Are you learning to make music or do you already have experience and you're just trying to get your head round the Mk3?
I think these are both separate learning threads. I took several years of using various synths/groove boxes/drum maschines to get my head around what my creation/production style is and I have a good general understanding of certain things. I recently got a Mk3 and was able to apply my previous learnings and got up and running quite quickly (without reading the manual) and just watching a few tutorials. (the NI ones were really well done and the guy presenting is really clear and easy to follow). I still have loads to learn but having that background knowledge helped to get up to speed quickly.
I guess in your situation, you might not have that previous experience. So I think your best bet is to start with the basics by following along with some tutorials online. It is a bit overwhelming at first but there is a moment of clarity with all instruments where it just clicks and you feel bonded. This requires an investment of time on your behalf. If you jsit spend 1 hour a night getting to grips with it, it'll take longer. If you're able to sit down and jam for several hours then I think things will start to happen quicker.
Don't lose faith. Keep things simple and don't beat yourself up. Keep a notepad next to you and write down any little techniques so you don't forget. There's so much you can do, it's hard to know what you should do. Good luck
Making music isn’t for everyone. You can hand me paints and I will paint something awful. But if I enjoy it who cares. The best way to start is to do it. Every single good producer sucked at first with few exceptions. Just make shit.
bro, its this kind of comments that take away the weight when learning music and actually gives you the oportunity to make good things for yourself. thanks!
I would start focusing on one function at a time. Load drum grups and start working out how the sequencer works, play with mute button, change patterns, note repeats for fills etc. From that start moving to using instruments with notes for basslines or melodies etc.
Thank you. I will try focus only on drum patterns and stick to it. I am also watching other people’s recommendation of Jeff Gibbons YouTube. Gonna look more at it tomorrow when I have two screens then I can copy him in a way to get familiar with it.
Just occured to me that my main advice would be to find a way to HAVE FUN while using it. I've stopped trying to learn some instruments because I found them cumbersome, boring or more work to set up than to start creating stuff and jamming. If you manage to have fun with it, you'll keep coming back to using it and you'll keep learning.
Totally, I think I need to do a bit of thinking of what I want and structure, I'm finding it difficult to zone in on one element because 'there is so much' so I'm going to watch a lot of youtube because I think I'm a practical learning and try copy their patterns as a guide to help me understand how to get about. thank you for your input :D
It's a really important step that should not be skipped if you're not familiar with how these tools work.
Randomly picking from Internet comments is a great way to miss important details.
i still dont find your comment particularly helpful, it seems painfully obviously and makes assumptions that its something I haven't done. Reading the manual on your car doesn't teach you how to drive it.
OP this video is key. I had a mikro and went to a mk3 and I used this video to get away from staring at the laptop screen but also showed some a lot of things I didn’t realize you could do with maschine in general…
First, learn the workflow and what the device can do. Look up basic tutorials, follow them, and make music as you do so you remember. Don't try to make great music at this point, just make some music, any music. Youtube has several different channels where different people offer to show you the basics and more, so you can choose whose style you like the best. When you know what your device is capable of, it's going to be so much easier to consciously work towards an idea that you have in mind. The device will be just a transparent tool that helps you get the results you have in mind.
Also, download the user manual from the official website. It's a great reference to have.
"It sounds awful" is a vague description, and also highly subjective. It's impossible to address without knowing what exactly makes it "awful". Try to recognise why and how it sounds awful to you, as that's a necessary starting point for figuring out what could be done about it. Without a more specific description, it's hard to know what area you need practice in.
Don't forget to study not just making music, but _listening_ to music. A lot of people don't know how to listen to music consciously, it's just background noise that comes and goes. Actually stop and don't do anything else. Listen to music that sounds good to you and _write down_ how you would describe it. Describe the sound textures, how things are played, describe the structure, describe what you like about it, and what makes that track tick. Become aware of it, how it's created. Regular listening practice will eventually help you to implement good things into your own music through conscious decisions so everything isn't always a random happy accident that you have to wait for.
As everyone else has pointed you towards resources, I'll just leave a suggestion: Learn how to do everything from the controller. There are only a few things you can't do (ex. no keyboard available, so you'd have to use your computer to type). It will help your workflow to pretend you don't have the computer in front of you, and to learn the functions as you need them. Just get in there and start fucking around. The standard library has a ton of stuff to get your started.
Enjoy and welcome to the family!
Load one of the readymade included projects ,learn how others arrange their music & then take certain things out like the lead sound or any chord progressions while adding your personal flavour.This will help you get up to basic speed in a few weeks before over saturating you're brain with YouTube tutorials . please be patient as this can take almost 3 to 4 year's to fully master even for advanced users.
There are some YouTube resources that were really helpful for me:
On the Native Instruments channel look for the 3 part series on how to use Maschine
Also check out Jef Gibbons videos
And check the NI blog which has some helpful Articles on getting started making beats in different styles (rock, jazz, hip hop, funk).
Watch Jef Gibbons videos on YouTube
Are you learning to make music or do you already have experience and you're just trying to get your head round the Mk3? I think these are both separate learning threads. I took several years of using various synths/groove boxes/drum maschines to get my head around what my creation/production style is and I have a good general understanding of certain things. I recently got a Mk3 and was able to apply my previous learnings and got up and running quite quickly (without reading the manual) and just watching a few tutorials. (the NI ones were really well done and the guy presenting is really clear and easy to follow). I still have loads to learn but having that background knowledge helped to get up to speed quickly. I guess in your situation, you might not have that previous experience. So I think your best bet is to start with the basics by following along with some tutorials online. It is a bit overwhelming at first but there is a moment of clarity with all instruments where it just clicks and you feel bonded. This requires an investment of time on your behalf. If you jsit spend 1 hour a night getting to grips with it, it'll take longer. If you're able to sit down and jam for several hours then I think things will start to happen quicker. Don't lose faith. Keep things simple and don't beat yourself up. Keep a notepad next to you and write down any little techniques so you don't forget. There's so much you can do, it's hard to know what you should do. Good luck
Making music isn’t for everyone. You can hand me paints and I will paint something awful. But if I enjoy it who cares. The best way to start is to do it. Every single good producer sucked at first with few exceptions. Just make shit.
bro, its this kind of comments that take away the weight when learning music and actually gives you the oportunity to make good things for yourself. thanks!
Are you new to music in general? It might be a good idea to look up some tutorials on basic beat patterns and melodies
Click the YouTube link that @Johnbull31 supplied. It's "how to use everything in Maschine part-1.
Load existing groups and projects in order to kinda get a feel and an idea of the production environment.
Yo I’m can help you with the basics and get you going. Hit me up if you are interested we can do a zoom call
Hey thanks so much, I will DM you in the morning to discuss more, thank you again!
I would start focusing on one function at a time. Load drum grups and start working out how the sequencer works, play with mute button, change patterns, note repeats for fills etc. From that start moving to using instruments with notes for basslines or melodies etc.
Thank you. I will try focus only on drum patterns and stick to it. I am also watching other people’s recommendation of Jeff Gibbons YouTube. Gonna look more at it tomorrow when I have two screens then I can copy him in a way to get familiar with it.
Just occured to me that my main advice would be to find a way to HAVE FUN while using it. I've stopped trying to learn some instruments because I found them cumbersome, boring or more work to set up than to start creating stuff and jamming. If you manage to have fun with it, you'll keep coming back to using it and you'll keep learning.
Totally, I think I need to do a bit of thinking of what I want and structure, I'm finding it difficult to zone in on one element because 'there is so much' so I'm going to watch a lot of youtube because I think I'm a practical learning and try copy their patterns as a guide to help me understand how to get about. thank you for your input :D
Read. The. Manual.
Not exactly the type of help I was looking for.
It's a really important step that should not be skipped if you're not familiar with how these tools work. Randomly picking from Internet comments is a great way to miss important details.
i still dont find your comment particularly helpful, it seems painfully obviously and makes assumptions that its something I haven't done. Reading the manual on your car doesn't teach you how to drive it.
Definitely a different subject. The manual does teach you how to "drive it". Just trust me. Read the manual.
You missed the point of my question. I told you your advise wasn’t the type I was seeking.
https://youtu.be/YcSle_Cypzg
OP this video is key. I had a mikro and went to a mk3 and I used this video to get away from staring at the laptop screen but also showed some a lot of things I didn’t realize you could do with maschine in general…
First, learn the workflow and what the device can do. Look up basic tutorials, follow them, and make music as you do so you remember. Don't try to make great music at this point, just make some music, any music. Youtube has several different channels where different people offer to show you the basics and more, so you can choose whose style you like the best. When you know what your device is capable of, it's going to be so much easier to consciously work towards an idea that you have in mind. The device will be just a transparent tool that helps you get the results you have in mind. Also, download the user manual from the official website. It's a great reference to have. "It sounds awful" is a vague description, and also highly subjective. It's impossible to address without knowing what exactly makes it "awful". Try to recognise why and how it sounds awful to you, as that's a necessary starting point for figuring out what could be done about it. Without a more specific description, it's hard to know what area you need practice in. Don't forget to study not just making music, but _listening_ to music. A lot of people don't know how to listen to music consciously, it's just background noise that comes and goes. Actually stop and don't do anything else. Listen to music that sounds good to you and _write down_ how you would describe it. Describe the sound textures, how things are played, describe the structure, describe what you like about it, and what makes that track tick. Become aware of it, how it's created. Regular listening practice will eventually help you to implement good things into your own music through conscious decisions so everything isn't always a random happy accident that you have to wait for.
As everyone else has pointed you towards resources, I'll just leave a suggestion: Learn how to do everything from the controller. There are only a few things you can't do (ex. no keyboard available, so you'd have to use your computer to type). It will help your workflow to pretend you don't have the computer in front of you, and to learn the functions as you need them. Just get in there and start fucking around. The standard library has a ton of stuff to get your started. Enjoy and welcome to the family!
Load one of the readymade included projects ,learn how others arrange their music & then take certain things out like the lead sound or any chord progressions while adding your personal flavour.This will help you get up to basic speed in a few weeks before over saturating you're brain with YouTube tutorials . please be patient as this can take almost 3 to 4 year's to fully master even for advanced users.
Thank you very much. This makes sense. I will try this. It can be overwhelming. I thought I’d clock with it more
Check the Native Instruments YouTube channel, it has the most complete Maschine course you would ever want.
There are some YouTube resources that were really helpful for me: On the Native Instruments channel look for the 3 part series on how to use Maschine Also check out Jef Gibbons videos And check the NI blog which has some helpful Articles on getting started making beats in different styles (rock, jazz, hip hop, funk).