This is supported by one the nicest new features: hardware-controlled zooming and scrolling. Maschine now has on‑board destructive sample-editing capabilities, making it much less likely that you would turn to dedicated sample-editing software. Maschine can now sequence external MIDI devices and soft synths. This worked best when running Maschine as a stand‑alone application alongside other software. I was able to sequence instruments in Pro Tools, Live and Reason using an inter‑application MIDI bus. This is a limitation, but will probably suffice for the majority of users.Īs well as driving external MIDI gear, this new functionality extends to other virtual instruments and plug‑ins.

However, Maschine simply outputs the same thing on all enabled ports, so you've only got 16 channels to play with. Maschine has its own MIDI Out port, and also recognises other available MIDI ports connected to your computer. Each slot can be used to drive an instrument in Piano Roll mode, or you can use a group of 16 sounds in step/pattern mode to drive a drum machine. This has changed in v1.5.Įvery sound slot in Maschine 1.5 can be switched between Sampler and MIDI Out modes. Those hoping Maschine would be a next‑generation Music Production Centre, which could serve in place of a DAW when necessary, were disappointed that it could not drive external hardware synths or drum machines. Possibly the most common complaint about Maschine was that it was a sealed environment: Maschine's internal sequences could only play samples loaded into Maschine.

In the review (SOS June 2009), I applauded how NI had captured the hands‑on workflow of the drum machines and MPCs that are Maschine's inspirations, but also noted a few rough edges and feature gaps, and said I looked forward to seeing Maschine mature over time.Ī year on, the free v1.5 software update (the biggest release since the initial version) addresses some of the issues I flagged in the review, and includes numerous other improvements. When Native Instruments released their hybrid hardware/software production workstation, Maschine, last year, I greeted it with qualified enthusiasm, saying it was 'so close to being brilliant”. NI have updated Maschine - so is it now all we thought it could be?

Maschine daw