This Knowledge Base article introduces you to MASCHINE 2.0's main elements and terminology. Below you can find a list of the most important concepts and names with a brief introduction to each. To learn more about the various topics listed below, please refer to the Reference Manual located under Documentation in the MASCHINE 2.0 application folder.
Browser
The Browser is the front end for accessing all the elements of your MASCHINE Projects:
- Projects
- Groups
- Sounds
- Instruments
- Effect presets
- Samples
Each of these can be stored and tagged in a way that allows you easy access to all of them. MASCHINE’s factory library is already completely tagged, as well as factory libraries of any Native Instruments products installed on your computer. You can also import your own files to the Library and tag them as well.
Project
A Project contains all data needed for a song: Groups with their Patterns, all Scenes and all settings, modulation, effects, routings, Sounds and Samples. It’s like a snapshot of the entire state of MASCHINE.
Sound
Sounds are the building blocks of all sound content in MASCHINE. A Sound is made up of any number of plug-ins. Each Sound of the selected Group is mapped to one of the 16 pads on the hardware controller, so you can play the Sounds by pressing the pads.
Group
A Group contains 16 Sound slots. In addition to the Effect plug-ins applied to each individual Sound, a Group can have its own insert effect. These affect all the Sounds in the Group. A Group can also contain any number of Patterns grouped into banks of 16 Patterns each.
Pattern
A Pattern is a sequence that plays Sounds from a Group. It belongs to that Group and will be saved together with the Group.
In every Scene you can choose for each Group which of its Patterns has to be played.
Scene
A Scene is a combination of Clips for your different Groups. Each Clip references a specific Pattern of a Group. In a Scene you can create one Clip for each Group. Scenes are located in the Arranger. They can be used to build up a finished arrangement or to trigger different parts of a song during a live performance.
Event
Events are the individual drum hits or notes that make up a Pattern. In the Pattern Editor, events are visually represented by rectangles in the Event area. Depending on the current view in the Pattern Editor, you can see events for all Sounds slots (Group view):
or for the selected Sound slot only (Keyboard view).
Plug-in
Each Sound, each Group, and the Master can hold any number of plug-ins. Plug-ins can be instruments or effects, and they can be internal (included with MASCHINE), from other Native Instruments products (instruments or effects), or external (third-party VST/AU plug-ins). Instrument and Effect plug-ins can be loaded in the first plug-in slot of Sounds. The other plug-in slots of Sounds, as well as the plug-in slots of Groups and of the Master can hold Effect plug-ins only. At each level (Sound, Group, and Master), plug-ins process the audio in series, according to the order in which they are stacked up.
Effect
MASCHINE comes with many different effects in the form of Internal plug-ins. You may also use Native Instruments or third-party VST/AU effect plug-ins. Each Sound, each Group, and the Master can hold any number of effects that will be applied as insert effects. The flexible routing system also allows you to create send effects, multi-effects, and side-chains.
Mixer
When the software is in Mix view (by clicking the Mixer icon), Sounds, Groups, and the Master are represented by channel strips in the Mixer. This view provides you with an intuitive control on both the audio and MIDI routings of any Sound, Group, and the Master. Located in the bottom part of the new Mix view, the Plug-in Strip allows you to visually control each of the Plug-ins (effects or instruments) you have loaded in the focused channel (Sound, Group or Master). Each Plug-in included in MASCHINE has its own visual representation for an intuitive control of all its parameters
Sample Editor
MASCHINE allows you to record internal or external audio signals using your audio interface without having to stop the sequencer. This is a useful feature if you want to record your own Samples, or rearrange loops that you have created yourself using MASCHINE. You can apply various types of destructive processing to the recorded audio or to any Sample you want to use in a Sound.
