Recently voted the best music tech innovation of 2016, Ableton's Link technology has now found its way into another high-profile piece of software. This time it's Native Instruments' Maschine that's getting synced-up, opening up a whole new world of live performance opportunities.
As you probably know by now, Ableton Link enables desktop and mobile apps on the same network to be synced at the click of a button, with any user then being able to change the global tempo. It had already been confirmed that NI was adding Link support to Traktor Pro so, as company President Mate Galic points out, bringing it to Maschine as well makes a lot of sense.
"Traktor has always provided features that went beyond traditional DJing and offered unique ways to play with music," he says. "Link integration in Traktor and Maschine opens new doors for creative expression, extending DJ performance setups with production tools for even more personalised and engaging performances. It will also allow for seamless collaboration between multiple users and champion hybrid setups between DJing and electronic music live performances.
"The true potential of this feature lies in the hands of our users, who constantly impress us by expressing themselves through our products in inventive and creative ways."
You'll find Ableton Link support in the latest versions of Maschine and Traktor Pro. Maschine 2.5.5 is out now on Native Access, and Traktor Pro 2.11 is out now on the Service Center. Both are free updates for existing users.
