How to Send MIDI CCs from MASCHINE 2 to External MIDI Devices

Requirements: MASCHINE 2.6.0 or higher

MASCHINE 2.6 introduces MIDI CC features to control your MIDI hardware instruments (e.g. synthesizer, drum machine) as if they were plug-ins.

This article explains how to set up Macros on a MASCHINE Sound Slot to control the parameters of your external MIDI device. This allows you to sequence your external gear with MASCHINE's Sequencer and control its parameters with MASCHINE's knobs.

  1. Select an empty Sound Slot which you will use to send notes and MIDI CC messages to your external MIDI device.
  2. In the Control Area, click the Channel icon and navigate to Sound > Output > MIDI.
    Sound_Channel_View.png
  3. Click on the field above Dest. and select a MIDI port to send MIDI data to your external gear. The available outputs correspond with the settings defined in MASCHINE's Preferences > MIDI > Output. In our example, we choose Maschine Controller MK2.
    Select_MIDI_out_port.png
  4. In the Channel field, select the MIDI channel to which your MIDI device responds.
  5. In the Control Area, click Macro.
  6. Click the little triangle to open the Assignment area and select Pages. You can now see Page 1 of the Macro pages with eight empty Macro Slots.
    MacroPages.png
  7. Select an empty Macro slot corresponding to the MASCHINE knob you want to use to control your MIDI device's parameter.
  8. Click on the Select drop-down menu and choose MIDI > MIDI.
    MidiMidi.png
  9. In the MIDI pop-up menu, select the MIDI CC corresponding to your MIDI device's parameter. To know which MIDI CC controls your device's parameter, consult your device's MIDI CC implementation chart. It is usually found at the end of the operation manual. In the example below, we want to control the Basstation's filter cutoff frequency, which is controlled by MIDI CC 105, so we select 105 in the MIDI pop-up menu.
    MidiCC105.png
  10. You can now rename the MIDI CC number by double-clicking on the CC's number below the Macro knob. Since we have set our first Macro to control our Bassstation's cutoff frequency, we name it Cutoff.
    Cutoff.png
  11. Repeat the steps 7 - 10 for all the parameters of your external MIDI device you want to control with MASCHINE's knobs. If you need more than 8 parameters, you will have to create one or more additional Macro pages by clicking the '+' button next to the currently selected page.
    PagesPlusButton.png
  12. Once you have set up all your MIDI CCs, the corresponding Macro knobs on your MASCHINE controller will control your device's mapped parameters. Select the following buttons on your MASCHINE controller to access the Macro pages:
    • MASCHINE STUDIO: CHANNEL + SOUND (Button 3) + MACRO (Button 5 / 6)
    • MASCHINE MK2: CONTROL + SOUND (Button 3) + CHANNEL (Button 5) + MACRO (Button 7 / 8)
    • MASCHINE MIKRO: SOUND (F3) + CHNL (NAV + F2) + MCR (NAV + Master Encoder)
    • MASCHINE JAM: MACRO
  13. Save your settings for future use by right-clicking on the Sounds Slot you have used and selecting Save as...
    SaveAs.png

Please note that if you want to control a whole drum machine with MASCHINE's pads, you will need to follow additional configuration steps. By default, each Pad's root note is set to C1. Since your drum machine's sounds will respond to different MIDI notes, you will need to use the Transpose knob (Sound > Output > MIDI > Transpose) to adjust each Sounds' root note ascendingly in order for the pad to trigger the correct sound on your drum machine. Additionally you have to select the right MIDI Dest. and MIDI Channel for every Sound Slot as explained in steps 3 and 4.
MIDITranspose.png