If I knew my OB6 inside out and no music came from it then it would be a very sorry day for Tom, Sequential, any Oberheim users, and people in general.
The more I have gotten to know my gear, the better and more attractive my output has been.
What you are talking about here is the lack of ideas and ingenuity of a said person. Not the equipment, I’m afraid.
I disagree. There’s a line where where art (EDIT: of music making, thanks @tnussb) and engineering (EDIT: of music making) cross over. Robert Henke gave a great talk on this a few years ago in London when he talked about the empowering qualities of using Ableton Live but also the risks of it.
His point was that at one point you can become so engrossed in the engineering of it (possibilities, programming, learning the program and its possibilities inside out) that you end up getting lost in that. This has nothing to do with a lack of ingenuity or ideas…as a matter of fact I find that a little presumptious.
Also, my point was: Specific to your Elektron gear, what are your go-to creative techniques that you keep coming back to more than other techniques (despite maybe knowing your gear and ALL of its functionalities and possibilities inside out)?
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I have plenty of Rytm samples for the Rytm sound, I made a sample pack of every machine at multiple parameter settings, accent, velocities. Over 3000 samples, just never released it as I don’t want to take the time away from making music to build the multi sample Live drum racks.
So, it comes down to workflow and features.
Yea, track count on Rytm is higher but voice count isn’t, so in this regard they’re not much different. Rytm does have the advantage of dedicated master effects track. But I don’t really need 16 tracks. I need about 12-14 at most, usually only 9 or 10, and so a couple OT master tracks don’t limit me at all.
Workflow wise, for live work I try to reduce the number of different workflow schemes to use. 2 OTs is one less scheme than OT+Rytm
Features:
Things I get from the OT that I don’t from Rytm that are crucial for me, and these are things I like having on both boxes. This is stuff you already know about but just imagine having twice the amount:
- Disk streaming. Not because I use long samples but it allows me to put things in chains, even loops. Means more content in a single project which means more to work with in a live setting. 64MB of RAM on Rytm was a real limitation for me. I made use of chains but quickly filled up the 128 slots, so bringing in new material was a struggle.
- Twice the banks and pattens in a project. Again, more to work with without stopping the sequencer to load a 2nd project.
- 3 LFOs per track
- LFO designer
- More FX variety. 3 band EQs FTW! Compressors on kick and master! Phasers on my synth hooks!
- Live looping. A looper on each is a ton of fun.
All of that said Rytm, even MK1, is so powerful. If I got another Elektron, it would probably be one I rebuy.
The compressor and master dist make it a great “by itself” techno box.
It’s good to have another box to go to for creation. For me, that’s a model samples with a battery that I use around the house. But for track making and live work, two OTs is unmatched for my needs. It also cuts out my need for a lot of other gear (limiters, mixers)
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Do you know that you have just offended every single living and dead engineer on this planet? I heavily protest against excluding engineering from art. Just because someone can’t recognize it doesn’t mean it isn’t there …
(not only joking)
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Yeeeeaaahhh…consulting is also an art brother, but I wasn’t going there now was I?
Of course engineering is also an art, you are right, the poor souls that don’t see that (I do, I really do).
Now what were we talking about again?
Oh yeah, go-to creative techniques on your Elektron devices, be they artistic or engineering-ic.
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And just to help bring this back on track 
One of my go-to techniques on my OT is to use the tempo creatively.
In my live setup, my OT is the heart piece of it all and is the clock master. So when the tempo on the OT changes, it changes everywhere.
One (somewhat cheap but nice :)) thing I do is to radically reduce the tempo (eg to 30bpm) for a few bars prior to a drop…The aliasing in anything timestretched on the OT can make for interesting glitch effects in those moments.
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Oh I am glad you bring that up.
I’ve been messing with setting the rate knob’s function to timestretch for loops and getting wonky swing out of them at extreme rate settings. I love putting the same loop (especially a synth loop recorded from Pro 2) on two tracks and stretching one as a textural layer for the other. Can apply this to any sound really.
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Not really, I feel a certain analogy towards a manager who came straight in at the top and a worker who has been there for years fits your description.
How can wisdom and knowledge stifle creativity? Happy accidents occur to those without wisdom. The masters are masters because of happy accidents. The real test lies within intention… if someone’s intention is pure then they will find happiness and ingenuity at any rate. If someone gets bored with their findings then this game wasn’t for them in the first place.
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I know it's somehow offtopic, but the OP has chosen the clickbait title ...
I guess your edits haven’t made it better. 
Judging everything music related just by how much music comes out at the end (=finished songs) is way IMHO too shortsighted.
There are enough people who heading in exactly for the engineering, because they are engineers by heart. They neither get lost, nor do they want to become the greatest composers/producers. Their focus is simply completely different.
They are building ingenious setups, a multitude of machines talking to each other, producing ever evolving soundscapes only to be heard by one pair of ears for a single time. No need to record anything. Just for the joy of doing it.
IMHO that’s as artful as banging out one pattern after the other and requires quite a lot of creativity.
I don’t know a single person who spends time knowing his gear just for the sake of knowing it. There is always more to it, either the love of explorations (almost child-like), tinkering around for recreation or to satisfy the above mentioned engineering lust. Knowing the gear is in most cases simply a byproduct to overcome obstacles.
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Hey mate, read my opening post again - clickbait title?! I specifically EXPLAIN the title in the opening post. I read something that inspired the question this thread is posing and the thread is named after that. If you don’t get it or don’t relate, fair enough, move on to the next thing, I promise I’ll survive.
I think I met your points with openness and engaged with it in an honest and constructive manner, again if you don’t know the problem that’s fair enough but stop telling me I shouldn’t know it either.
Yeah?
I’ve found myself in this position recently growing away from the Rytm and preferring to work in the OT. And now because of the AE I have two OT’s… though I have yet to try double octa setup… Do you find any disadvantages to using an OT as your drum machine? I was worried for a while about stereo samples sounding weird specifically for drum sounds. Am I trippin?
I have an Analog Heat, Rytm hanging on for dear life in my setup.
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Most of the single shot drum hits in my OT are mono .wav anyway, so a non issue.
OT deals with mono .wav fine and they take half the RAM space in the flex slot list.
Plus if you don’t like the stereo sound of a sample you can mono it with spatializer, and if necessary, resample it.
I think only disadvantage would be lack of velocity sensitive pads, but OT isn’t unique in that regard.
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That’s a great quote. I’ll have too look up this book. Thank you.
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“How can you call yourself a fisherman, when you never actually fish?”
The Mighty Boosh
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I’m calm bro. You used a rhetorical device and I went with it.
Exactly my / Amir Said’s point: get something for the thing you are trying to achieve (and not something for all eventualities) and once you get good at achieving that new meaningful avenues (and gear needs) might open up.
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Awesome.
