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What a great thread. I’ve been learning finger drumming on a pad controller (Maschine MK3), going through a course called Quest For Groove. I’ve been into makin

What a great thread. I’ve been learning finger drumming on a pad controller (Maschine MK3), going through a course called Quest For Groove. I’ve been into making electronic music for a long time but this is my first attempt to learn a musical instrument and the fact it fits into my musical ecosystem so neatly (because of its digital nature, it’s not “real” drumming) makes it an even more rewarding experience. I’ve also been jamming regularly with electronic musicians all over the world using an app called Endlesss, there is a version for Mac OS that lets you easily feed synth output and so on into it. It’s like a cloud-based live looper that sort of works like git: what you add to the jam are like git commits that publish to everyone else while synced to the beat, so it gets around the issue of network latency. It’s hard to explain but very fun and it’s made me a way better electronic musician.

noyesno 5y ago
I've been considering getting a groovebox to scratch a long-time itch for making music. Would you recommend Maschine MK3 as a standalone device?
- adriand 5y ago
  I might be misinterpreting what you mean by "standalone" but the MK3 isn't a standalone device, it requires that you connect it to your computer. It comes with partner software, Maschine 2, that is the "brains" of it more-or-less. NI makes a standalone unit in the same line though, it's called the Maschine+. https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/maschine/production-systems/maschine-plus/ https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/maschine/prod... I can't comment on it specifically because I've never used it. What I can tell you, however, is that the MK3 is excellent. It's entirely possible to use it without looking at your computer at all - so if you are looking for something that is standalone in the sense that you don't have to also be actively on your computer, then it does fit the bill for that. (Not sure about you but after working all day on the computer it can be nice to have a hobby that isn't also computer-centric!) In any case it's a very fun, expressive instrument. The pads might be the best available: they are large and exceptionally sensitive. Overall layout is well-designed, the pots are great, build quality also very good. The NI ecosystem is massive too and you get a lot of stuff for free just by virtue of being part of the ecosystem. I prefer my Push 2 for certain things, especially noodling around with harmonies and melodies because of its much greater range (64 pads instead of 16, so it covers a lot more octaves), but the MK3's pads are larger and much more sensitive. So there's a bit of a tradeoff there. My email is in my profile, feel free to drop me a line any time if you have more questions, I love nerding out on this stuff. ;)

noyesno 5y ago

I've been considering getting a groovebox to scratch a long-time itch for making music. Would you recommend Maschine MK3 as a standalone device?

adriand 5y ago
I might be misinterpreting what you mean by "standalone" but the MK3 isn't a standalone device, it requires that you connect it to your computer. It comes with partner software, Maschine 2, that is the "brains" of it more-or-less. NI makes a standalone unit in the same line though, it's called the Maschine+. https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/maschine/production-systems/maschine-plus/ https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/maschine/prod... I can't comment on it specifically because I've never used it. What I can tell you, however, is that the MK3 is excellent. It's entirely possible to use it without looking at your computer at all - so if you are looking for something that is standalone in the sense that you don't have to also be actively on your computer, then it does fit the bill for that. (Not sure about you but after working all day on the computer it can be nice to have a hobby that isn't also computer-centric!) In any case it's a very fun, expressive instrument. The pads might be the best available: they are large and exceptionally sensitive. Overall layout is well-designed, the pots are great, build quality also very good. The NI ecosystem is massive too and you get a lot of stuff for free just by virtue of being part of the ecosystem. I prefer my Push 2 for certain things, especially noodling around with harmonies and melodies because of its much greater range (64 pads instead of 16, so it covers a lot more octaves), but the MK3's pads are larger and much more sensitive. So there's a bit of a tradeoff there. My email is in my profile, feel free to drop me a line any time if you have more questions, I love nerding out on this stuff. ;)