QUICK TIPS

1Use the sound selection menu – found to the top left of the Pattern grid – to set up choke groups containing multiple sounds, for authentic interactions between hi-hats or to silence ghost notes.

2Don’t overlook Maschine’s builtin Bass Synth. Pretty much all users have access to Monark, Prism and Massive these days, so it’s easy to ignore the application’s own basic-looking offering. But with an acid-friendly filter and cool morphing oscillator, it can be a great source of fast, gritty sounds.

3Even Maschine Mikro can be a handy sequencer for external hardware. Over on the NI site you can find templates for a lot of common hardware synths and drum machines, which will be able to give you a quick setup ready to route to your favourite gear. Find them here: bit. ly/2Q7meip

4Don’t overlook Chord mode on the controller – a great way to inspire melodic progressions.