GETTING STARTED WITH MASCHINE MIKRO

Welcome to the MASCHINE MIKRO Quickstart Guide.

You will learn the essential workflows for making music with MASCHINE MIKRO. If you have some experience already, feel free to jump around. For beginners, we recommend spending some time reading through this guide.

16 PADS

Each of the pads can trigger Sounds, but they also give quick access to Groups and various helpful features like Undo and Quantize, if you hold down SHIFT.

INPUT MODE BUTTONS

Switch between different input behaviors of the Pads: Drum, play melodies, trigger chords or step-sequence. The active mode is indicated by the lit button.

TRANSPORT CONTROLS

Dedicated buttons to record and control playback, and to engage the metronome. Use Shift for quick access to deeper features and fine-tuning when using the Encoder.

SMART STRIP CONTROLS

The buttons select the feature controlled by the dual-touch Smart Strip: Pitch Bend, Modulation, Perform FX and Notes, which enables strumming of scales and chords

BROWSE BUTTON

Cycle through the results list of the MASCHINE browser to quickly switch between kits, presets and sounds without stopping the music.

MULTI-FUNCTIONAL PUSH ENCODER

Dial in various parameters, depending on the selected mode (indicated by the brightly-lit button). Use in combination with arrow buttons to skip through pages.

GROOVE BUILDING TOOLS

Quick access to tempo, tune/pitch, swing, and volume - try turning the encoder while pressing and holding a pad.

GROUP BUTTON

Press and hold to access your Groups, represented by the upper 8 pads. Groups are stored in Banks, which are accessible via the lower 8 Pads.

NOTE REPEAT

Press and hold to rhythmically trigger all pressed Pads: create drum rolls in Pad Mode and arpeggios in Keyboard and Chords mode.

MODE BUTTONS

Toggle various modes for interacting with your track: switch Patterns, select Events, and Mute and Solo your Sounds and Groups.

SAMPLING MODE

Record your own sounds, create audio loops and edit samples in the software.

PLUG-IN MODE

Control all the parameters of the selected Sound and access effects using the Encoder.

SETUP CHECKLIST

Before you begin, make sure everything is set up and ready to go.

Using Native Access, download and install the MASCHINE software and library on your computer. If you have not installed Native Access, go here.

Ensure your MASCHINE MIKRO controller is connected to your computer using the USB cable provided.

Run the MASCHINE software. Mind that on first launch, it will take some time to set up the library. If MASCHINE doesn’t start, please head over to the Support section.

Understanding Maschine

The basic elements of any MASCHINE project are Sounds. They represent a single instrument, such as a kick, a snare, a synth, but also a sample or an audio loop. A set of 16 Sounds is called a Group – a perfect example of a Group is a drum kit. Each of the 16 Sounds within a Group can be triggered live using the pads or sequenced from a Pattern. For each group, the notes you record and program are stored in Patterns: They are the building blocks of your MASCHINE project.

Software and Controller Working Together

Everything you see on the Maschine Mikro controller is mirrored in the MASCHINE software. The 16 pads represent the Sounds of the current Group, with number 1 located in the bottom left corner. In the software, the same Sounds are represented in a vertical list next to the sequencer. If you hit any pad, the corresponding Sound is selected.

If you’re not hearing anything yet, that’s because you haven’t loaded a Sound. Go to the next page and find out how load a drum kit.

NEXT: START MAKING A BEAT