Setup combining Syntakt and Maschine MK3

Elektron Gear Syntakt
#1

Long story short, I’m enjoying my first steps with the Syntakt (which I bough after selling my MPC One), but I was missing some pads and I am getting a second hand Maschine MK3, also meant to serve as main DAW controller.

Now I’m scratching my head to find a smart way to make the most of each device and connect them together. The point where I especially welcome advice from more experienced peers is in deciding how to use the audio interfaces and ports of the Syntakt and the Maschine (and I have a Komplete Audio 6 interface too, which preceded these two devices).

The objectives

  • First and foremost, have everything connected to my DAW. This is a stable setup at home.
  • Secondarily, be able to use the setup daw-less for those days to just play around.

If it helps, right now I am not interested in making the NI software the center of everything. The Maschine hardware as a controller is for me more interesting than the whole Komplete etc stuff.

The devices I have (maybe there are redundancies after adding the Maschine):

  • Syntakt
  • Maschine
  • Dreadbox Nymphes synth
  • Komplete Audio 6 interface
  • MIDI keyboard
  • headset & speakers
  • a PC

Any suggestions? Am I making a big deal of nothing? Is this the moment when I can put that mysterious Syntakt’s MIDI-through port into use? :sweat_smile:

#2

You can use maschines outputs into Syntakt to take advantage of FX track. Melodies and vocals would be great I think. Maschine Mk3 is a great controller, but for me the magic happens when I lay my hands on the Syntakt .

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#3

You have a nice setup - I think you’re good with that.

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#4

So… did I get it right, that you do NOT want to use the Maschine SOFTWARE at all? And just use Maschine as a MIDI-controller? IF that’s the case, then just combine those things how ever you need and want with midi cables (or to your computer with USB). And make your own MIDI mappings for the Maschine MK3, with their MIDI Controller Editor, or what it was called. It’s really, really powerful piece of software for customising the mappings, people have done crazy stuff with it.

But, IF you want to run the Maschine software and thus have Maschine MK3 be its own instrument, which I highly recommend, as Maschine MK3 is first and foremost a controller for that particular software, then you need to have Syntakt as your master clock as computer generated MIDI-clocks make gear, like Syntakt/Digitakt/Digitone, with their own sequencers to have a constantly jumping MIDI-clock (as computers round up MIDI-clock a bit different way). Of course then you need to forget being DAW-less, as MK3 always needs a computer to be able to run Maschine software (which is kind of a DAW).

Hope this helped. :v:

#5

The second-hand Maschine arrived… and my initial plans changed. They had to. I miscalculated a small detail: Maschine’s Linux support. I was aware that NI hardware doesn’t support Linux (except the Audio Komplete, which works like a charm). This is why I was ready to give up on the Maschine software. But I thought it would at least send MIDI just fine. It doesn’t.

Now I keep having my Linux setup without the Maschine… and a new Windows setup with the Maschine (yay dual boot). :confused: And yes, sure, the Windows setup has the Maschine and Komplete Select software it came with.

I still like the Maschine hardware, these pads are very good and I’m learning about the rest. So I’ll keep it and see where all this goes. Maybe I’ ll go dawless / Linux for playing around and starting things, and then the Windows setup if/when I get more serious with the production of a track, or when if feel like finger-drumming. Who knows.

But yeah, I didn’ t expect this total lack of basic MIDI compliance / communication from such a beautiful and rather expensive hardware. I should have read those Linux compatibility discussions beyond the “Support NI software on Linux!” smoke curtain. :slight_smile:

#6

I love using my Maschine mk3 with the software and to midi control and play my Syntakt and other synths. I just enjoy editing on the M software more than on Ableton or any of those others…I guess I’m just used to it more. And, being able to hardly ever have to look at the computer but have full computer support is great.

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