Native Instruments really seem to have their finger on the pulse of electronic music production at the moment, with a really tasty suite of software instruments and tools led by the radical Reaktor, innovative hardware/software systems like Kore and rugged and practical gear like their DJ friendly audio interfaces. Just released, Maschine was one of the big drawcards at this year’s NAMM and hype has been high pending its local release.

Maschine is an integrated hardware/software production and performance controller. The hardware can’t be used alone – it doesn’t have much in the way of guts – so all the processing is done inside the computer it’s connected to. The software will run standalone or in a VST, Audio Unit or RTAS host. One of the big selling points is the integration of the two interfaces: just about everything Maschine can do, can be done from the hardware. This is great news for live performers since it offers a really viable solution to many of the old problems that come with playing off a keyboard and mouse.

Moreover, the Spartan layout of the hardware belies the versatility it offers. An impressive range of tools is cleverly accessible with no more than a couple of button presses and turns of the knob, testament to NI’s tight handling of the mechanical space. The resources are built into a series of hierarchies: songs are composed of Scenes, themselves composed of Patterns of Sounds or Samples; the Master bus reads from eight Groups, each containing the Sounds and Samples applied to the sixteen pads. The built-in browser – similar to that found in, for example, Absynth – sees the Sounds and Samples tagged into Banks, Types and Subtypes.

This means that the eight buttons above, and eight endless encoders below the two screens can access a depth of parameters you shouldn’t reasonably expect. It also means that, although just about every control on the surface has multiple uses, navigation is mostly simple and very intuitive.

I’d seen NI’s videos, so by the time I was opening the box, the first thing I wanted to know was how the build quality would hold up with me drunkenly pounding the pads and tearing the knobs. The news is good – Maschine feels great. The buttons and pads bring to mind Roland’s sampling workstations, with tremendous tactile sensitivity (they’re nearly triggered by touch alone, so be careful!) and the knobs have zero sideways give. The frame is light but solid. Maschine is a masochistic little bastard, demanding nothing less than to be pummelled into obedience by your creativity.

Let’s start with the pads. As expected, these will often house a selection of percussive hits that you can play or, in a very nice touch, program by switching to step sequencer mode. Loading a Sound also applies a selection of parameters to the knobs, so you can tune your toms and reverse your cymbals on the fly. The kick I’m looking at right now has 37 editable parameters even before effects.

Any pad can be sliced onto a piano roll, meaning that basslines and melodies are as easily played and recorded as drum loops (this is a good time to mention the very good, if not mind-blowing, 5GB library that features designs by Apparat, Amon Tobin, Matthew Herbert, Oliver Huntemann). As with drum sounds, as soon as the sample is mapped a variety of options become available. Want that bassline monophonic? Easy – give Knob 1 a twirl. Not happy with the ADSR envelope? Change it to AHD and reshape it.

Every Sound can pass through two effects before the signal hits the Group output. The Group can have another two effects added before sending to the Master bus, which itself can have two effects. Routing is simple and the effects themselves (there are 21) are very good, with lots of tasty parameters to tweak and automate. Automation is ridiculously easy to record and erase right on the hardware.

Maschine can also sample and resample. This is great fun (and really powerful in the right hands) but it’s a little less intuitive than most of the other features, and a little less versatile. After a couple of attempts, though, I was able to connect a turntable to my soundcard, record a break into Maschine, trim it, set it to loop, then slice it into 16ths and apply the slices to the pads for live mangling. The same goes for re-sampling any of Maschine’s own audio outs.

Other noteworthy features include dedicated volume, tempo and swing knobs that have gotten way more use than I expected; mute and solo buttons that can be applied to Sounds, Groups and effects independently; and a MIDI control editor that lets you write infinite custom maps and pepper them with Mackie emulation controls. There’s also a button called Note Repeat that plays a Sound at a given beat division as long as it’s held down. The result is velocity sensitive, so adding nicely varied 16th hats and playing fills on the fly is a snap.

I found the built-in arranger took some getting used to and the end result, touted as “easy and straightforward,” is actually a little rudimentary and, in my view, one of Maschine’s weaker features. While functional enough to write complete arrangements from scratch without ever needing to use the mouse, I suspect (read: hope) that future releases will see this developed into a more sophisticated sequencer. It’s one reason I see Maschine working best on stage. Everything about it lends itself to spontaneity (three cheers!) and a departure from stale linear workflows.

My only other big concern is about proprietary control. Maschine won’t read or write MIDI files (seriously), and it won’t read REX loops or your old Akai multisamples. Audio feeds easily into the host app, which is great, but a glance at the Maschine forums confirms that I’m not alone in wanting to see the much-hailed integration opened up to what have become standard production tools.

So there it is. Maschine is everything I hoped it would be and more. The build quality is excellent and the package is a versatile and well-integrated whole. Maschine pulls together a range of complicated ideas and powerful tools into a very easy-to-use and, most importantly, very fun way to make music.

Maschine is available now through CMI Music and Audio, click HERE for info on local availability.