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To start, make sure your MASCHINE is in MIDI Mode. This gives you a whole new layer of assignable buttons, knobs and faders that you can program to control virtually anything inside TRAKTOR – called a mapping. However, MASCHINE – as with most Native Instruments controllers – has what’s called a MIDI Mode. In normal use, when controlling MASCHINE, the controller is in what’s known as Application Mode. However, Ableton Link is still a work in progress, and the timing tends to drift in tempo sync mode, so we recommend the old-school method of sending a virtual MIDI clock from TRAKTOR to MASCHINE.
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With Ableton Link, you can synchronize MASCHINE to TRAKTOR with one push of a button in each program.
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Obviously, if you want to actually do this during a set, then you’ll want to synchronise playback timing of the two applications. One of the beauties of the MASCHINE hardware is that it can be used to control both the MASCHINE and TRAKTOR software simultaneously. This tutorial refers to the MASCHINE MK3 hardware throughout, as that’s the device we are using, but the same techniques are applicable to all MASCHINE models. In this in-depth tutorial, you’ll learn how to do all of this and more, creating a custom TRAKTOR mapping for MASCHINE from scratch. And how about mapping MASCHINE’s multicolored pads to show which TRAKTOR features are active at a glance? Use Modifiers and Pages to create layers of controls, massively multiplying what your MASCHINE setup is capable of.
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You can map multiple features to one control to turbocharge your on-stage workflow and creativity. Almost any feature in TRAKTOR can be mapped, meaning that it can be controlled with MASCHINE’s pads and buttons. With the MK3 model featuring 16 RGB-backlit pads, 8 knobs with visual readout, a tactile encoder, buttons aplenty, and multiple pages of controls, there’s enough mappability here to handle all the Hotcues you can throw it at – and then some.īut back to that mapping functionality. Ever wanted to go beyond the tried-and-true “decks and mixers” control paradigm? Through the magic of mapping, anything with a MIDI output can become your new TRAKTOR controller, and there are few better blank canvases for this than MASCHINE.
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