Well, looks like I’m making about 3$ so we should decide on n percentages. No, but thanks for the inspiration. God knows we’ve all been there. And walking around SUPERBOOTH 23 at the moment isn’t helping much
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I use Elektron gear in non-techno scenarios but it does take some effort. Great points on the sequencing @SoundRider, but the other idea is to work to build kits and sound banks that are appropriate for funkier or in my case House type sounds.
Filtering out some of the harshness using the filters is a great starting point.
In general, I also lightly use the analog units to add saturation and warmth - drive, compression, and, even some very light LFO warble to give the whole sound design a less clean, more organic edge.
Great thread! Lots of good points above. A few have mentioned the joy of small setups relative to huge ones, and I agree wholeheartedly. If I can, I’d add a few more thoughts on what makes pairings - my preferred setup - so much more fun than both single instruments and big setups:
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Easy connectivity - most two piece setups can work with just a midi cable and audio cables. No mixer, or midi or USB needed.
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Bases covered - obviously this can take some thought but you can usually cover an entire track’s worth of needs with two units - samples, synths, sequencing. Beats, bass, harmony, melody. It’s hard to flesh all these out in a single but two usually allows for full coverage and some layering.
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Cheat codes - This is an Elektron forum, so most of us know this, but the first time you use an LFO to modulate an external device, or program change sequence an older synth, you realize there’s still tons of sonic potential in your old pieces.
As has been said above, most people just get bogged down past a certain volume of gear. I heartily recommend that whether you only have two pieces, or own 20, that you pick just two and bounce them off each other. It’s cured my gear blues many a time…
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