Strip club
Mk3 adds a new physical control interface to Maschine in the shape of the horizontally positioned Smart Strip. Lifted from Maschine Jam (which boasts eight of them), this is a versatile ribbon controller with a multi-segment LED ladder for visual feedback, that switches between four modes of operation via the buttons above it.
In Pitch and Mod modes, the Smart Strip simply emulates a pitch or mod wheel, but with the advantage of being able to jump instantly between values by tapping. The lack of wheels on Maschine has always been a minor limitation, and the Smart Strip solves it elegantly, although it would be even better with a ‘snap back to zero’ option for Mod mode.
Perform mode assigns the Smart Strip to the Perform FX module for the current Group – if there isn’t one loaded, pressing Shift+Perform calls one up. The parameter controlled by the Strip depends on the Perform FX Mode – cutoff Frequency for the Filter, Position for Tremolo, etc.
In Notes mode, the Strip is used to ‘strum’ sounds. With Maschine Mk3 in Pad Mode, running a finger left and right sweeps through the sounds of all held pads, or the whole Group if no pads are held. With Maschine in Keyboard or Chord modes, it sweeps up and down the keyboard, again only playing the notes of held pads, or all of them if none are held.
Notes and Perform modes are a lot of fun, but its in Pitch and Mod modes that the Smart Strip proves most useful.