Native Instruments lower barriers to beat making with MASCHINE MIKRO

Like laying down beats? I know I do. One of the classic pieces of kit for beat freaks is an Akai MPC, a wonderful machine that “got out of the way” and let you focus on machine music. Whilst it’s perfectly possible to make lots of wild and interesting music on a range of devices, lots of it intrinsically feels like hardware or software rather than a musical instrument. Native Instrument’s MASCHINE wasn’t the first set of MPC-emulating drum pads on the market but it was the first to really nail the interface – you weren’t flicking between hardware and software as much as you were immersed in a musical instrument, creating.

Native Instruments have really committed to the platform since its introduction a few years back and have rolled out significant software upgrades. Slowly but surely, Maschine has gone from a beat freaks dream to a fully fledged Digital Audio Workstation.

However the classic MASCHINE controller is far from cheap, so if you’re producing on a budget you’ll be delighted to hear that Native Instruments have release MASCHINE MIKRO an entry level groove production studio. MASCHINE MIKRO significantly reduces the size and cost of the standard controller as it uses on a single display and a dynamically assignable high-resolution master encoder. However the MASCHINE MIKRO retains the 4 x 4 matrix of bright orange (the backlighting is dynamic) pressure sensitive drum pads. As a long-time MASCHINE user I can attest to the build quality and responsiveness.

Almost as important, MASCHINE MIKRO is bundled with the full MASCHINE software so you don’t miss out on pattern-based live and step sequencing, VST and AU plug-in hosting, real-time audio recording, sample editing and advanced multi-effects.

The MIKRO version also contains the full 6 GB MASCHINE sound library (check out the vinyl kit), expandable with the series of MASCHINE EXPANSIONS, as well as the free KOMPLETE ELEMENTS sound collection.

MASCHINE MIKRO will be available in October for a suggested retail price of $399 / 349 EUR.

Additional information on MASCHINE MIKRO is available at
www.native-instruments.com/maschinemikro