NI’s production and performance side, things are starting to heat up. And yes, this news comes just as we learn more about an upcoming analog drum machine. It’s a Labor Day full of drum machines.

Shrunken Maschine: Maschine Mikro is, for me, the best news. It’s cheaper than the full Maschine package. It’s smaller and lighter, with a more compact controller. You might expect NI trimmed down the samples set – nope, it’s the same 6 GB ibrary. Or maybe they added a “lite” version of the software – nope, it’s the same, full Maschine version. And you still get full-sized pads. The Maschine pads are some of my favorite currently on the market – controller or otherwise – so that’s quite nice, indeed. You do sacrifice some hands-on control: the Mikro lacks the big, beautiful screens on the full Maschine, and the additional knobs and triggers. The eight macro knobs on the full Maschine are pretty handy, as are dedicated group buttons.

So, why would I think Mikro’s a good idea? Simple: when you’re on the road, or performing live onstage in cramped spaces, the Mikro looks like a winner, and all with the same software and at a lower price. For studio use, the full Maschine is still your best choice. But I’m personally going to switch out to the Mikro, especially because – like many people, I suspect – it’ll ultimately be combined with another controller in my workflow. You can have a closer look at our two product shots from NI and decide for yourself. (Yes, there’s a Maschine Bag, and yes, I was just talking to King Britt about his on-the-go luggage setup with his Maschine, but I’m still partial to smaller and lighter!)

Finger drumming video: NI has also released a promo vid of finger-drumming virtuoso Jeremy Ellis tearing apart their new hardware. It’s supposed to make you want to buy a Mikro, or something, except it may make you feel somewhat … inadequate … with your own finger drumming, instead.

Tuesdays Tech: Ableton Live + Maschine Tutorial Pt 3/3: Routing Pads

Thursdays Tech & Production Tips....

Sampling w/ NI's Maschine Pt 2: Organizing Samples Tutorial

Sampling w/ Maschine 1.6 Tutorial: Native Instruments + Wiretap

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