Maschine Ideas View Explored

Last Updated on December 22, 2020 by IDS Team

In what seems to be preparation for their much anticipated Song Layer feature, Native Instruments recently released the Maschine 2.6.5 update. Although this is merely a point release, this update brings a pair of notable features that have been requested by Maschine users for quite a while: Ideas View (shown in the screenshot above) and the ability to load new Groups on the fly while the audio and MIDI routings stay preserved with Maschine in plugin mode.

Ideas View

With Ideas View we can now audition different patterns that are independent of the timeline. For many, this should speed up your workflow especially if you don’t want to concern yourself with making an arrangement right out of the gate. The layout of Ideas View is similar to the Maschine Jam hardware layout in which all your patterns can be seen and accessed more easily than on the other Maschine 4×4 controllers. Groups are now displayed along the bottom of Ideas View where in the software you can add Groups by clicking on the “+” button, delete by selecting a Group and clicking “Delete” in the drop-down menu, mute by left clicking the letter of a Group and solo by right clicking a Group letter. On the hardware, these actions can still be done the same way they always have. Also by default, Maschine now starts up in Ideas View.

 

We can get back to the Arranger View on the Maschine hardware by hitting SHIFT+SCENE or by hitting the NAVIGATE button and selecting the Arranger or Ideas View tab from the top left screen. This behavior is the same for all Maschine controllers.

In the software you can click the new odd looking button you see on the left side of the Arranger where the Mixer button used to be to alternate between Ideas View and Arranger View:

Once you develop the patterns you like in Ideas View, you can place them in the Arranger View to create what Native Instruments now calls Sections. Sections can either be empty or they can contain Scenes. Note that you can still record your patterns the “old way” by adding them to a Scene in the Arranger. Ideas View is merely an option for speeding up your workflow while keeping the Arranger more organized.

If you are a Studio One user, this functionality is basically like Scratch Pads where you can add an edit patterns in one place (Ideas View) without affecting them in another place (the Arranger).

Preserve MIDI Routings in Your DAW

I can’t even remember how long this feature has been requested, but we finally have it! Now we can load Maschine as a plugin in our DAW, setup our MIDI and audio routings and preserve them while auditioning different Groups. This feature is significant because Native Instruments have researched to find that most people use Maschine in their DAW.

So now when you load Maschine either in standalone or in your DAW and click the Group button, you will see a +ROUTING button in the bottom left corner of the GUI:

Keeping the +ROUTING button disabled (now the default behavior) allows you to change a Group without changing the routing while enabling it will change your routings each time you load a new Group. This behavior works the same in Maschine standalone. Those who have DAW or Maschine templates setup are now free to change groups to your heart’s content without having to go through the headache of resetting your routings each time you change a group. Whew!

To see these new features in action, check out these helpful videos by Matt Cellitti for ADSR Sounds:

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