Native Instruments has released their Maschine Production Studio, and this thing looks AWESOME. While it’s true that a lot of functionality found in this incredibly versatile device already exists in other great systems- DAWs, Midi Controllers, Sequencers, and DJ controllers – the Maschine stands out because of how cleanly it straddles all those categories.

The NI team is no slouch when it comes to music production software – Reaktor, Kotakt, etc. are all massive powerhouses in production.  So it honestly doesn’t surprise me that NI has released a unit like this.

I’ll leave most of the specs, etc for the video/other blogs, and get down to what really excites me.  This unit could fit well into any number of studio setups.  The hardware/software instantly adds massive functionality to the simplest midi-keyboad, allows for fine-tuned control of beat production within AU, VST, and RTAS hosts, and even fill in for gigs.

It’s basically a unit that has the potential to fills lots of gaps in existing setups.  If you’re working in Pro Tools, then Maschine will help you slice beats and sequence loops like an Ableton pro. If you’ve got an 88-key midi control with no knobs or pads, Maschine can add MPC-like controls to your hardware controller.  If you want to open up live performance and control your tracks at the loop level (a la Ableton’s Drum Racks) then Maschine sub nicely for some other more sophisticated units.

Like other NI products, Maschine isn’t cheap, but it sure seems to deliver.  If you’ve got a full midi-production suite… then maybe adding maschine is a bit superfluous.  But for a lot of home/project studios there’s always a list of hardware and software holes left to be filled.  Definitely worth checking it out and seeing if Maschine is a good fit.

P.S. You might also want to check out the Ohm, monome, or torq controllers.  They’re all a bit different, but are worth getting your hands on for a test-drive.

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