These examples are complete productions constructed within Maschine. The first thing I did was explore some of the NI factory projects to get a feel for what Maschine can do.

Above the main pads are twin displays and a strip of eight knobs and buttons which make up the main user interface.

The buttons and pads are all made of translucent hard rubber, similar to those on Korg's Pad Kontrol, and can all light up. The controller is sturdy, constructed mostly from plastic, with a matt‑black metal front panel. Nearly all operations from this point can be performed from the hardware. You can then launch the stand‑alone app or insert the plug‑in into your DAW of choice. Installation is via a single DVD for the software and library, and a USB cable for the controller. The Maschine software, with Scene manager at the top, device controls in the centre, and pattern/sequence/sample editor at the bottom. The workflow and feature set have also been finely honed, although with some notable exceptions that promise to be addressed later this year.

Although the hardware has no sound‑generating capability on its own, the tight integration with the plug‑in gives a similar feel to using a stand‑alone hardware device. With Maschine, NI wanted to take the tactile, free‑flowing production style of hardware instruments like Akai's MPCs and add the benefits of the computer‑based music studio, and they've largely succeeded. The software element runs as a stand‑alone application or as an AU/VST/RTAS plug‑in, while the hardware is a controller for the Maschine software, and also functions as a general‑purpose MIDI controller. Maschine is a beat-production workstation with built‑in drum sequencing, sampling and loop slicing, and is the latest result of NI's initiative to build hybrid hardware and software instruments.

NI's hybrid hardware and software beat machine promises the best of both worlds.

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