Chapters
  1. 1 Using this manual
  2. 2 Getting started
  3. 3 Differences from Maschine
  4. 4 The Maschine MK3
  5. 5 The Launchpad Pro MK3
  6. 6 Modulation
  7. 7 Expressive recording
  8. 8 Multi-output plug-ins
  9. 9 DECKARD's own synths
  10. 10 Controlling modular synths
  11. 11 Themes and controller scripts

DECKARDManual

4. The Maschine MK3

The pages DECKARD adds to the MK3 (LFOs, the mod matrix, a step grid) and the buttons that work differently.

DECKARD runs the MK3 with its own controller layer. Almost every button does what the MK3 manual says. This chapter covers the exceptions.

At a glance

Line drawing of the Maschine MK3. Seven controls are marked in cyan: SHIFT, SELECT, SOLO, STEP, AUTO, KEYBOARD and the two screens.
The MK3, with the controls DECKARD adds to or changes marked in cyan.
Control In DECKARD
1 SHIFT Opens the new pages with SELECT, SOLO and STEP.
2 SHIFT + SELECT The LFO page.
3 SHIFT + SOLO The mod matrix page.
4 SHIFT + STEP The step grid.
5 AUTO A switch, not a hold.
6 KEYBOARD Two more knob pages: Pad Touch.
7 Screens Drawn by DECKARD, in the theme you choose.

Each new page closes the same way it opens: press the same combination again, or any other page’s button.

The LFO page

SHIFT + SELECT shows the project’s LFOs and envelopes. What they do is described in Modulation.

The LFO page: display buttons Sine, Square, Triangle, Saw, Random, Sync, Env and Trig; the left screen shows LFO 1, the right screen a stepped triangle wave; knobs Shape, Rate, Phase, Level, Quantize, Trigger and Fade in.
The LFO page’s controls.
  • Pads 1–16 are the 16 LFOs. A lit pad focuses its LFO. An unlit pad makes a new one there.
    • ERASE + pad removes an LFO.
    • MUTE + pad mutes or unmutes it. Muted LFOs light red.
  • Display buttons 1–5 pick the shape. 6 SYNC switches between tempo-synced and free (Hz). 7 ENV switches the slot to an envelope. 8 TRIG sets the trigger to the focused sound, or off.
  • Knobs 1–7 set Shape, Rate, Phase, Level, Quantize, Trigger and Fade in.
  • The left screen shows the LFO’s name, the right screen its wave.

In Envelope mode, buttons 1–5 go dark, button 6 becomes RETRIG, and knobs 1–4 set Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release.

The MK3's two screens on the LFO page, showing LFO 1 and a stepped triangle wave.
The LFO page on the MK3’s screens: LFO 1, a tempo-synced triangle stepped by Quantize.
The MK3's two screens on the LFO page in Envelope mode, showing an ADSR shape.
The same page in Envelope mode.

The mod matrix page

SHIFT + SOLO lists every modulation route in the project, one per column, eight at a time. What routes are is described in Modulation.

The mod matrix page: each of the eight columns is a route with rows Source, Group, Sound, Module, Destination and Depth. The display buttons move a column's highlighted row; the knobs turn it.
One route per column. The highlighted row is the one its knob turns.
  • Each column is a route, with rows Source, Group, Sound, Module, Destination and Depth.
  • The display button above a column moves its highlight down a row. The page opens with Depth highlighted.
  • The knob below a column changes its highlighted row.
  • ERASE + knob removes that route.
  • The empty column after the last route makes a new one. It becomes a route once it has a Destination.
  • ◀ and ▶ show the previous or next eight routes.

To send an LFO out as a MIDI controller, turn Group past the last group to MIDI. The rows then read Port, Channel and CC.

The MK3's two screens on the mod matrix page, listing routes in columns.
The mod matrix on the MK3’s screens.

The step grid

SHIFT + STEP turns the eight display buttons into steps, so the pads stay free to choose what each step plays.

The step grid: display buttons are steps 1 to 8; the left screen shows a piano roll, the right screen eight steps; knobs 1 to 4 are Position, Pitch, Velocity and Length.
The step grid in Keyboard mode.
  1. Choose what to place with the pads:
    • in PAD MODE, a pad picks a sound;
    • in KEYBOARD, a pad picks a note in the scale (hold several for more than one), and the screen shows the piano roll;
    • in CHORDS, a pad picks its chord.
  2. Press a display button to put that step in, or take it out.
  3. Hold a step’s button and turn knobs 1–4 to change its Position, Pitch, Velocity and Length. In Keyboard and Chords mode, knobs 5–8 set the root, scale or chord type, and which pitches the screen shows.
  4. ◀ and ▶ move eight steps at a time.

SHIFT + STEP again goes back. The usual Step mode (STEP on its own) works as the MK3 manual says.

AUTO is a switch

In Maschine, AUTO writes automation while you hold it. In DECKARD one press switches Auto-write on and the next switches it off, with or without SHIFT. While it’s on, turning knobs 1–8 records their movement into the playing pattern.

  • ERASE + knob removes that knob’s automation.
  • SHIFT + pad 10 (Clear Auto) removes the focused sound’s automation in the focused pattern.

Pad Touch on the Keyboard page

KEYBOARD’s knob pages have two more pages at the end. Page through with ◀ and ▶:

  • Pad Touch: Mode (Velocity, Poly AT, Aftertouch or CC), Curve, Min and Max.
  • Pad Touch CC: the controller number, for CC mode.

These are the focused sound’s settings. They decide whether pad pressure is recorded; see Pad pressure on the MK3.

Macros

SHIFT + MACRO opens Set Macro, as in Maschine: touch a knob to make it a macro. In DECKARD you can also turn the knob pages with ◀ and ▶ while Set Macro is open, and MACRO leaves it. A small macro icon marks the knobs a macro controls.