With Jam, Maschine users now have an 8×8 grid of ‘click pads’ for a much improved step sequencing experience that can double as a means for playing melodic parts. Maschine Jam (I’ll refer to it as ‘Jam’ henceforth) is the newest iteration of this lineage, and it addresses an alternative approach to the original MPC-inspired Maschine concept, one which will be familiar to users of Push/APC/Launchpad with Ableton’s Live.
Thanks to its 4×4 grid of super-sensitive drum-pads and built-in graphic displays, it offered the same hands-on approach to composition and performance enjoyed by Akai MPC users without being shackled to a preset amount of hardware processing power. When Maschine was originally released back in 2008, it was a game changer without peer the first virtual instrument to successfully integrate a dedicated control surface while retaining the benefit of using your computer as its ‘brain’.
