Future NI TRAKTOR going the live way

[Ryanmf]

I have an iPad and ableton,
What's the big deal about some colours?
Youll really have to push me to buy ni again after kore, spectral delay, pro 52 and so on.

whats the big deal with iPads? I mean, I get it, I've tried it, I just dont like it. Not as a controller.

If I could use an I pad just to scroll through presets of synths, maybe, but maybe not.

I'm a fan of hardware and touchscreen (which is pretty limited to iPad at this point but hopefully not indefinitely) controllers.

RGB LEDs reflecting the color of the clips they're assigned to is a pretty big usability win. And in some cases it just looks fucking awesome.

As an input device, a touchscreen is very limited, and the lack of any sort of tactile response is definitely a negative. But the tradeoff is the insane flexibility it affords. A while back I made this TouchOSC template for use with Maschine. It was almost completely pointless; Maschine doesn't take too well to mapping external MIDI controllers, and I never really use it, myself. But it's still awesome that I live in a time when it's even possible. In the time since I've been learning Objective-C and reading the iOS SDK documentation because I have some ideas I want to explore that require a custom app. Again, simply the fact that this stuff is possible, that you can do things like plug a class compliant USB/MIDI controller into the Camera Connection Kit and send MIDI data wirelessly to your host, that a 48-track recording station for iPad has just been announced, is mind blowing to me.

As far as NI is concerned, yeah, their track record with backwards compatibility/user support kind of sucks. I could easily see a Maschine software v2 requiring me to buy a new hardware controller, for instance. But in terms of software execution, they've been killing it lately. It's hard to reconcile, and in the future I could be burned just as badly as the Kore faithful were, but so far I've been pretty satisfied with my NI purchases.

[JuanSOLO]

well put.

I got Kore late in the game, and then they discontinued it. However, I did not feel too let down, it did some great stuff, yet it had a few hang ups that kinda stumped me for a "performance" controller. For example you could not swiftly navigate to a specific location as you could if you mapped to title bars in Live to 'blue hand' them. The idea behind the software, and performance presets is GREAT though, and again doing things I wish Live would freakin do, like recall complex arrangements of FX and instruments via program change.

I guess I am saying, I see why they stopped development, and I would hope they would sink those efforts into something new and similar, maybe Maschine? maybe something else.

I can see how a lot of people who really invested time money and effort in Kore feel burned though.

[delicioso]

I guess I am saying, I see why they stopped development, and I would hope they would sink those efforts into something new and similar, maybe Maschine?

Oh, definitely. NI has been very clear about that:

"Maschine has become one of the central products in the NI portfolio in record time, it has one of the biggest team of developers, designers and product managers behind it and a comprehensive roadmap ahead of it. The notion that it could be considered for discontinuation is just completely nonsensical.

To put some perspective on the hysteria that some people have been trying to whip up: Traktor and Kontakt have been in constant development for 10 years, and Reaktor has been maintained since 15 years now. There is no reason to believe that Maschine will not progress and grow further for at least the same amount of time."
http://www.native-instruments.com/forum ... stcount=36

Discontinuing Kore was necessary for NI to move forward:
"Excluding Kore from the future roadmap gives the developers more time for all the other products, so in that sense it makes further discontinuations less likely in the first place."

"all other current products will continue to be developed for a long time to come, with absolutely no plans to the contrary. You can take that as an official word from me."
http://www.native-instruments.com/forum ... stcount=16

The good thing is, all of those "discontinued" products still work today just as they were supposed to when they came out, even on current operating systems. And NI's past treatment of defunct products has shown that they generally maintain functionality in one form or another. B4 and Akoustic Pianos were essentially reincarnated as Kontakt soundpacks (Vintage Organs and the Piano series) and are now rolled into Komplete. Ditto Spektral Delay and Vokator, whose functionality is mimicked and exceeded by various Reaktor ensembles.

[delicioso]

Maschine's MIDI mapping capabilities are awesome when using it in MIDI mode. The dual displays on the controller that shows you the names and values of devices and parameters directly above and below the knobs and buttons alone makes it an immensely useful MIDI controller. But you're obviously talking about trying to map a MIDI controller to control Maschine's software which offers macros and otherwise very limited in that regard, which is understandable since Maschine's software was designed from the ground up to be used with its dedicated hardware controller. A generic MIDI controller is not going to touch that integration.

Exactly. My comment was made in the context of MIDI mapping capabilities within software (specifically Traktor), which has been one of my biggest annoyances with Maschine.

You're right about how much of a difference the screens make; just as a MIDI controller alone I've felt from the start that Maschine was a huge improvement over my old MPD32.

Don't know if you've seen this but here's some info on Maschine's protocol for the ins and outs of controlling the pad LEDs and putting text on the LCDs:
http://www.native-instruments.com/forum ... stcount=51

[Ryanmf]

Rad, I haven't been on the NI forums much lately, I missed that.

Thanks for the heads up.

[djadonis206]

All this software hardware integration in pretty cool. I have Maschine, an APC, and an iPad with all the neat little programs. What is interesting is that the latest track I'm working on uses Geist. My APC is unplugged and my iPad is getting used more for my text books and pdfs than anything else. My point is, for producing tracks on a computer, pointing and clicking with a mouse is still kind of where it's at. Neither my iPad nor my Maschine can split, drag, and merge an audio file. nor can they preview clips and drag and drop them into the arrange window.

With that said I'm not a laptop performer, I prefer CDJs or technics so all this integration doesn't get me moving the way it does laptop performers. However, when it comes to some initial inspiration, jams session type stuff, all this integration is a lot of fun.

[condra]

I know what you mean ^
The mouse still rules for chopping and dragging and arranging and tweaking.

Eventually though, I imagine touchscreen stuff will take over. I think a combination of tactile control and touch-screen is ideal.

I think this is the most underrated starting point for the studio of the future:

[William]

[quote="djadonis206"]All this software hardware integration in pretty cool. I have Maschine, an APC, and an iPad with all the neat little programs. What is interesting is that the latest track I'm working on uses Geist. My APC is unplugged and my iPad is getting used more for my text books and pdfs than anything else. My point is, for producing tracks on a computer, pointing and clicking with a mouse is still kind of where it's at. Neither my iPad nor my Maschine can split, drag, and merge an audio file. nor can they preview clips and drag and drop them into the arrange window.

With that said I'm not a laptop performer, I prefer CDJs or technics so all this integration doesn't get me moving the way it does laptop performers. However, when it comes to some initial inspiration, jams session type stuff, all this integration is a lot of fun.[/q

I'm with you here. Keyboard shortcuts + mouse is about as fast as it can be (for me at least!).

[Tarekith]

Ditto. In some ways I appreciate the input methods we have at our disposal, but at the end of the day none of them is as quick as just using the mouse most of the time, even though I don't prefer it.

[pencilrocket]

Ditto. In some ways I appreciate the input methods we have at our disposal, but at the end of the day none of them is as quick as just using the mouse most of the time, even though I don't prefer it.

Truth. That's why Machine is odd for a composing. They require user to do pad combination to abandon mouse click for simple task while composing.

[humnumb]

That's why Machine is odd for a composing. They require user to do pad combination to abandon mouse click for simple task while composing.

You'd be hard pressed to find a faster workflow. That's what makes it so fun to compose in. Maschine has dedicated and labeled buttons and a single SHIFT button to access clearly labeled pad functions. It's much faster to do most things with the dedicated controller. Some obvious things like selecting notes are done faster with a mouse or a trackpad. A combination of both for appropriate tasks is the way to go. The great thing about Maschine is that it's flexible enough to gives you the option to choose your preferred workflow and doesn't require you to use the mouse or even have the computer screen turned on if you don't want to.

[pencilrocket]

Interesting moving around digital DJ equipments. Will the near future be something that we no longer have to see boring pseudo DJ but genuine 'DJ' who are capable of mixing in realtime using turntable, sampler, MIDI controller and etc?

[pencilrocket]

That's why Machine is odd for a composing. They require user to do pad combination to abandon mouse click for simple task while composing.

You'd be hard pressed to find a faster workflow. That's what makes it so fun to compose in. Maschine has dedicated and labeled buttons and a single SHIFT button to access clearly labeled pad functions. It's much faster to do most things with the dedicated controller. Some obvious things like selecting notes are done faster with a mouse or a trackpad. A combination of both for appropriate tasks is the way to go. The great thing about Maschine is that it's flexible enough to gives you the option to choose your preferred workflow and doesn't require you to use the mouse or even have the computer screen turned on if you don't want to.

You don't have to compare the workflow of the daw with the workflow of toyish drum machine. They are as different as chalk and cheese You can compose and try to release a crap made within it though.

[starving student]

no tighter computer integration exist than an mpc but you know since barack obama uses one it gets hated on all the time, I guess it's too urban or something but if it had native instruments,novation or better yet electron written on the side of it it would be all the rage , it's so funny cause it's so old and still there's nothing that even comes close, and people are tearing apart everything they own including their game consoles and anything else they can get their hands on to emulate it while still hating on it it's amazing.

[lethal_pizzle]

They require user to do pad combination to abandon mouse click for simple task while composing.

That's just not true, because... well, because you can still use the mouse. Have I misintepreted what you said?

we no longer have to see boring pseudo DJ but genuine 'DJ' who are capable of mixing in realtime using turntable, sampler, MIDI controller and etc?

I think the cat is out of the bag with regards to DJs not having 'old-school' technical skills and calling themselves DJs. They'll be out there, and unless punters vote with their wallets and stop attending and drinking at clubs where they are playing, they'll get rebooked.