Comments on NI's Maschine MKIII

I've been producing beats consistently for the past few years using FL Studio, and I've recently switched to using NI's Maschine MKIII and Maschine 2. I'm not exlusively using Maschine. I still go back and forth from FL to Maschine. I usually use Maschine to create, and I will master and record vocals in FL Studio. The NI sound design is superior to FL Studio's sound design, particularly, the VSTs, and I feel like I just work faster and more efficiently with Maschine. But, I'm not uninstalling FL Studio any time soon. I enjoy the visual aspect of Fruity Loops. It is an excellent DAW for beginning producers learning about music production. Being able to see a linear pattern of sound with the Parametric EQ 2 plug in allows the novice producer to actually see what they hear. Growing up, I'd always been told that acid is sort of the same way, "Yeah, dude, you see sounds and hear colors!" I'm not a big psychedelic fan, but the hours I've spent listening to a particular sound or an entire song attempting to get it impossibly perfect made me feel like I was hallucinating. Maybe staring into the laptop screen for so long strains the eyes to the point of mild hallucinations. I'm off topic. My point is that FL Studio gives the producer a visual and auditory aspect when producing. This is awesome for someone who doesn't have that much of an experienced ear and for people who want to learn more about the technical side to producing music. For example, Fruity Parametric EQ 2 shows all of the frequencies of a sound on a linear scale. With this visualization the producer can visually see that the lows contain a lower frequency number and the highs contain a higher frequency number. When you move to other DAWs with less of a visual aspect, you may remember that much of the bass remained within 20hz and about 200hz, and find it easier to tweak each sound to your preference. I use this particular plug in to help you understand the visual aspect of FL Studio, but the entire DAW has been created in this way. For me, this visuality made producing and learning way easier than if I were to jump right in to Maschine 2 or Pro Tools.

Many of the DAWs out there are more auditory oriented. This is the case with Maschine 2. I would have had a much more difficult time making music if I would have jumped right into using the MKIII. I also found that after going through the strenuous and time consuming experience of learning how to use FL Studio, transitioning into Native-Instruments was pretty much a breeze. Though, after using Maschine for about six months so far, I'm still learning. Maschine is almost flawless. The one problem I have when using maschine is live audio. I feel like my production flow would be much more efficient if I could record my lyrics right through the Maschine MKIII without having to connect my audio interface into my computer. Every time I plug in my dynamic microphone into the Maschine MKIII the software either crashes or the music becomes inaudible with crackling and distortion. Wouldn't it be perfect if Native Instruments added phantom power and an high quality audio driver directly into the MKIII!? Ah, the perfect world. . .

If I could give one tip to beginning producers it would be to learn as much as you possibly can. Watch YouTube videos, read the manual ("who the fuck reads the manual," I know), and see what you can learn from other producers and musicians you know. I had no idea what I was doing when I first bought Fruity Loops, but, if you are consistent and passionate about music, then, progress will come. Learn by producing.