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  • Maschine Software Manual
  • Managing Sounds, Groups, and your Project

Managing Sounds, Groups, and your Project

Abstract

Sounds, Groups, and the Master bus make up the general structure of any Maschine project. This section explains in detail how to manage these concepts.

This chapter explains how to handle the various objects that structure any Maschine Project: Sounds, Groups, and the Master.

Overview of the Sounds, Groups, and Master

In a Maschine Project, objects are organized into three hierarchic levels, from the lowest to the highest:

  • Sounds are played by the pads. They are loaded into Sound slots. In the software, in Arrange view Sound slots are displayed in the column at the left of the Pattern Editor: the Sound List (1). Each Sound of the selected Group is by default mapped to one of the 16 pads on the Maschine hardware controller, so you can play all Sounds of a Group by pressing the pads. Sounds are made up of any number of Plug-ins that process the audio in series. Sounds are the only objects in Maschine that can accept Instrument Plug-ins — these go in the Sounds’ first Plug-in slot. The type of the Plug-in (Instrument or Effect) loaded in this first Plug-in slot will define the Sound’s role (audio source or bussing point, respectively). For more information on Plug-ins and how they define the Sound’s role, please refer to section Plug-in overview.

  • Groups contain 16 Sound slots each with all their parameters. The 16 pads on your controller can play one entire Group at a time. In the software, in Arrange view Group are displayed in the column at the left of the Arranger: the Group List (2). A Maschine Project can have any number of Groups, which are organized in banks of eight Groups each. Each Group can have any number of insert effects, which will globally apply to all Sounds contained in that Group, as well as any number of Patterns organized in banks of 16 Patterns each. More on Patterns in chapter Working with Patterns and Clips.

  • The Master is the place where all signals from the Groups are being mixed together. Just like the Groups and Sounds, the Master can host any number of insert effects.

1306132908_imageref_2508163851.png

The Group List (1) and the Sound List (2) in the Arrange view of the software.

The Sound, Group, and Master channels

From an 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 audio 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.

1306132908_imageref_2508168203.png

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

Similarities and differences in handling Sounds and Groups

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

  • In each Group you always have a fixed number of Sound slots — namely 16. Some of these Sound slots might be empty, and you can have gaps in your slots (i.e. some empty Sound slots between other slots containing Sounds), depending on how you prefer to play your Sounds from your pads. You cannot create Sound slots, but instead you can load/unload Sounds to/from the 16 existing Sound slots in each Group.

  • In your Project you can have any number of Groups. You can create, fill up, and delete Groups as you see fit. If you delete a Group, all following Groups are shifted up in the Group List to fill the gap. If you use more than eight Groups, another Group bank is automatically created.

Selecting multiple Sounds or Groups

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 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.

    1306132908_imageref_1452888331.png

    The Sound Vocal AhHa is focused (and selected).

  • The selection determines what will be affected by your actions (e.g., adjusting a parameter). For example, the focused Sound (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 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 if they are not in focus.

    1306132908_imageref_1452889995.png

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

Notice

You cannot select Sounds and Groups simultaneously.

Each Group remembers its own Sound selection and focus.

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

  • If you set the focus to a Sound or Group which is not selected, both the focus and the selection are moved to this new Sound or Group.

  • If you set the focus to a Sound or Group which is already included in the current selection, the focus is moved to this new Sound or Group but the selection is preserved. This notably allows you to check the parameters of any selected Sound or Group while keeping the ability to modify parameters for the entire selection.

What is affected by the multiple selection, and how?

When multiple Sounds or multiple Groups are selected, the following changes to the focused Sound or Group will be mirrored in the other selected Sounds or Groups, respectively:

Notice

The adjustments made in the Assignment area are never mirrored in any other selected Sound/Group.

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

  • Continuous parameters (knob): the values in all selected Sounds/Groups are incremented/decremented by the same amount as the value in the focused Sound/Group. Values are clipped when they reach their range limit.

  • Discrete parameter (button or selector): the values in all selected Sounds/Groups are set to the value of the focused Sound/Group.

Managing Sounds

This section describes the global editing functions available for Sounds and Sound slots.

Sound List or Pad view

With the exception of naming Sound slots, all procedures described in the following sections are available both in the Sound List and in the Pad view. The Pad view is an alternative representation of your Sound slots that puts emphasis on their relationship with the pads on your controller.

1306132908_imageref_1452905099.png

The Pad view.

The Pad view can be shown by activating the Pad View button above the Sound List:

1306132908_imageref_1452906763.png

The Pad View button.

  • Click the Pad View button to show or hide the Pad view.

    The Pad view replaces the Sound List on the left of the Pattern Editor.

In the Pad view, each cell represents a pad on your controller and corresponds to a Sound slot in the current Group. You can select Sound slots in either the Sound List or the Pad view as you see fit, both selections are strictly equivalent.

Notice

In addition to the Sound management features described in the following sections, the Pad view provides extra settings affecting the behavior of your pads. See section Adjusting the pads for more information.

Loading Sounds

You can load a ready-made Sound from the Browser or from your operating system. The Sound can be included in the factory library of Maschine or any Expansion, but it can also be a Sound you have created yourself and saved for later use.

Auditioning Sounds

Renaming Sound slots

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 rename Sound slots to your liking.

Changing the Sound colors

You can change the color of each individual Sound in the software.

Saving Sounds

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

Copying and pasting Sounds

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

Moving Sounds

You can reorder Sounds via drag-and-drop. It can be helpful to organize your Sounds more conveniently.

Tip

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

Resetting Sound slots

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

Tip

You can select multiple Sound slots to reset them all at once. See Selecting multiple Sounds or Groups for more information.

Bouncing Sounds in place

You can bounce individual Sound slots in place. Bouncing a Sound slot will render its Pattern contents into audio. This can save CPU resources but also lets you apply further audio edits to the Sound.

Note

Bouncing Sounds in place is available only when the Arranger is in Ideas view. For more information, refer to Arranger basics.

When you bounce a Sound slot, the following happens:

  • In each Pattern playing this Sound, the note sequence of the Sound is rendered into an audio sample.

  • The Plug-ins loaded in the Sound are replaced with an Audio Plug-in.

  • The rendered samples are loaded as Takes in the Audio Plug-in, each Take being triggered by its originating Pattern.

Caution

Bouncing a Sound will also remove its MIDI events from the Clips, if any. Once it has been bounced, this Sound will remain silent in Clips. The other Sounds stay unaffected.

Note

Bouncing Sounds in place is a destructive operation. You can undo it by using the Undo command within the session. Once the Maschine application has been closed and re-opened, you cannot restore the original Sound anymore.

Bouncing Sounds in the software

To bounce a Sound in place in the software:

  1. Right-click the Sound slot in the Sound List or in the Pad view and select Bounce from the context menu.

    MAS3-SW_PatternEditor-SoundList-SoundSlotMenu-Bounce.jpg

  2. In the confirmation dialog that shows up, click Allow Once to confirm or Always Allow to confirm and prevent this dialog from reappearing. You can also click Don’t Allow to cancel the operation.

    MAS3-SW_PatternEditor-BounceConfirmationDialog.jpg

    A progress dialog appears until the bouncing is complete. While the bouncing is running, you can click Cancel to cancel the operation.

    MAS3-SW_PatternEditor-BounceProgressDialog.jpg

You can also bounce multiple Sounds at once by selecting their slots, right-clicking any of them, and clicking the Bounce entry. For more information on selecting multiple Sounds in the Group, refer to Selecting multiple Sounds or Groups.

Managing Groups

This section describes the global editing functions available for Groups.

Group menus

Many of the functions described in the following sections are available in the following two context menus:

  • The context menu of the Groups in the Group List, opened via a right-click ([Ctrl]-click on macOS) on the desired Group:

  • The context menu of the focused Group in the Pattern Editor, opened via a right-click ([Ctrl]-click on macOS) on the Group name in the top left corner of the Pattern Editor:

Both context menus are equivalent: Use either menu as you see fit.

Creating Groups

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. Groups 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:

  • As long as the last Group bank contains less than eight Groups, the new Group is created in that bank.

  • If the last bank already contains eight Groups, a new Group bank is automatically created after the existing bank(s) and the new Group is created in that new bank.

Loading Groups

You can load a ready-made Group from the Browser or from your operating system. The Group can be included in the factory library of Maschine or any Expansion, but it can also be a Group you have created yourself and saved for later use.

Renaming Groups

By default, new Groups are named Group Ax–Hx, where “x” indicates the bank number (Group A1–H1, Group A2–H2, etc.). You can rename Groups to your liking.

Changing the Group colors

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

Saving Groups

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

Copying and pasting Groups

You can copy and paste Groups in your Project.

Reordering Groups

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.

Tip

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

Deleting Groups

Deleting a Group will remove it from the Group List.

Notice

It is not possible to have a Project without any Groups: Attempting to delete the last remaining Group in a Project will reset the Group to the default values.

Exporting Maschine objects and audio

This section describes how to save single Groups or whole Projects for use in another Maschine installation, and how to export audio from various sources in your Project.

Tip

You can also export your Patterns as audio or MIDI files via drag and drop. This is described in section Exporting audio from Patterns and Exporting MIDI from Patterns.

Saving a Group with its Samples

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:

  1. Right-click (on macOS: [Ctrl]-click) the Group in the Group List left of the Arranger and select Save with Samples… from the context menu:

    1306132908_imageref_2508268299.png

    You will be presented with the Save Group with Samples panel:

    1306132908_imageref_2508295819.png

  2. In this panel, adjust the settings (see table below) and click Save to confirm or Close to cancel the operation.

Controls

Description

Group

Displays the name and location of the Group file to be created. The Samples will be put in a folder with the same name in the same location. By default, the Group file inherits the name of the Group in the Project and it will be saved in the “Groups” subfolder of your Standard User Directory (as defined in Preferences > Library > User, refer to Preferences – Default page for more information). Click the folder icon on the right to choose another name and/or path.

Delete Unused Files

Enable this checkbox to delete unused files, thereby minimizing the amount of audio data to be exported.

Notice

This command is also available from the Group menu opened by right-clicking ([Ctrl]-clicking on macOS)) the Group name above the Sound List, in the top left corner of the Pattern Editor.

Tip

You can also save your whole Project with its Samples. See section Saving a Project with its Samples.

Saving a Project 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.

  1. Choose Save Project with Samples… from the File menu or the File submenu in the Maschine menu:

    1306132908_imageref_2508303499.png

    You will be presented with the Save Project with Samples panel:

    1306132908_imageref_2508305419.png

  2. In this panel, adjust the settings (see table below) and click Save to confirm or Close to cancel the operation.

Element

Description

Project

Displays the name and location of the Project file to be created. The Samples will be put in a folder with the same name in the same location. By default, the Project file inherits the name of the Project and it will be saved in the “Projects” subfolder of your Standard User Directory (as defined in Preferences > Library > User, refer to section Preferences – Default page for more information). Click the folder icon on the right to select another name and/or path.

Delete Unused Files

Enable this checkbox to delete unused files, thereby minimizing the amount of audio data to be exported.

Tip

You can also save single Groups with their Samples. See Saving a Group with its Samples.

Exporting audio

Use the Export Audio panel in the software to export your complete song as an audio file from the Song view, or export individual Scenes or as audio files from the Ideas view.

Notice

You can also export the audio of particular Patterns via drag and drop. The audio will be exported according to the settings described here, except for the exported region, the particular Sound/Group exported, and the name of the exported audio file. Refer to Exporting audio from Patterns for more information.

The Export Audio panel is available from both the Ideas view and Song view of the Arranger:

  • In the Ideas view the Export Ideas as Audio panel can be used to export individual Scenes or all Scenes at once.

  • In the Song view, the Export Song as Audio panel can be used to export your complete Project arrangement or individual Sections of the arrangement depending on the Loop Range.

To export audio from Maschine:

  1. If the Arranger is in Song view, set the Loop Range to the region that you want to export. If you want to export the entire song, you can ignore this.

  2. Choose Export Audio… from the File menu or from the File submenu in the Maschine menu.

    1306132908_imageref_2890954635.png

    Depending on whether the Arranger is in Song view or Ideas view, you will be presented with the Export Song as Audio or Export Ideas as Audio panel, respectively (refer to picture below).

  3. Set the desired settings in the Source, Destination, and Options sections (refer to description below).

  4. At the bottom of the panel, click Export to start the export process, or Close to cancel the operation and close the panel without exporting anything.

Export Ideas as Audio / Export Song as Audio panel

The Export Ideas as Audio / Export Song as 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 Song view.

1306132908_imageref_2890952715.png

The Export Ideas as Audio panel.

The panel is split into three distinct sections: Source, Options, and Destination.

Source section

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

Element

Description

Range

Available only in the Export Song as Audio panel. The Range menu lets you define the range of the audio to be exported. The following options are available:

  • All: Exports the entire song as an audio file.

  • Loop: Exports the Loop Range as an audio file.

Scenes

Available only in the Export Ideas as Audio panel. The Scenes menu lets you select the Scene(s) to be exported. The following options are available:

  • All: Exports all Scenes as individual audio files.

  • Selected: Exports the selected Scene as an audio file.

Source

Selects what you want to export. The content of the Output list under the menu depends on your selection in the menu:

  • Master: Select this to export the Master output signal (including all Groups and Sounds and their effects) to one audio file. The Output list underneath contains only one entry: Master Output. This entry is checked and grayed out (you cannot uncheck it).

  • Group: Select this to export the output signals of specific Groups to individual audio files. The Output list underneath shows all Groups available for exporting. Empty Groups (i.e. Groups containing only empty Sound slots) are not listed. Click the checkboxes of the desired entries in the list to include/exclude the corresponding Groups. Only Groups with a checkmark will be exported.

  • Sound: Select this to export the output signals of specific Sounds to individual audio files. When this entry is selected, the Output list underneath shows all Sounds available for exporting. Empty Sound slots are not listed. The entries are organized as a tree with Groups at the root and Sounds within each Group. By default, all Groups are collapsed and all Groups and Sounds are checked. Click the little arrow left of a Group to show/hide its Sounds. Click the checkboxes of the desired entries in the list to include/exclude the corresponding Sounds. Only Sounds with a checkmark will be exported. The check box of Group entries allow you to check/uncheck all Sounds of the Group at once. If some of the Sounds only are checked in a Group, the Group is “dimmed checked.”

Options section

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

Element

Description

Normalize

Check this option to normalize your audio as it is exported, i.e. the exported audio will be brought to the highest possible level without clipping (0 dBFS).

Loop Optimize

Optimize the audio file for use as a loop:

Check Loop Optimize to keep the exact Loop Range when exporting audio. Any effect tail will be rendered into the beginning of the audio file. Additionally, the file metadata will include the tempo (in BPM) and length (in bars).

Uncheck Loop Optimize to prolong the audio file when exporting audio, for example, to keep the tail of a reverb. The end of the exported audio will always correspond to a bar division.

Split By Section

Available only in the Export Song as Audio panel. Check this option to export audio within the loop braces. If the loop spans multiple Sections, individual audio files for each Section within the selected area will be created. Please note, if you only select one Section and export, you will not gain any advantage by using this feature.

Type

Select the required audio format : uncompressed WAV or AIFF. The audio format type selected here also affects audio exported using the Audio Dragger icon available in the Pattern Editor.

Sample Rate

Select from five different sample rates for the exported audio file(s): 44100 Hz (this is the sample rate of the audio CD format), 48000 Hz, 88200 Hz, 96000 Hz, and 192000 Hz.

Bit Depth

Select from three different bit depths (or bit resolutions) for the exported audio file(s):

  • 16 Bit is the bit depth of the audio CD format.

  • 24 Bit is well suited for mastering.

  • 32 Bit float is the bit depth used internally by Maschine’s audio processing engine. Choose this setting if you plan to further process the exported audio using other high-end digital audio devices or applications that support this bit depth. This setting will allow greater headroom, however, note that the exported files will be significantly larger.

Destination section

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

Element

Description

Folder

Displays the folder on your hard disk where the exported audio file(s) will be saved. To change the destination folder, click the field and select the desired folder in the navigation dialog that opens.

Name

Displays the name of the destination audio file which by default will take the name of the Project. Click into the field if you want to rename the destination file.

Names of the exported audio files

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

  • If Master is selected in the Source menu the audio file will be named as follows:[Project name] - [BPM].wav/aiff

  • If Group is selected in the Source menu the audio files will be named as follows:[Project name] - [Group order number] [Group index (letter + number)] [Group name] - [BPM].wav/aiffThe Group order number is a two-digit number indicating the “order of appearance” of the Group in the Group List. This ensures that an alphabetical listing of the exported files will reflect the structure of your Project.

  • If Sound is selected in the Source menu the audio files will be named as follows:[Project name] - [Sound name] - [BPM].wav/aiff

Notice

In addition, if the name of the file about to be exported is already used in the destination folder, a hyphen followed by an index number is added to the name (e.g., “ - 1,” “ - 2,” “ - 3,”) to avoid any file being overwritten.

Importing third-party file formats

Loading REX files into Sound slots

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

Notice

Only REX2 files are currently supported.

  • The Samples are loaded into the Sound slot. A new Pattern is created in that Group and directly loaded in the Pattern Editor (switch the Pattern Editor to Keyboard view to better see the Pattern — see section Group view and Keyboard view). This Pattern contains the sequence data of the REX file. For each REX file you import a Pattern will be created and added.

1306132908_imageref_1452997259.png

A REX file loaded in the first Sound slot.

Importing MPC Programs to Groups

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.

MPC parameter

MPC500, 1000, 2500

MPC4000

MPC2000 (XL)

MPC3000

Maschine parameter

Sample Name

x

x

x

x

Sample Name

Play Mode

x

x

−

−

Playback Type (ADSR, One-shot, AHD)

Sample Level

x

x

−

−

Zone Level

Sample Pan

−

x

−

−

Zone Pan

Range Lower/Higher

x

x

−

−

High/Low Key

Tuning

x

x

x

x

Tune

Attack

x

x

x

x

Attack

Decay

x

x

x

x

Decay

Voice Overlap

x

−

x

x

Polyphony

Filter1 Type

x

−

−

−

Filter Type

Filter1 Frequency

x

−

x

x

Filter Cutoff

Filter1 Resonance

x

−

x

x

Filter Resonance

Filter1 Velocity to Frequency

x

−

−

−

Velocity Cutoff

Mixer Level

x

x

x

x

Track Level

Mixer Pan

x

−

x

x

Track Pan

Velocity to Level

x

−

−

−

Velocity to Volume

Mute Group

x

−

−

−

Choke Group

Importing MPC Program files

  1. To import an MPC Program file, open the Browser in the Maschine software and click the Files tab.

  2. Navigate to the MPC Program file you want to import and double-click it. You will be prompted with the MPC Import panel:

    1306132908_imageref_1452999947.png

  3. In the Input section of the panel, select one of the import options (refer to table below).

  4. Click OK to start the import procedure or Cancel to close the panel without importing anything.

Control

Description

Import All Banks

Select this to import all Banks of the MPC Program file. Each Bank will be loaded into a separate Group.

Import One Bank

Select this if you only want to import a single Bank. Use the drop-down menu to the right to select which Bank you want to import. The list below shows you a preview of the sounds in the selected MPC Bank.