What's New In Maschine 2.6, First Look Video & Full Details

Native Instruments have revealed the new Maschine 2.6 software update with a flurry of interesting additions. We've put it through its paces and found there's lots to like. Here's all the details.

This free 2.6 software update for Maschine users is literally packed with new features designed to spark the creative juices for musicians and producers. Whether you're rocking a Maschine Studio, MK1, MK2, Mikro or JAM, there truly is lots to be impressed by here. The emphasis of 2.6 is on creative features for live performance, though these new features can easily be applied to spontaneous studio production techniques too.

Let me briefly highlight 3 of my favorite features in Maschine 2.6. For all non-Maschine JAM users the Humanize and Randomize features for JAM are now enabled for other Maschine hardware. This is significant as these two seemingly minor features can provide a wealth of ways to breathe life and add subtle variation into your rhythmic patterns. 

Another major one we love is the ability to send MIDI CC from Maschine 2.6 to your hardware MIDI synthesizers. It looks like Native Instruments are pushing Maschine more and more to be the hub of your studio. MIDI CCs can be assigned from the macro area, which means they can be controlled from the hardware and can be combined with fun features like lock and can be automated as well! There's so much potential here.

And third, now Maschine JAM users can change the pitch, velocity, length, swing, and position of a note directly via the step sequencer. This means less screen gazing, more button pushing on the hardware. Always a good thing!

Here are the full and official details of all new features and their benefitis in Maschine 2.6 software from Native Instruments. Enjoy.

February 14, 2017, Berlin – Native Instruments today released a feature- packed new software update for their acclaimed MASCHINE family of music- making tools. The MASCHINE 2.6 update, free to all registered owners of MASCHINE 2 software, brings several innovative features to MASCHINE STUDIO, MASCHINE MK1 and 2, and MASCHINE MIKRO that were previously only available for MASCHINE JAM customers. It includes a suite of features that help spark creativity, add variety to tracks, and add flair to live performances. It also extends MASCHINE’s powerful workflow to external synths by introducing MIDI CC capabilities.

Watch AskAudio's Hollin Jones' first-look video of Maschine 2.6's new features:

MASCHINE 2.6 comes with a new tool to help music producers spice up their compositions. Variation Engine, now for MASCHINE STUDIO, MASCHINE MK1 and 2, and MASCHINE MIKRO, relies on two unique functions, Humanize and Randomize, to add variety and spontaneity to any programmed melody or drum pattern. First enabled on the MASCHINE JAM, Humanize shakes up the quantization on existing patterns and moves the notes to give programmed patterns the feeling of having been played naturally, loosen up a drum beat, or add swing to a melody. And to help spark new ideas or add texture, Randomize creates new patterns with random velocities and note positions.

The new MASCHINE 2.6 software update also includes tools to encourage experimentation and spontaneity. Lock, another feature previously implemented in MASCHINE JAM, makes it easy, for example, to tweak a sound’s characters, change an envelope, open a filter, or modulate any other parameter without worrying about losing their previous work. Musicians using the MASCHINE STUDIO or MASCHINE MK1 and 2 controllers can now take snapshots of the parameters and then push a button to return to their original settings. Users can create up to 64 snapshots, and with the help of Morph, blend seamlessly from one snapshot to any other snapshot, making it easy to discover new transitions.

JAM users can adjust note velocity, swing, etc on the step sequencer.

With MASCHINE 2.6, producers will now be able to send MIDI CC messages to their favorite external MIDI-enabled synths and drum machines directly from all MASCHINE hardware. MIDI CC allows performance data, like attributes and parameters, to be transmitted to the external device. This means musicians can, for example, change the tone of the kick on their favorite Roland groovebox or sweep the LFO on their beloved Korg synth as if they were software instruments.

Maschine can now send MIDI CC to external synthesizers.

This update also brings classic features standard on MASCHINE STUDIO, MASCHINE MK1 and 2, and MASCHINE MIKRO to the MASCHINE JAM. Now producers can change a note’s pitch, velocity, length, swing, and position directly from the MASCHINE JAM via the step sequencer. It’s also possible to modulate parameters, like changing reverb depth, adjusting a favorite plugin, or tuning a drum, on each step. With MASCHINE 2.6, users can also quickly adjust the velocity levels on each note in step mode by pressing any of the 16 fixed velocity levels on a dedicated grid.

UPDATE: Native Instruments has published some short videos showing how to take advantage of their latest features. Here's the videos!

Note Event editing:

Snapshots:

The Variation Engine:

16 Velocity Levels for MASCHINE JAM:

To update Maschine to version 2.6 simply launch the Native Access app, go to the Updates section and choose Maschine 2.6.

Web: www.native-instruments.com/new-in-maschine

Learn how to use Maschine and Maschine JAM in the AskAudio Academy here.

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