My faves are AR, Tr8s, electribe2, Mother32, DFAM. I base impro with these on a foundation of Blackbox or OT.
I think I never brought a poly on stage before/yet.
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get one OT !
My sub37 is a favorite.
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OP-1 def for me. I’m winging it from the moment I power the thing on.
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For improvisation I like my mc-707 the most.
Tons of usable presets, its really easy to sample into it - live too with it’s looper tracks - you can map the three encoders per lane to whatever you want, and the faders are a bonus too.
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my favorites are MC-101/MC-707 with attached Launchpad.
so i have all clips & scenes at my fingertips, keeping their own pads for doing something more interesting (e.g. arp or scatter).
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You’ve summed up in this thread everything I currently look for in a set up and the way I have discovered I like to play-purely for my own enjoyment may I add-I don’t want to subject others to my improv!!
I love the idea of approaching my gear as a blank canvas-no/limited set up, and just using a ‘kit’, pressing play on empty sequencers and building a jam/naturally transitioning it through different ideas etc until I feel like turning it off.
Oddly it’s one of the reasons I tend to like gear that DOESN’T save my last state when powering down-I like to open up a blank sequence.
I love the TR8S for this-just using one saved kit and a blank pattern, however i recently sold it as I got a Toriaz SP16… I use that in a similar way to the TR8S but the sampling ability and the pads make it a bit more flexible (in some ways-less in others). I just save a kit as a project with no sequence and so start from that each time.
Along with that I have a korg minilogue and a TD3 plus some effects. Thinking of ditching those for a moog subharmonicon but still undecided.
Love this thread though, and look forward to seeing other recommendations for gear that fits this workflow.
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Does the launchpad in any way reflect if a clip is there or not?
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This is very Zen.
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unfortunately, no.
sort of workaround: copying some „default“ clip to unused clip slots.
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Lyra 8 is my go-to improv canvas.
And as I’m steadily discovering; Pulsar 23!
Mainly for the tactile nature of the Lyra and the elemental bare-bones of the Pulsar.
I did some live improv on the MD and MM at a gig with a friend playing his modular kit, which was also fun. Not quite as immediate as my later acquisitions but still tremendous fun and playable enough in-the-moment. Same goes for the samples and cycles too.
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This is the one that got away. I’ve been keen on this synth for quite a while and was close to purchasing a couple of times. I haven’t been able to play one in person for ages and I’ve learned so much more about synthesis since then. I think either this, or the Pro3 could be the missing piece.
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I think what happened was that I recently had a jam that just went really, really well. It was one of those rare sessions that I achieved what some might call a flow state. The best musicians are able to do this most times they fire up their gear. Usually for me, I’m, doing a lot of stumbling around until I get something sounding good.
I think this is why it’s great to play with another person. Quietly get something built up in the headphones, then bring it in and perform it, switch, repeat.
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For some reason, I feel like I’m supposed to have a Poly. But, I’m much more comfortable with monos. Not that I’ve ever done this on a stage 
Looks like a great instrument. I’ll try one in a shop someday. Seems like the kind of thing I’d need to try before taking the plunge. Does it play nice with other gear?
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It took me some time to fully appreciate it for its greatness and reading the manual definitely helps understanding the modulation and subtle aspects of it.
Nowadays I’m trying more improvised music, meaning jamming with sequences and starting point sounds that I make, and then use that to play something. The sub37 is amazing to tweak live in that context, flowing from percussive to non percussive sounds, from soft to weird etc… I pair it with a few effects, that helps widening the range of possibilities.
I don’t know the Pro 3 but have heard many good things about it, pro 2 as well by the way 
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So far, I tend to play it solo, and that’s how I enjoy it, but I know others integrate it with other machines to good effect.
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Lyra8
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could’ve been schrödingers clip too. kind of.
OT if set up right can be great for improv stuff, it is pretty simple to do, once you decide WHAT you want to do.
For example you could set up a project with the 8 tracks assigned to their respective buffers, have 4 mono or 2 stereo sources coming into the inputs. Set up the tracks to how and where to record from, and how to play them back. Fun for days, and each time you load the project you could do something completely different, just remember if you want to save the buffer contents or not, as they are not saved unless done so manually.
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