Hi everyone,
I just started here and I’m a real beginner with finger drumming.
I bought a Maschine MK3 last week and I’ve got my head around a lot of the software already.
But one thing that’s bothering me is the sharp corners.
My right palm is getting scratched up with the front right corner and I can’t seem to find a comfortable position to play. I can’t believe they didn’t round off the corners on this great device.
Does anyone else have this problem?
I’m wondering if I can buy and fit some cheeks or something to protect my hand.
Any recommendations?
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Interesting. The Maschine indeed has sharp corners now that you mention it!
In my case, my hands do not touch the device, they hover over it, so the corners do not matter at all.
I wonder what your playing position is exactly, because if your wrists are bent while playing, you might not be able to get the most out of your playing (at least not with the QFG style of playing).
So it might be good to investigate that a little further and maybe solve this problem and future problems in one go!
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I didn’t run into the issue myself, but now that you mentioned it: I have a keyboard wrist pad below my keyboard and just right of the Maschine Mk3. If I want to rest / stabilize my hands while playing, I actually put it a bit on the wrist pad. This also evades the sharp corner of the Maschine Mk3.
So maybe you can find something similar with more elevation to put your hands on? I don’t think it’s very ergonomic to put the hand directly on the desk. I would really try not to solve the edge problem but find better hand positions where you don’t touch the edges anymore
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I’m conscious that my playing position need to be developed as I learn and I am trying to keep my hand flat so my palm is off the surface but the corner just catches the soft part when I’m over columns 3 and 4. I’ll try raising my chair to change the angle of my arms a bit.
I found a few different cheeks and stands for the Maschine on Etsy and others. I did notice that some had padding at the front but to me that looks like it was a bit high and might interfere with the wrist movement. If this is not a common complaint about the Maschine, then it must be me just getting used to finding the right position. I’m not resting on the surface but my podgy palm is just in slightly the wrong place over the sharp corner and its irritating. I’ll experiment with the height difference between my chair and the desk surface. Thanks to both of you your advice.
Feel free to take a photo or something from the side so I can see your hand position. We’ll figure this out eventually.
I’m yet to start my finger drumming journey, but I spend a lot of time on a computer keyboard. Ideally your chair should be high enough that you have at least a 90deg bend in your elbow. if your elbow is bent too much, your wrist also has to bend to compensate. This might be causing your issue and may lead to wrist issues down the track.
Hi Robert,
Sorry for the delay in replying but work has got in the way of finger drumming this week.
Here are a few photos. Where I have put the arrow is the point the corner catches my hand. You can see a small indent here but I deliberately pressed to make a point (pun intended!).
I have started trying to relax the hand and wrist deliberately so that my actions are more loose and fluid rather than tense. I think this is probably a typical issue of most people learning any new instrument. Hopefully that will mean I can keep my palm away from that pesky corner.
Ah, yeah. So first of all your hands are clearly bigger than mine and that could lead to an issue I simply have never experienced with my dainty hands 
That said, it does look like your arm is coming a little from above and then your wrist has to bend a little in order to then put your hands above the pads. This could be an optical illusion though.
Here’s a picture of the angles. Maybe this helps?
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Thanks for the great advice Robert.
I can see your working surface is below your elbow level by a few centimeters and I think this must be quite important. I believe my surface could be a bit too low for my sitting position. I will work on improving this.
Yes I have square palms and short fat fingers - definitely not the typical pianist’s.
I know this may seem a trivial topic but I hope its useful for others very new to finger drumming and all sorts of other activites where slight adjustments in ergonomics can make quite a difference.
I’ve experienced RSI in my upper arm tenon a few years back where I didn’t realise I had been over-stretching for a PC mouse simply due to a poor desk layout. It took ages to get over but I never let it happen again once I was concious of the risk.
I can well imagine that finger drumming done in an awkward way could lead to injuries.
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While they aren’t inexpensive, you might try a wooden stand to solve your sharp corner problem:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1459536700/ni-maschine-plus-wooden-stand-native
Thanks Matt,
Yes, I’ve found quite a few options like that on Etsy and others.
They always deem to be expensive fancy wood cheeks. I would make my own if I hasd the time.
Also my nice expensive Decksaver wouldn’t fit over most of them
I think I just need to train myself to play in a better position (or else file down the sharp corner!) .
I do find it strange that a company like NI would actually market a new range claiming nice square moderen styling without thinking of the playing comfort. Its that old form-over-function mindset again.
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Word. I only got my mk3 less than a week ago and its introduction to dust had me looking at the Decksaver and some jankier options just this morning. I hate the $60usd price and a week to ship something this basic from an ocean away. Still, I like the safety of the plastic top to spare me the agony of spilling a water glass or something.
My only problem with the wooden stand is that it makes it even harder to not bend your wrists when playing. It should be the other way around… which actually might be possible now that I think about it. If you can put the Maschine in there upside down, you can then sit a little higher, with your arms at an angle going down, and if that angle has the same slope as the wooden stand gives to the Maschine your wrists will still be straight.
The server is back again 
It was displaying a system error a short while ago.
I guess you mean to actually slope it downward toward the back so that the wrists are flatter?
Yes, you normally see the opposite in pictures but if it’s higher in the back you cannot hit the pads without bending your wrists unless you’re coming from below which is very weird.
I got a bit enthusiastic for Decksavers and have bought a bunch of them lately for my various bits of kit. They are fairly good quality and fit well.
Luckily I’m in the UK where they are made and delivery here is quite quick and not too expensive.
My only small disappointment with Desksavers is that they didn’t design in a way to clip them in place so you can store devices away without the lid coming off. So I have made some velcro buckle straps for each of mine, like this:
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I ordered a Decksaver for my mk3 this afternoon. Thanks for sharing the impressions and pics. Good shout on the strap hack too