Native Instruments MASCHINE+ Standalone Production and Performance Instrument - Manual (Page 135)

12. Working with Patterns and Clips
You can build your Song in MASCHINE using either Patterns or Clips, or a combination of both.
Patterns and Clips each have their advantages depending on your preferred workflow and goals.
Clips only exist in the Song view (timeline) and are unique, while Patterns are referenced objects
that exist in both the Ideas view and Song view. This means Patterns are great when you want to
create single-sourced sequences, and Clips provide flexibility when you need one-off unique sound
bites that can be freely positioned on the timeline. Therefore, if you copy a Clip to multiple places
and change one of the Clips, only the one you edited is changed. However, if you use a Pattern in
multiple places, and change one Pattern, all occurrences of this Pattern are changed (unless you
use the “make unique” feature or convert into a Clip beforehand). For added flexibility, Clips can be
freely positioned and moved across the timeline. They can be part of a section, but can also exist
outside a section or span across multiple sections.
To summarize, here's an overview of Patterns and Clips basics:
• They both contain events (also called “notes”) that make up a groove or a musical phrase using
the Sounds of the selected Group.
• They both also contain modulation data (if any) modifying the value of parameters in that Group
or any of its Sounds.
• They can both be edited in the Editor, however, only the selected Pattern or Clip will appear in the
Editor.
Patterns versus Clips
This section provides an overview of the differences between Patterns and Clips.
Patterns
Here are the features of Patterns:
• Patterns exist in the Ideas view and Song view. They act as the building blocks for developing
ideas in Ideas view and can be added to Scenes in Song view to create an arrangement.
• You can reference the same Pattern in different Scenes. When you modify a Pattern in the
Pattern Editor, all references to this Pattern are updated in the Song view (unless you use the
“make unique” feature or convert into a Clip beforehand).
• When added to the Song view Patterns maintain a fixed position on the timeline of the
arrangement relative to the Scene.
• A Pattern can be converted into a Clip. This creates a unique version of the Pattern that can be
freely placed on the timeline of the arranger.
• Only one Pattern from each Group can be added to a Scene.
• A Pattern belongs to a Group and is saved together with the Group. Each Group can have an
unlimited number of Patterns.
Clips
Here are the features of Clips:
• Clips exist only in Song view. Clips can be used in addition to Patterns. They are great for adding,
for example, one-shot sounds, transitions, and vocal, etc.
• Unlike Patterns, they are unique entities that can be freely positioned and moved across the
timeline of the arranger in the Song view.
WORKING WITH PATTERNS AND CLIPS
128