Ableton Forum

Just starting to grasp Ableton and picked up an Oxygen v3 49 key midi keyboard a month ago, which I think is very good value for the money regarding the faders, knobs and sequencer/mixer track control. I am currently debating on two other pieces of hardware I am interested in ... and that is the Launchpad ... and yes, Maschine.

I like the idea of Launchpad that you can launch clips from a grid, but I also like Maschine for its drum programming, it seems to make beat making so much fun instead of this linear clicking this and that with a mouse. The thing is, I don't really have that much money and a family member said that they would be willing to buy the Launchpad for Christmas for me, but I really want another live users opinion. Maschine is a little out of my league money wise, but if it is really worth it, I guess I could start saving some cash. I just want to minimize as much mouse action as I can, you get a awesome vibe using hardware.

Thou the thing is I use Audio tracks for my drum sounds, so that kind of kills the point of the Launchpad?

I love my Launch Pad but you should save up for Maschine. Launch Pad is a controller, Masching is a whole beat making environment. I don't have Maschine (yet.) get the LP for Xmas.

Hmm, would you be able to use the LP in conjunction with Maschine, like does Maschine operate within Live so you can trigger clips?

N3H3C wrote:Hmm, would you be able to use the LP in conjunction with Maschine, like does Maschine operate within Live so you can trigger clips?

you can set up Maschine to launch clips, with the remote script that NI includes with Maschine.

and you can also set it up to play drum racks better than the launchpad, because it is velocity sensitive.

But could you use Maschine as a midi track in Ableton, to create clips so you could trigger different drum patterns?

N3H3C wrote:But could you use Maschine as a midi track in Ableton, to create clips so you could trigger different drum patterns?

Yeah but the workflow that makes it more enjoyable for me is to use Maschine standalone. You create and trigger patterns and scenes within Maschine just like Live's session view. And you can even drag Maschine's patterns as audio or midi into Live or any other DAW.

It sounds like both are pretty useful ... the thing is I guess I already have a good drum source but it can only go thru audio, so I wouldn't be able to trigger them through either ... but I can trigger them throu my m audio oxygen ... I guess at the end of the day I might have to go with the LP, any more thoughts?

I get the impression that you highly underestimate what Maschine does. you'll dig it.

my $0.02.

Your probably right, I'll get the LP for xmas and save up for the Maschine ... wow, seems like quite the setup lol