Native Instruments Maschine MIKRO User manual

MANUAL

The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a
commitment on the part of Native Instruments GmbH. The software described by this docu-
ment is subject to a License Agreement and may not be copied to other media. No part of this
publication may be copied, reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose,
without prior written permission by Native Instruments GmbH, hereinafter referred to as Native
Instruments.
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any affiliation with or endorsement by them.
Document authored by: David Gover, Nicolas Sidi, Gustav Santo Tomas
Software version: 2.5 (10/2016)
Hardware version: MASCHINE MIKRO MK1
Special thanks to the Beta Test Team, who were invaluable not just in tracking down bugs, but
in making this a better product.
Disclaimer

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS GmbH
Schlesische Str. 29-30
D-10997 Berlin
Germany
www.native-instruments.de
NATIVE INSTRUMENTS North America, Inc.
6725 Sunset Boulevard
5th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90028
USA
www.native-instruments.com
NATIVE INSTRUMENTS K.K.
YO Building 3F
Jingumae 6-7-15, Shibuya-ku,
Tokyo 150-0001
Japan
www.native-instruments.co.jp
NATIVE INSTRUMENTS UK Limited
18 Phipp Street
London EC2A 4NU
UK
www.native-instruments.co.uk
© NATIVE INSTRUMENTS GmbH, 2016. All rights reserved.
Contact

Table of Contents
1 Welcome to MASCHINE! ............................................................................................22
1.1 Where to Start? ........................................................................................................................... 23
1.2 Manual Conventions ................................................................................................................... 25
2 Basic Concepts .........................................................................................................27
2.1 Names and Concepts You Should Know ...................................................................................... 27
2.2 Adjusting the MASCHINE User Interface ..................................................................................... 29
2.2.1 Adjusting the Size of the Interface ............................................................................. 30
2.2.2 Showing/Hiding the Browser ...................................................................................... 31
2.2.3 Switching between Arrange View and Mix View ......................................................... 31
2.2.4 Minimizing the Mixer ................................................................................................. 32
2.2.5 Showing/Hiding the Control Lane .............................................................................. 33
2.3 Common Operations ................................................................................................................... 34
2.3.1 Setting the Focus on a Group or a Sound ................................................................... 34
2.3.2 Switching Between the Master, Group, and Sound Level ........................................... 39
2.3.3 Navigating Channel Properties, Plug-ins, and Parameter Pages in the Control Area . 40
2.3.4 Undo/Redo ................................................................................................................. 46
2.3.5 Pinning a Mode on Your Controller ............................................................................. 48
2.3.6 Using Two or More Hardware Controllers ................................................................... 49
2.4 Native Kontrol Standard ............................................................................................................. 50
2.4.1 Installing KONTAKT Instruments with NKS Support .................................................... 51
2.4.2 Loading NKS and Third-party Plug-ins from the Plug-in Menu .................................. 52
2.5 Stand-Alone and Plug-in Mode ................................................................................................... 53
2.5.1 Differences between Stand-Alone and Plug-in Mode ................................................. 54
2.5.2 Switching Instances .................................................................................................. 55
2.5.3 Controlling Various Instances with Different Controllers ........................................... 56
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2.6 Preferences ................................................................................................................................. 56
2.6.1 Preferences – General Page ....................................................................................... 58
2.6.1.1 Usage Data Tracking .................................................................................62
2.6.2 Preferences – Audio Page .......................................................................................... 63
2.6.3 Preferences – MIDI Page ............................................................................................ 66
2.6.4 Preferences – Default Page ....................................................................................... 69
2.6.5 Preferences – Library Page ........................................................................................ 72
2.6.6 Preferences – Plug-ins Page ..................................................................................... 80
2.6.7 Preferences – Hardware Page .................................................................................... 85
2.6.8 Controller Menu in the Hardware Page of the Preferences Panel ............................... 88
2.6.9 Preferences – Colors Page ......................................................................................... 89
2.7 Integrating MASCHINE into Your MIDI Setup ............................................................................... 92
2.7.1 Connecting External MIDI Equipment ........................................................................ 92
2.7.2 Sync to External MIDI Clock ....................................................................................... 92
2.7.3 Send MIDI Clock ......................................................................................................... 93
3 Browser ....................................................................................................................95
3.1 Browser Basics ........................................................................................................................... 95
3.1.1 The MASCHINE Library ............................................................................................... 95
3.1.2 Browsing the Library vs. Browsing Your Hard Disks ................................................... 96
3.2 Searching and Loading Files from the Library ............................................................................ 97
3.2.1 Overview of the LIBRARY Pane ................................................................................... 97
3.2.2 Selecting or Loading a Product and Selecting a Bank from the Browser .................... 101
3.2.3 Selecting a Product Category, a Product, a Bank, and a Sub-Bank ........................... 106
3.2.3.1 Selecting a Product Category, a Product, a Bank, and a Sub-Bank on the
Controller ...................................................................................................111
3.2.4 Selecting a File Type .................................................................................................. 112
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3.2.5 Choosing Between Factory and User Content ............................................................. 113
3.2.6 Selecting Type and Mode Tags ................................................................................... 113
3.2.7 Performing a Text Search ........................................................................................... 120
3.2.8 Loading a File from the Result List ............................................................................ 120
3.3 Additional Browsing Tools .......................................................................................................... 126
3.3.1 Loading the Selected Files Automatically .................................................................. 127
3.3.2 Pre-Listening to Your Samples .................................................................................. 128
3.3.3 Loading Groups with their Patterns ........................................................................... 129
3.3.4 Displaying File Information ........................................................................................ 130
3.4 Using Favorites in the Browser ................................................................................................... 131
3.5 Editing the Files’ Tags and Properties ........................................................................................ 137
3.5.1 Attribute Editor Basics .............................................................................................. 137
3.5.2 The BANK Page .......................................................................................................... 139
3.5.3 The TYPES and MODES Pages .................................................................................... 139
3.5.4 The PROPERTIES Page ............................................................................................... 142
3.6 Loading and Importing Files from Your File System .................................................................... 143
3.6.1 Overview of the FILES Pane ........................................................................................ 143
3.6.2 Using Favorites .......................................................................................................... 145
3.6.3 Using the Location Bar .............................................................................................. 146
3.6.4 Navigating to Recent Locations ................................................................................. 147
3.6.5 Using the Result List ................................................................................................. 148
3.6.6 Importing Files to the MASCHINE Library ................................................................... 151
3.7 Locating Missing Samples .......................................................................................................... 153
3.8 Using Quick Browse .................................................................................................................... 154
4 Managing Sounds, Groups, and Your Project ............................................................... 158
4.1 Overview of the Sounds, Groups, and Master .............................................................................. 158
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4.1.1 The Sound, Group, and Master Channels ................................................................... 159
4.1.2 Similarities and Differences in Handling Sounds and Groups ................................... 161
4.1.3 Selecting Multiple Sounds or Groups ......................................................................... 162
4.2 Managing Sounds ....................................................................................................................... 167
4.2.1 Loading Sounds ......................................................................................................... 168
4.2.2 Pre-listening to Sounds ............................................................................................. 169
4.2.3 Renaming Sound Slots .............................................................................................. 170
4.2.4 Changing the Sound’s Color ...................................................................................... 171
4.2.5 Saving Sounds ........................................................................................................... 173
4.2.6 Copying and Pasting Sounds ..................................................................................... 175
4.2.7 Moving Sounds .......................................................................................................... 178
4.2.8 Resetting Sound Slots ............................................................................................... 179
4.3 Managing Groups ....................................................................................................................... 180
4.3.1 Creating Groups ........................................................................................................ 182
4.3.2 Loading Groups ......................................................................................................... 184
4.3.3 Renaming Groups ...................................................................................................... 185
4.3.4 Changing the Group’s Color ....................................................................................... 186
4.3.5 Saving Groups ........................................................................................................... 187
4.3.6 Copying and Pasting Groups ..................................................................................... 189
4.3.7 Moving Groups ........................................................................................................... 193
4.3.8 Deleting Groups ......................................................................................................... 194
4.4 Exporting MASCHINE Objects and Audio ..................................................................................... 195
4.4.1 Saving a Group with its Samples ............................................................................... 196
4.4.2 Saving a Project with its Samples ............................................................................. 197
4.4.3 Exporting Audio ......................................................................................................... 199
4.5 Importing Third-Party File Formats ............................................................................................. 206
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4.5.1 Loading REX Files into Sound Slots ........................................................................... 206
4.5.2 Importing MPC Programs to Groups ........................................................................... 207
5 Playing on Your Controller ......................................................................................... 211
5.1 Adjusting Your Pads ................................................................................................................... 211
5.1.1 The Pad View in the Software .................................................................................... 211
5.1.2 Choosing a Pad Mode ................................................................................................ 213
5.1.3 Adjusting the Base Key .............................................................................................. 216
5.1.4 Using Choke Groups .................................................................................................. 218
5.1.5 Using Link Groups ..................................................................................................... 220
5.2 Adjusting the Key, Choke, and Link Parameters for Multiple Sounds .......................................... 222
5.3 Adjusting the Base Key ............................................................................................................... 224
5.4 Playing Tools .............................................................................................................................. 225
5.4.1 Note Repeat ............................................................................................................... 225
5.4.2 Mute and Solo ............................................................................................................ 227
5.4.3 Choke All Notes .......................................................................................................... 232
5.4.4 Groove ....................................................................................................................... 232
5.4.5 Level, Tempo, Tune, and Groove Shortcuts on Your Controller .................................... 235
5.5 Performance Features ................................................................................................................. 238
5.5.1 Overview of the Perform Features .............................................................................. 238
5.5.2 Selecting a Scale and Creating Chords ..................................................................... 241
5.5.3 Scale and Chord Parameters ..................................................................................... 242
5.5.4 Creating Arpeggios and Repeated Notes ................................................................... 248
5.5.5 Swing Also Applied to Note Repeat / Arp Output ........................................................ 249
6 Working with Plug-ins ...............................................................................................250
6.1 Plug-in Overview ........................................................................................................................ 250
6.1.1 Plug-in Basics ........................................................................................................... 250
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6.1.2 First Plug-in Slot of Sounds: Choosing the Sound’s Role ........................................... 254
6.1.3 Loading, Removing, and Replacing a Plug-in ............................................................ 254
6.1.4 Adjusting the Plug-in Parameters ............................................................................. 262
6.1.5 Bypassing Plug-in Slots ............................................................................................ 262
6.1.6 Using Side-Chain ...................................................................................................... 266
6.1.7 Moving Plug-ins ........................................................................................................ 266
6.1.8 Alternative: the Plug-in Strip ..................................................................................... 267
6.1.9 Saving and Recalling Plug-in Presets ....................................................................... 267
6.1.9.1 Saving Plug-in Presets ..............................................................................268
6.1.9.2 Recalling Plug-in Presets ..........................................................................269
6.1.9.3 Removing a Default Plug-in Preset ............................................................270
6.2 The Sampler Plug-in ................................................................................................................... 271
6.2.1 Page 1: Voice Settings / Engine ................................................................................. 273
6.2.2 Page 2: Pitch / Envelope ............................................................................................ 274
6.2.3 Page 3: FX / Filter ...................................................................................................... 277
6.2.4 Page 4: Modulation .................................................................................................... 279
6.2.5 Page 5: LFO ............................................................................................................... 280
6.2.6 Page 6: Velocity / Modwheel ...................................................................................... 282
6.3 Using Native Instruments and External Plug-ins ........................................................................ 284
6.3.1 Opening/Closing Plug-in Windows ............................................................................. 284
6.3.2 Using the VST/AU Plug-in Parameters ....................................................................... 287
6.3.3 Setting Up Your Own Parameter Pages ...................................................................... 288
6.3.4 Using VST/AU Plug-in Presets .................................................................................... 293
6.3.5 Multiple-Output Plug-ins and Multitimbral Plug-ins ................................................. 296
7 Working with Patterns ...............................................................................................297
7.1 Pattern Basics ............................................................................................................................ 297
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7.1.1 Pattern Editor Overview ............................................................................................. 298
7.1.2 Navigating the Event Area ......................................................................................... 301
7.1.3 Following the Playback Position in the Pattern .......................................................... 304
7.1.4 Jumping to Another Playback Position in the Pattern ................................................. 306
7.1.5 Group View and Keyboard View .................................................................................. 307
7.1.6 Adjusting the Pattern Grid and the Pattern Length .................................................... 310
7.1.7 Adjusting the Step Grid and the Nudge Grid .............................................................. 313
7.2 Recording Patterns in Real Time ................................................................................................ 318
7.2.1 Recording Your Patterns Live ..................................................................................... 319
7.2.2 The Record Prepare Mode .......................................................................................... 321
7.2.3 Using the Metronome ................................................................................................. 322
7.2.4 Recording with Count-in ............................................................................................ 324
7.2.5 Quantizing while Recording ....................................................................................... 326
7.3 Recording Patterns with the Step Sequencer .............................................................................. 327
7.3.1 Step Mode Basics ...................................................................................................... 327
7.3.2 Editing Events in Step Mode ...................................................................................... 330
7.4 Editing Events ............................................................................................................................ 331
7.4.1 Editing Events with the Mouse: an Overview ............................................................. 331
7.4.2 Creating Events/Notes ............................................................................................... 335
7.4.3 Selecting Events/Notes .............................................................................................. 336
7.4.4 Editing Selected Events/Notes ................................................................................... 339
7.4.5 Deleting Events/Notes ............................................................................................... 342
7.4.6 Cut, Copy, and Paste Events/Notes ............................................................................ 345
7.4.7 Quantizing Events/Notes ........................................................................................... 348
7.4.8 Quantization While Playing ........................................................................................ 350
7.4.9 Doubling a Pattern .................................................................................................... 351
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