Buying A Controller

[Dragonbreath]

Dont know much about maschine looks very well made,

Good to know from someone whos tried it all whats what.
The only things that impressed me on the axiom was the pads...
the rest is pretty pretty much rubbish,... especially the knobs

Its the total opposite for the mpk Everything is good on it especially the knobs and faders... expect the pads... there dubs... not expressive..
Thats why I bought the trigger finger. (was gonna go for pad kontrol but I got a good deal on a used trigger finger)

[ark]

Can't answer with too much depth on the other questions, but that huge gridded beast is a monome - it's like a home-brew, massively customisable, rather complicated midi-controller.

Actually, it's not a MIDI controller.

Technically speaking, it uses an FTDI chip to communicate via its own protocol over USB, emulating a serial port. It then talks to its own little server called serialosc, which converts the Monome protocol to OSC protocol. There's an older server called monomeserial that is also capable of talking MIDI, but that's being phased out. Instead, if you want your Monome to speak MIDI, you should use an application suite written in Max (the same Max that powers Max for Live) called monomebase that converts OSC to MIDI.

In other words, using a Monome as a MIDI device is possible, but it's a little fiddly.

[Cezband]

rather complicated

Actually, it's not a MIDI controller.
Technically speaking, it uses an FTDI chip to communicate via its own protocol over USB, emulating a serial port. It then talks to its own little server called serialosc, which converts the Monome protocol to OSC protocol. There's an older server called monomeserial that is also capable of talking MIDI, but that's being phased out. Instead, if you want your Monome to speak MIDI, you should use an application suite written in Max (the same Max that powers Max for Live) called monomebase that converts OSC to MIDI.

In other words, using a Monome as a MIDI device is possible, but it's a little fiddly.

I assumed that the poster who asked about it was looking at it in the midi-controller sense, as opposed to anything else. But you definitely know more about the darn thing than I do - cheers for the extra info!

[runningonbravado]

PS: Where do get the thing above?.

monome.org, but there's only 10 of the one in the picture in existence and they pretty much say on the site that they'll never make them again.

[3dot...]

you need to build it...

[humnumb]

I'm actually starting to wonder if Maschine is worth it. It does seem to have largest array of drumkits, and does seem to have a good sequencer. But, the controller is only 4x4 and not velocity sensitive (neither is the APC40 btw).

Wrong. Maschine's pads are velocity sensitive and about the best pad controller there is.

But, at the end of the day, how much better is Maschine's drum sequencer than Ableton's? I'm starting to think that people overate Maschine as an instrument just because it has the best sounds and some already made loops. You could easily import all the sounds in to Simpler and sequence inside Ableton.

It's not about the sound library at all. Maschine is all about the workflow.

[sequentek]

apc40 + hanz script or maxforlive mark's step sequencer.
apc40 knobs can be assigned to anything in ableton.
if only step seq is required then go with cheaper apc20 or launchpad.

[Cool Character]

Ugh, lust.

[alyessamoore]

Nice post, I got knowledgeable information from this..
Thanks for sharing friend.

[Syncretia]

I ended up buying the APC 40. To be honest, it's now sitting there gathering dust. Not so much because there's anything wrong with it, it's just that it won't really help you with composing - it's more for performing. Out of the box, it doesn't come with any step sequencing functionality. I did end up downlowing a remote script called APC40-60 which is fantastic. But, other than that, I would really have to buy Max For Live to get the most out of the APC40.

Anyway, I still haven't played with the Maschine controller but I have a suspicion that for what I wanted to do, it would have been better. To clear this up, yes it is velocity sensitive which is something that the APC40 is not. However, I'm still very reluctant to use Maschine for the simple reason that NI have tied software to hardware which forces you to use their hardware with their software. I'd still like to know what is so fantastic about Maschine, but I can tell you one thing - their support is garbage. The user forum is the only place to get info. The support team are rude #$@#$s. Ableton has been great though.

[delicioso]

However, I'm still very reluctant to use Maschine for the simple reason that NI have tied software to hardware which forces you to use their hardware with their software.

Wrong. I don't know where you got that idea but Maschine doesn't force you to use the hardware with the software. The software runs fine by itself, although it would be crazy not to use the Maschine hardware.

I'd still like to know what is so fantastic about Maschine

The level of mouse-free hands-on control and workflow that nothing else comes close to, for starters.

but I can tell you one thing - their support is garbage. The user forum is the only place to get info. The support team are rude #$@#$s.

I've only had very good experiences with NI's support so can't agree with you there either.

[skatr2]

I would probably recommend the APC40 out of the lot. You said you don't want another drum type controller to beat...so that kind of eliminates the need for maschine(though I recognize its got MUCH more function than just that). Get the APC40 with this remote script: http://remotescripts.blogspot.com/p/apc-64-40.html and it will do exactly what you need it to with little to fiddle with.

[skatr2]

I ended up buying the APC 40. To be honest, it's now sitting there gathering dust. Not so much because there's anything wrong with it, it's just that it won't really help you with composing - it's more for performing. Out of the box, it doesn't come with any step sequencing functionality. I did end up downlowing a remote script called APC40-60 which is fantastic. But, other than that, I would really have to buy Max For Live to get the most out of the APC40.

Anyway, I still haven't played with the Maschine controller but I have a suspicion that for what I wanted to do, it would have been better. To clear this up, yes it is velocity sensitive which is something that the APC40 is not. However, I'm still very reluctant to use Maschine for the simple reason that NI have tied software to hardware which forces you to use their hardware with their software. I'd still like to know what is so fantastic about Maschine, but I can tell you one thing - their support is garbage. The user forum is the only place to get info. The support team are rude #$@#$s. Ableton has been great though.

Just saw this response and I have to say you need to work through Hanz's script. It is truly phenomenal and should never leave the APC collecting dust. Not just used on drums....but can be utilized on any synth ya have. Easily a huge workhorse if used properly.

[Warrior Bob]

I ended up buying the APC 40. To be honest, it's now sitting there gathering dust. Not so much because there's anything wrong with it, it's just that it won't really help you with composing - it's more for performing.

The "P" in "APC" does stand for "Performance."

That said, I use a Launchpad at home, whose grid offers very similar functionality, and I must say that it's become a useful tool for composition, albeit in a simple way - I like to start composing through the session view, and having a nice trigger controller like that makes it easy to start trying out different ideas together. Even in the arrangement view, I'll still occasionally try out some other loop over the material I'm working on.

It's a very "try lots of things" approach, but I'm liking how it's working out for me.

[glitchrock-buddha]

However, I'm still very reluctant to use Maschine for the simple reason that NI have tied software to hardware which forces you to use their hardware with their software. I'd still like to know what is so fantastic about Maschine, but I can tell you one thing - their support is garbage. The user forum is the only place to get info. The support team are rude #$@#$s.

You can use the Maschine software on it's own without the hardware and you can use the hardware as a generic midi controller without the software. I don't know where you get these ideas, but you seem to be making them up.

It's too bad you had a bad experience with their support staff. I've generally found them to be pretty good but I'm sure there are some good and bad staff there. But the user forum is an excellent resource. It's very active and many people are using it so it's easy to get help.

It's fantastic because of the software and hardware integration - plug in and go, no set up. But if you only want a controller and don't want to use the software, I'm not sure Maschine is worth the cost. But it's certainly worth the cost if used to it's full potential.

But if your looking for something more for using with ableton in the composition, sounds like you want a step sequencer. Maybe look at getting an ipad, along with touchable and griid? Then you'd have the clip navigation and also sequencing input. I still like the APC40 myself as well because of the physical control.