Managing Sounds, Groups, and Your Project

From a routing point of view, each Sound, each Group, and the Master represents a distinct channel in Maschine. The channels of the 16 Sounds in a Group are mixed together and sent to the Group channel, where their sum will be processed by the Group’s Plug-ins, if any. Similarly, the channels of all Groups in your Project are mixed together and sent to the Master channel, where their sum will be processed by the Master’s Plug-ins, if any. The resulting signal is sent to Maschine’s outputs.

Each channel provides various set of Channel properties that adjust the input, output, groove, and Macro Control settings for that particular Sound, Group, or for the Master, independently of the Plug-ins it contains. Please refer to chapter Audio Routing, Remote Control, and Macro Controls and section Groove for more details on these.

When the software is in Mix view, Sounds, Groups, and the Master are represented by channel strips in the Mixer. This view provides you with an intuitive control on both the audio and MIDI routings of any Sound, Group, and the Master. Please refer to section The Mixer for more information.

The Mixer displaying the channel strips for all Sounds in a Group.

Sounds and Groups are handled in very similar ways — see section Managing Sounds and Managing Groups below for all details. We list here the main differences between both:

In Maschine you can select multiple Sounds or multiple Groups at once. This notably allows you to change a parameter value for all selected Sounds/Groups at a time!

To achieve this, Maschine distinguishes the “focus” from the “selection”:

The Sound Vocal AhHa is focused (and selected).

• The focus determines what is displayed in the Control area and on your controller. For example, by clicking a Sound in the Sound List you are putting the focus on that Sound, and the Control area and your controller will display its parameters (Channel properties, Plug-ins, etc.). For the focus, the following rule applies:At each level (Sound and Group) there is always one object, and only one, in focus.The focused object is highlighted in the Sound/Group List, and the background of its leading letter and/or number has the color of the object itself.

• The selection, on the other hand, determines what will be affected by your actions (e.g., adjusting a parameter). For example, the focused Sound (i.e. the one you clicked in the Sound List) is implicitly selected — nothing special here: This just means that the Sound whose parameters are currently displayed will be indeed affected by the changes you do on these parameters. But you can select additional objects on top of the focused object, thereby extending your selection. Selected objects are highlighted in the Sound/Group List but their leading letter and/or number stays gray.

Other Sounds were added to the selection (but they are not focused).

More precisely, if a Group or a Sound is currently focused, you can additionally select other Groups or Sounds, respectively. These will be also affected by your edits on the focused Group or Sound.

Each Group remembers its own Sound selection and focus.

When setting the focus to a new Sound or Group, following rules apply:

What Is Affected by the Multiple Selection, and How?

When multiple Sounds or multiple Groups are selected, any change in the following settings of the focused Sound/Group will be mirrored in the other selected Sounds/Groups, respectively:

Furthermore, the exact influence on the equivalent parameter in the affected Sounds/Groups depends on the type of parameter:

Selecting Multiple Sounds/Groups in the Software

To select multiple Sounds or multiple Groups in the Maschine software, simply use the common keyboard shortcuts of your operating system: in the Sound List or the Pad view for Sounds, and in the Group List for Groups. Following actions are available:

The shortcuts mentioned in the table above are valid in following areas of the Maschine window:

Selecting Multiple Sounds/Groups

To select multiple Sounds or Groups via the Select mode:

• Press and hold SELECT to enter Select mode. You can also press SELECT + Button 1 to pin this mode and make it permanent.

  You are ready to select more than one Sound or Group.

Selecting Sounds and Groups via the Select mode

You have the following selection tools at your disposal:

Selection Tool	Description
Pads	Press any pad to set the focus to that particular Sound slot. The pad lights up to indicate that the Sound slot is focused (and selected). Unlit pads indicate unselected, empty Sound slots, and half-lit pads indicate unselected Sounds. The selection behavior depends on the state of the MULTI option (Button 8, refer to below).
Group buttons A–H	Press any Group button to set the focus to that particular Group in the current Group bank. The button lights up to indicate that the Group is focused (and selected). Unlit Group buttons cannot be pressed (they don’t correspond to any existing Group), and half-lit Group buttons indicate unselected Groups. The selection behavior depends on the state of the MULTI option (Button 8, refer to below).
Button 3/4 (PREV/NEXT)	Selects the previous/next Group bank.
Button 5 (ALL)	Selects all Sounds in the current Group without changing the focus.
Button 6 (NONE)	Deselects all Sounds in the current Group except the focused Sound.
Button 8 (MULTI)	Activated/deactivates the multiple selection mode. Toggling this option does nothing to the current focus nor selection but changes the behavior of the selection process, refer to below.

The MULTI option (Button 8) switches between single and multiple selections:

• When MULTI is deactivated (Button 8 off):

  • Pressing the Group button/pad of an unselected Group/Sound sets the focus to that Group/Sound and clears the current Group/Sound selection (only the focused Group/Sound is then selected). The Group button/pad lights up.

  • Pressing the Group button/pad of a selected Group/Sound only sets the focus to that Group/Sound without changing the current Group/Sound selection. The Group button/pad stays fully lit.

• When MULTI is activated (Button 8 on):

  • Pressing the Group button/pad of an unselected Group/Sound adds it to the current Group/Sound selection without changing the current focus. The Group button/pad lights up.

  • Pressing the Group button/pad of a selected Group/Sound unselects it unless it is the focused Group/Sound. The Group button turns half-lit; the pad turns half-lit (if it contains a Sound) or off (if it is empty).

You can load a readymade Sound from the Browser or from your operating system. The Sound can be included in the Maschine Library or any EXPANSION PACK but it can also be a Sound you have created yourself and saved for later use.

You have many methods at your disposal to load a Sound:

By default, Sound slots are named Sound 1–16. If you load a Sound, a Plug-in preset or a Sample (e.g., from the Browser) into the Sound slot, the Sound slot takes the Sound’s, preset’s or Sample’s name.

You can also rename Sound slots manually. Naming is only available from within the software, but any changes will also show up on your controller.

To rename a Sound slot:

You can change the color of each individual Sound in the software. To do this:

Editing Multiple Sounds

You can apply the following commands to multiple selections of Sounds:

These commands are available in the Sounds’ context menu.

Notes on Changing the Color of Multiple Sounds

When opening the Color Palette (in order to set a new color setting for the selected Sounds):

When you select a new color setting from the Color Palette it is applied to all selected Sounds.

You can save your Sounds as individual files (extension “.mxsnd”). This can be only done in the software.

Saving Your Modifications into the Original Sound File

If you have made changes to a Sound loaded in your Project, you can save your modifications as follows:

You cannot save changes to factory files as these files are read-only. If you run the Save command on a factory file, it automatically turns into the Save As… command: a Save Sound dialog opens and lets you save your modified Sound to your user library. Refer to the next paragraph for more details. The same happens with Sounds you have built from scratch.

Saving Your Modified Sound as a New Sound

If you want to save modifications you have made on a Sound originating from a factory library, or if you don’t want to overwrite the original Sound with your modified version, or if there is no original version of your Sound (i.e. you built it from scratch), you can save it as a new Sound file:

A Save Sound dialog appears. By default, the Sound file inherits the name of its Sound slot and it will be saved in your Standard User Directory (as defined in Preferences > Library > User, refer to section Preferences – Default Page for more information).

The Sound will be added to the user library and is ready to be tagged in the Browser. Refer to Editing the Files’ Tags and Properties.

Saving your Sound with Samples

You can save your Sounds with samples. This is very useful if you want to save Sounds for use in other projects or share Sounds with samples files with other Maschine users. It can also be beneficial to save Sounds with samples when creating instruments using the Auto Sampler. Refer to Auto Sampler.

To save a Sound with its samples:

A Save Sound dialog appears. By default, the Sound file inherits the name of its Sound slot and it will be saved in your Standard User Directory (as defined in Preferences > Library > User, refer to section Preferences – Default Page for more information).

The Sound will be added to the user library and is ready to be tagged in the Browser. Refer to Editing the Files’ Tags and Properties.

You can copy and paste Sounds across Sound slots (and thereby across pads) and Groups in your Project.

You can reorder Sounds via drag-and-drop in the software. It can be helpful to organize your Sounds more conveniently. Notably, this allows you to move your Sounds to other pads, and create a Group that is easier to play from the pads.

To move one or more Sounds:

You can also drag Sounds to another Group in the Group List of the Arranger: The Sounds will be inserted in the first empty Sound slots of that Group, and that Group will automatically get the focus. However, in that case the Pattern content of the Sounds won’t be moved.

Resetting a Sound slot will remove the Sound it contains and put all its settings (Channel properties, name, color…) back to their default values.

• To reset a Sound slot, select it in the Sound List or in the Pad view and press [Del] on your computer keyboard, or right-click (on macOS: [Ctrl]-click) the Sound slot and choose Reset from the context menu.

  The content of the Sound slot is removed and the Sound slot is reset to its default settings and name.

Resetting a Sound slot.

Creating a Group will add a new empty Group at the end of the Group List. You can then fill this Group with the Sounds of your choice.

Automatic Group Bank Management

In Maschine Group banks are managed automatically, so that you don’t have to create or delete them manually. Group are always adjacent in the Group List: you cannot have any gap in the Group List — nor in any Group bank. When you create a new Group, the following happens:

You can load a readymade Group from the Browser or from your operating system. The Group can be included in the Maschine Library or any EXPANSION PACK but it can also be a Group you have created yourself and saved for later use.

By default, new Groups are named Group Ax–Hx, “x” indicating the bank number (Group A1–H1, Group A2–H2, etc.).

You can rename Groups as you see fit. Naming is only available from within the software, but any changes will also show up on your controller.

Group renaming is performed like Sound renaming:

You can change the color of each individual Group in the software. To do this:

You can save your Groups as individual files (extension “.mxgrp”). This can be only done in the software.

Saving Your Modifications into the Original Group File

If you have made changes to a Group loaded in your Project, you can save your modifications as follows:

You cannot save changes to factory files — these files are read-only. If you run the Save command on a factory file, it automatically turns into the Save As… command: a Save Group dialog opens and lets you save your modified Group to your user library. See next paragraph for more details. The same happens with Groups you have built from scratch.

Saving Your Modified Group as a New Group

If you want to save modifications you have made on a Group originating from a factory library, or if you don’t want to overwrite the original Group with your modified version, or if there is no original version of your Group (i.e. you built it from scratch), you can save it as a new Group file:

The Group will be added to the Library and is ready to be tagged in the Browser — see section Editing the Files’ Tags and Properties for more information on this.

You can copy and paste Groups in your Project.

You can reorder Groups via drag-and-drop in the Ideas view or Song view of the software. For convenience it can be helpful to organize your Groups.

Reordering Groups is performed like reordering Sounds:

Deleting a Group will remove it from the Group List.

Tip

You can select multiple Groups to delete them all at once! See Selecting Multiple Sounds or Groups for more information.

• To delete a Group, select it in the Group List and press [Del] on your computer keyboard. You can also right-click (on macOS: [Ctrl]-click) the Group in the Group List or the Group name in the top left corner of the Pattern Editor and choose Delete from the context menu.

  The Group is removed. All following Group are shifted up in the Group List to fill the gap. If the last Group bank is empty after the Groups have been shifted, the bank is deleted.

Deleting a Group.

Sometimes it is useful to have the ability to save a Group with its Samples outside of the Maschine Library. If you want to take a Group to another studio or if you want to backup or share a custom drum kit with all the related files, this comes in handy.

To save a Group with its Samples:

Sometimes it is useful to have the ability to save all Samples used in your Project outside of the Maschine Library. If you want to take a Project to another studio or if you want to backup a production with all the related files, this comes in handy.

Use the Export Audio panel in the software to export as your complete arrangement as audio from the Song view, or render individual Scenes or Sections as audio files in from the Ideas view.

The Export Audio panel is available from both the Ideas view and Arrangement view. In the Ideas view the Export Audio panel can be used to export individual Scenes, or all Scenes at once.

In the Song view, the Export Audio panel can be used to export your complete Project arrangement or individual Sections of the arrangement depending on the Loop range. The exact length of the exported audio file depends on the Loop Optimize setting in the Options section (refer to description below).

The Export Audio panel also contains options that allow you to select the source you want to export such as the Master, Groups, or Sounds.

To export audio from Maschine:

Export Scenes/Arrangement as Audio Panel

The Export Audio panel allows you to select the source and destination as well as make various settings for the audio you want to export from the Ideas view or Arrangement view.

The Export Scenes as Audio panel.

The following parameters are available in the Export Audio panel, which is split into three distinct sections: Source, Options, and Destination.

Source Section

The Source section allows you to define exactly what will be exported.

Options Section

The Options section allows you to make settings related to the quality of the audio export.

Destination Section

The Destination section allows you to define where to save your audio and how it is named.

Names of the Exported Audio Files

The exported audio files are named according to the following rules:

Maschine supports REX (ReCycle) files to be loaded. REX files are loops that are already sliced and mapped to MIDI notes.

A REX file loaded in the first Sound slot.

Maschine allows you to import Drum program files (.PGM and .AKP) from the Akai MPC series to Groups. Supported models include the MPC4000, MPC3000, MPC2000, MPC500, MPC1000 and the MPC2500.

Supported Parameters from MPC Programs

Since Maschine has a different approach to handling and naming parameters, please refer to this list to find out how MPC Program settings are being translated into Maschine settings.

Importing MPC Program Files