First Look !!! Native Instruments NI Maschine [ Coming this November/December 2012 ]

First Look !!! Native Instruments NI Maschine [ Coming this November/December 2012 ]

Native Instruments announced the brand new generation of the Maschine and Maschine Mikro -and it looks like the Kontrol F1 won’t be the only RGB backlit piece of kit in Native Instruments’ lineup for much longer. Read more about the new Mk2 Maschine units inside!

The new Mk2 editions of the units come in both black and white, with all 16 of the pads backlit in colors that correspond to the colors in the new Maschine 1.8 software, which has been updated to provide color support and a few new effects. Additionally, the software now comes bundled with a free version of the ubiquitous (sometimes too much so) Massive soft-synth.

One final major item to note with this new generation of Maschine products – NI is now offering customizable kits for Maschine users to change the color of the faceplate and knobs on the device, with colors offered in gold, red, blue, pink, and grey.

Naturally, it wouldn’t be a Maschine launch if we didn’t have a video of finger-drumming legend Jeremy Ellis using the new products and showing off each of the features throughly – have a look below!

And NI’s usually teutonic industrial minimalism appears to have been cast aside with this release too. Not only are Pioneer going all Day-Glo with their new WeGO controller, but NI are also putting out White versions of the 2 Maschine models, and also providing some multi-coloured faceplates. But the big question is this: WHERE ARE THE WOODEN TRIMS?

There’s no doubt that this new hardware and v1.8 of the software (free to registered users) are wonderful, and I crave them badly even though my somewhat rusty and ancient beatmaking skills couldn’t possibly do them justice. But given the glaring cosmetic similarity to the Kontrol F1, where is this all going?

I cast my mind back to NAMM, specifically an image being projected on the wall at NI’s LA office. Daniel Haver was talking about integration, and on screen was NI’s holy trinity of products - Komplete, Traktor and Maschine all linked together. And with this release, I feel that we’re beginning to see that happening. The Remix Deck workflow is clip launching with knobs on – a workflow ideally suited to Maschine as well. Just how this will work out is uncertain, but I’d put good money on the yet to be announced or even discussed Traktor Pro 3 bringing them together, especially as NI seem to be holding back at v1.8.

So seeing as the RGB buttons are working their way through the NI hardware roster, I wonder what will be next? And when? I’m pretty sure I’m bang on in my guesswork, but I’ll let you all thrash it out in the comments. That is if this isn’t too old a story to comment on of course.

The Mashine Mk2 and Maschine Mikro Mk2 are set to be in stores on October 1st.