How to Play Battery Kits with a Maschine Controller

When first loading Battery Kits in Maschine, it may seem like only one Pad triggers any sound. This is because Battery Kits are mapped and triggered differently than conventional Maschine Kits.

In this chapter, we will show you how to use your Maschine pads in Keyboard Mode to trigger all sounds in your Battery Kit.

1. Load a Battery Kit into Maschine by navigating to the Instruments section of the Maschine Browser.
2. Select Battery and one of the Banks, such as Battery Now Library or any Expansions you may see listed.
   
3. Press BROWSER on the Maschine controller and turn the encoder knob to select a Kit. Push the encoder in to load the Kit. Please be aware, the Maschine Mikro MK3 Browser button is labeled with a magnifying glass symbol. On all other Maschine controllers, the button is labelled BROWSER.
   
   

   Note: You can quickly view the Battery window in Maschine by pressing the TAB key on your computer keyboard. This toggles the Maschine Mixer view. The Battery GUI will display at the Maschine Sound level.

   
4. Press KEYBOARD on the MASCHINE controller. The KEYBOARD button will become illuminated when active.
5. While in KEYBOARD mode, the left-side display of the Maschine controller will show the name of the Kit and the Root Note value.
   Use the OCTAVE- / OCTAVE+ buttons displayed on the right-side display of the Maschine controller to set the Root Note of the first pad to C1.
   
   This will ensure that all Maschine Pads will correspond with the 16 Battery drum sounds.
   

   Note: On a Maschine Mikro MK3, use the Encoder Knob to dial in C1 as the Root Note.

The Battery Kit sounds can now be triggered by the Maschine controller pads.

You can use the Maschine controller to trigger sounds in Battery without using the Maschine software. This is useful when running Battery in standalone mode or in your DAW as a plug-in.

In this chapter, we will show you how to use your Maschine pads in MIDI Mode to trigger all sounds in your Battery Kit.

1. Make sure the Maschine software is not running.
2. Launch the Controller Editor software from this location of your computer:
   macOS:
   Macintosh HD > Applications > Native Instruments > Controller Editor
   Windows:
   C: > Program Files > Native Instruments > Controller Editor
3. In Controller Editor, select your Maschine controller model from the top left corner.
   
4. Use the default Template 1 by clicking it within the Templates menu. If the default Template 1 has been altered, you can also create a new Default Template from the Edit menu (select New). The new default MIDI Template will be named "Template" with a new number assigned.
   
5. Quit the Controller Editor software, once the default MIDI Template is loaded.
6. Launch the Battery software by itself, either in standalone mode or in your DAW as a plug-in.
7. Open the Battery Audio and MIDI Settings.
   

   Note: If using Battery in your DAW as a plug-in, the Audio and MIDI Settings are configured in your DAW Preferences.

   
8. In the Battery Audio and MIDI Settings, go to MIDI > Inputs and set your Maschine controller model to On. Click OK when finished.
   
9. Load a Battery Kit from the Browser.
   
10. Switch the Maschine controller into MIDI Mode.
    

    Note: See this article for instructions to switch your controller into MIDI Mode.

11. Press the Group button labelled with the letter C to set the Root Note of the first pad to MIDI note C1.
    
    

    Note: On a Maschine Mikro MK3, hold down the GROUP button and press the Maschine Pad labelled with the letter C (i.e. Pad 15).

Now the Maschine pads are transposed into the correct note-octave on the MIDI keymap, where the first pad (1) corresponds with Root Note C1 (as shown below).

If using a Battery Kit with more than 16 sounds, you can repeat this step, but select Group buttons D, E, F, G, or H to transpose up to a higher note-octave on the MIDI keymap.

The BATTERY Kit sounds can now be triggered by the Maschine pads.