More realistically, he would have asked the more tech-savvy Herbie Hancock, or later on probably Marcus Miller, to deal with all that manual reading. 
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I disagree. Most of all musicians nowadays incorporate electronics in a form or another (FX pedals, Ableton, devices, keyboards, etc.).
I think the point is that it would open the whole market of musicians and not only electronic or jazzmen. If not the OT, the DT as it’s simpler or any other device.
The restricted UI in terms of 16 steps / 64 steps max or the soundpacks, everything in the marketing of Elektron points to a cold techno heads niche.
Market of musicians of all horizons who would benefit an OT is much wider than that. Maybe that’s a move they intent (although not so obvious) with hiring Ricky and recycling their tech into simpler and more accessible machines.
I spent more time to hear about the OT and know if what i wanna do is achievable than to learn it once i bought it. Still most of my time is with the OT is devoted to find workarounds because the device is so much techno oriented.
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…u ask WHO…but the question was always WHAT…
electronic instruments can serve anybody…not only electronic musicians…ALL musicians…like U…
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Most musicians, yes.
Most jazz (or classical) musicians, no.
I don’t think the topic is about jazz musicians. The author of the thread was giving his own example as a jazz musician but i understood the OP as Elektron could open its marketing towards musicians outside the electronic scene (be it jazz scene or whatever).
I actually think this topic is closely related to that thread: https://www.elektronauts.com/t/why-do-so-few-grooveboxes-have-thoughtful-workflows-around-laying-out-a-whole-song/
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This is an interesting conversation which makes me think of marketing/sales strategies generally. There’s the blue ocean, and the red ocean. The Red Ocean is a crowded marketplace with a lot of competition, think of it like the bait ball in the ocean. This involves making products and marketing them to an existing known customer base. This is what I think Elektron does and most electronic music companies we care about here. Then there is the Blue Ocean strategy, where you try to enter or create a new market where you don’t have any competitors. A classic example of the success of the blue ocean strategy is the Nintendo Wii. The other console manufacturers were all battling over the same group of gamers, and Nintendo decided to go after a totally different market segment. That was massively successful for them, and has shaped their hardware ever since.
The Blue Ocean strategy has massive potential upsides. But it is also way more risky. Instead of making something that people already want, you have to make people want something they didn’t even know that they wanted. There is no built in market, and you have to make things simpler if you aren’t going for an enthusiast audience. I feel a little bit like the model series were a bit of a half step into that kind of thing, trying to reach a larger market, and those don’t seem particularly successful for them.
The Red Ocean strategy has much smaller potential gains, but is much more reliable, because there is already an existing market with somewhat well defined expectations that you can address.
It’s a real hard thing to choose, because if you go somewhere in the middle you kinda lose the benefits of either. And going in the blue ocean strategy, there is a good chance you have a complete dud on your hands if you don’t manage to strike gold.
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It’s not that Elektron has marketed to “EDM” but really a relatively narrow niche of specific techno and IDM people, IMO. Not just the specific demos, but the brand palette, the images and colors on the website and like others mentioned, quite often the sounds in the sound packs. When you combine those choices with the relative “complexity” of the products compared to others in the category I can see how people outside those genres and styles might have been intimidated from trying the gear.
It clearly was good marketing for that particular niche but difficult to say if different choices may have led them to expand their customer base.
In any event, I think it’s been a great move to have Ricky more involved now and also inadvertently people like Jonwayne and Leem Lizzy who have been ambassadors for Octatrack hip hop. Maybe this is the next wave of expansion for Elektron reaching people outside the traditional genres it’s known for.
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I’d like to hear some of your music and learn more about how you are using yours. If you wouldn’t mind sharing.
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That’s a good point, that they have been marketing to a specific niche, and now they can be seen as one of, if not the most important, player in that niche. There is a good chance that that positioning is more valuable than positioning themselves as a do everything company and not seeming really masterful at any of it.
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Like it or not, since their first product launch, Elektron has had a pretty clear idea of their target audience.
It’s not like we’re talking about Roland, Korg or Yamaha.
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Some of mentioned techniques I used pretty much a lot on last record (A1, and both tracks on C and D side). I only got it few months before, currently I’m using it way more.
https://www.discogs.com/release/20074219-El-Niño-Andrés-Life-Is-Worth-Living
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Thanks. Listening now on Bandcamp!
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I tend to agree here. Before I bought my first Digitone, the vibe I got from Elektron products was a bit unfriendly and not inviting. I think part of the reason is the design, DN seemed more approachable because of the colored buttons. I know this sounds stupid, but the units look a lot colder than say Korg‘s Minilogue or Volcas or Roland boutiques. The way some Youtubers and commentators talk about Elektron as being so complex and powerful might also be a reason. I don’t know how much influence Elektron has on that image, but putting out Ricky there helps I think. It’s also so stupid thinking back on my first impression now, since I find Elektron products (at least digis) the most approachable gear I‘ve bought and Elektronauts is probably the most friendly, open and non-gatekeepy place on the internet.
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Really interesting thoughts, thank you. I played around with OT and some other modular stuff a few years ago, and realised I wanted to learn keys, to play more melodic stuff and learn more about music. So I boxed the OT up and took piano lessons for a few years (I’m now 60!). Got as far as grade 6, and stopped having gone back to art college last year. Just thinking about breaking out the OT again, to maybe develop some sound work. Would love to be playing jazz, but that’s a big hill to climb. I did wind up with a Nord Electro 6hp in the process though, maybe i need to introduce that to the OT. Happy outcome is a love for contemporary jazz music, great journey.
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that “interrogation” video. jfc. I don’t remember how I got into Octatrack, but it certainly wasn’t from short “films” with music that I would describe as “delinquents setting off firecrackers in an abandoned washing machine, but in german.” They have a few more vids like that for Machine Drum, iirc.
“Octatrack - A Machine That Makes Music ?” ?
Reading that very convincing catch line, I couldn’t resist to buy one. 
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You mean we wont see the Elektron stand at Nashville this year? 
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it helped me when i stopped seeing it as 16 steps and started seeing it as 2 sets of 8… 1 for trigging samples, 1 for trigging pre-sequenced tracks (or trigger then sequence live)
but i agree this paradigm is most ‘upfront’ when meeting the machine
also 
exactly! they really leaned on the question mark… i was like… wth? i saw the video yeaaars before buying one. bit it never left my psyche / memory
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