Native Instruments Maschine 1.5 Released
By Paul Dakeyne
| Posted in Music Technology
I first blogged here at DV247 about Native Instruments Maschine back in February ’09, and since then, this perfectly unified meeting of hardware and software has garnered followers, fans and users by the drove. Grooveboxes such as these require commitment and dedication from the user and Maschine, upon initial release, promised much and delivered accordingly. Following an extensive public beta test from February onwards this year, Native Instruments has today announced its own further commitment with a free version 1.5 update for existing users, and in the process the manufacturer has made Maschine even more enticing to any potential users.
The version 1.5 update brings around 50 new features to the table, including a now hefty 6Gb of production-ready sounds, Akai MPC import (program and samples) and, even better, extended DAW integration. The additional 1Gb of samples include material from studio legends Scarbee and Abbey Road studios with a new selection of sampled strings, drum kits, basses, pianos and vintage synths. Also included is a six kit sample selection of classic MPC60 sounds, from that purveyor of most excellent samples, GoldBaby.
New ‘Sampler’ features are listed by NI as:
- Program/sample import from major MPC models
- New vintage sampling modes emulating the sound of MPC60/SP-1200
- Destructive audio editing such as normalize, reverse, fade in and out, silence, cut, copy and paste
- Extended slicing options including a new split mode enabling preview and individual editing of slices
- 16 velocity levels allowing users to map a sound to the 16 pads for dynamic grooves
- Improved polyphony with choke and legato options on the sound level
- MIDI pitch bend and CC (ie mod wheel)
Native Instruments Maschine 1.5 also brings improved workflow and studio integration allowing REX2 file import and export (with drag MIDI or audio to host enhancement). Sequencing a user’s external studio gear is now easier too, with this working vice versa fashion. In addition, projects can now be saved with associated samples which will enable greater flexibility for sharing created work with fellow Maschine users.
Version 1.5 doesn’t stop there though, as new hardware shortcuts have been introduced which will give much easier navigation and mouse-free editing possibilities.
Many effects within the software have been juiced up too but one of the most important updates is the ability to group macro controls to assign any parameter to Maschine’s bank of eight knobs – ultimately this increases efficiency and control options when working with host sequencers like Ableton, Logic and Pro Tools. So, all in all, for a free update to existing users, this looks like a slam dunk from NI and no doubt Maschine owners worldwide will be busy this evening for sure!
Tags: drum machine, groovebox, Maschine 1.5, native instruments, Sampler