How to Use Maschine as a Multi-Effects Host in Ableton Live

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You may be familiar with Maschine’s extensive beat creation capabilities, but did you know that it can be used as a robust effects processor as well? Dubspot contributor Computo discusses some of the options…

We normally think of Maschine as a plug-in instrument, but you can also use it as an effects host in a DAW. This allows you to use all of its built-in effects as well as any third-party AU/VST plug-ins in combination, while also taking advantage of its powerful looping and automation capabilities to create some unique pattern-based effects. Let’s look at how to set this up in Ableton Live.

Setting Up The Maschine

Load the Maschine VST onto an instrument track in Ableton by dragging it from your plug-ins column to a MIDI track.  Once you have the Maschine interface open on screen, select Sound 1 on Group A.  Click on the drop-arrow shown on the first “Module” tab for Sound 1, and select “Input.” In the Input Settings, you will see a Level knob as well as a Source selector.  Select “Ext 1” from the source menu and you will be able to send any audio signal from through Maschine and its effects. “Big deal,” you say?  Well, here’s where it gets interesting.

With this setup, we now have access to all of the pattern-recording features in Maschine.  The patterns allow us to create loops of notes, or loops of automation. This means we can now create patterns without loading any sounds, so we can create loops consisting solely of effects automation. Let’s try this and see how it works by passing some audio from another track in Ableton through the Maschine effects.

To do this, first we need to create a new audio track in Ableton, drag an audio loop onto it that we can experiment with, then click in its Track Output to change the audio destination to the track hosting Maschine:

Now any audio we play from track “2  Audio” will be sent to the MIDI track hosting Maschine instead of going straight to the Master Output as it usually would.

Automating Effects in Maschine

Now let’s insert an effect in Maschine. In Sound 1, click on the drop-arrow on the Module 2 tab and  select “Grain Stretch.”

Now hit play on your loop to start Ableton’s transport moving and start the audio playing. You should be able to hear the effect of the Grain Stretch on the sound as you move the controls. To record effects automation as the audio passes through Maschine, hold the “Auto Write” button on the Maschine controller and turn the knobs on the “Grain Stretch” (or click and drag on the outer ring of any knob).  There should now be automation data recorded below the note matrix in the pattern section of Maschine (see image below). As the automated parameters change over time, you should hear the audio effects shift and loop as the pattern plays.

One of the best things about working this way in Maschine is that you can use all of Maschine’s pattern and note controls to trigger and shape the sounds. This means you can still Quantize, Nudge, Duplicate and Edit your FX patterns easily, as well as get more experimental with pattern and note lengths.  Just like any pattern in Maschine, your effects loops can be as long or as short as you prefer. This is a very interesting way to approach using Maschine and offers many new possibilities for performers and producers. Now try experimenting with this on your own a bit using various effects and plug-ins available in Maschine.

One important point to keep in mind here: you will see AU/VST effects and plug-ins appear in Maschine’s available plug-in list under two headings, “Plug-ins” (for instruments) and “FX” (for effects). Many Native Instruments plug-ins such as Massive or Reaktor will show up under both headings because they are available for use either as instruments or effects, but in this case we want to use them as effects specifically, so we need to make sure to select them from under the “FX” category; otherwise, they will not pass audio through the channel and you will get no output from Maschine.

With this setup, you can create amazing automated effects loops without permanently altering your original audio, and save the loops to reuse later.  Create delay buildups, automated drowning reverb effects, chains of plug-ins to morph your old loops into new sounds for your tracks, or bring a new level of dynamism to your live performances!

Also, now that Maschine has four individual audio inputs instead of just one, you can potentially have four independent effects chains set up at the same time, and follow the same steps above to set up different tracks in Ableton to go through each of the chains, quadrupling the possible combinations of different effects you can use at once.

In one of my next articles, I’ll show how to achieve similar effects with Traktor by running it side-by-side with Maschine on the same computer and routing the outputs from Traktor’s decks through Maschine’s effects just as we have done here with Ableton.

Dubspot contributor Computo is a half-human/half-machine electronic music producer and DJ, focusing on bass music of all varieties. He currently works for Native Instruments in Los Angeles as West Coast product specialist and trainer for Maschine and Komplete, and recently contributed programming to the Maschine expansion pack Raw Voltage. His YouTube tutorial on creating wobble bass with Massive has been viewed over 800,000 times.

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