WAIT WHAT THE FUCK? MASCHINE Mk II HAS BEEN REVEALED? 
I did not see that coming at all… but are you serious? The new version of Maschine is going to come with Massive… at no extra cost? seriously? That makes me a little bit grumpy, but at least I can console myself with the knowledge that maybe I could purchase an unwanted piece of full sized maschine hardware for cheap when Mk II actually drops on september 21st. would be a nice upgrade from the mikro. 
more info is here, on the NI form, taken from guitar center page for the Mk II

WAIT WHAT THE FUCK? MASCHINE Mk II HAS BEEN REVEALED? 

did not see that coming at all… but are you serious? The new version of Maschine is going to come with Massive… at no extra cost? seriously? That makes me a little bit grumpy, but at least I can console myself with the knowledge that maybe I could purchase an unwanted piece of full sized maschine hardware for cheap when Mk II actually drops on september 21st. would be a nice upgrade from the mikro. 

more info is here, on the NI form, taken from guitar center page for the Mk II

Yours truly, with the gear. 
photo cred to Bananafish Photography

Yours truly, with the gear. 

photo cred to Bananafish Photography

arranging a track earlier today using the APC 40, and using Maschine to add more life to the drum track. For the tracks currently in the works, I have been lovingly crafting intricate drum racks, but have often found there to be a lack of motion or diversity in the percussion once the track has been arranged. I’ve been using Maschine to patch more “life” into the drum track after arrangement. I like working in stages and layers like that. It gives everything a chance to settle in the track and in my head so that I can really feel where what is and if it sits well, and lets me find where it does and doesn’t. 

I honestly think this is one the best controllers that has ever been produced. It might not be as flashy or stylish as the other Ableton controllers like the CNTRL:R or Ohm64/RGB, and lacks the extra three rows of the launchpad’s 8x8 grid, but it’s incredibly well integrated with Ableton. and LED rings?! You can’t even say no to that! Only thing I would change is make the pads “click,” like the buttons on the Kontrol X1 do. I find the APC’s buttons are a bit… shaky.
What I like about the APC40 is that I can put together a track on the fly and be able to tweak exactly what I need, when I need it. I dont like putting together tracks in the arrangement view, I like to play them and put them together based on feelings. the APC40 lets me do that.

I honestly think this is one the best controllers that has ever been produced. It might not be as flashy or stylish as the other Ableton controllers like the CNTRL:R or Ohm64/RGB, and lacks the extra three rows of the launchpad’s 8x8 grid, but it’s incredibly well integrated with Ableton. and LED rings?! You can’t even say no to that! Only thing I would change is make the pads “click,” like the buttons on the Kontrol X1 do. I find the APC’s buttons are a bit… shaky.

What I like about the APC40 is that I can put together a track on the fly and be able to tweak exactly what I need, when I need it. I dont like putting together tracks in the arrangement view, I like to play them and put them together based on feelings. the APC40 lets me do that.

Every time I use it, it begins to make just a little bit more sense. I am beginning to really love the Maschine Mikro, even though it took a little bit to get acclimated to the different workflow and layout of scenes and patterns/clips. I really got the Mikro for the step sequencer, which makes it absolutely phenomenal for live-time improvisation, but not that useful for production. I think I’m going to be using this for live sets, but last night I was experimenting with sketching out a track with Maschine as a plugin in Ableton. 
So far I haven’t used Maschine in any tracks, but it might come in hand when working on tech-house oriented tracks. By the way, I am currently working on another deep/tech house EP. Updates soon!

Every time I use it, it begins to make just a little bit more sense. I am beginning to really love the Maschine Mikro, even though it took a little bit to get acclimated to the different workflow and layout of scenes and patterns/clips. I really got the Mikro for the step sequencer, which makes it absolutely phenomenal for live-time improvisation, but not that useful for production. I think I’m going to be using this for live sets, but last night I was experimenting with sketching out a track with Maschine as a plugin in Ableton. 

So far I haven’t used Maschine in any tracks, but it might come in hand when working on tech-house oriented tracks. By the way, I am currently working on another deep/tech house EP. Updates soon!