Harsh but true
2 is the sweet spot for me. I have OT, A4, and MD but most of the time it’s OT and A4. If I take out the Machinedrum it’s usually to replace OT, it’s just too much with all three going. but I just started digging into midi after defenestration’s recent OT midi video and the OT+A4 combo just grew exponentially.
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I’d say 3 if one is an OT. -/+
- = More focused performance
- = More potential
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gets real nice around the 15 min mark!
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I’ve got an OT and DT. Both are great writing devices in studio. Additionally, I work with a Moog Minitaur, 0Coast, OP-1, Ableton, saxophones, guitars…
On stage, I’m just OT, Saxophone, Eventide H9 for the horn.
I live in an over-saturated music city (Austin), and you have exactly no time to setup. A lot of throw-and-go situations. The lighter the rig, the lighter the stress. I also have enjoyed the hell out of distilling samples and sequences down to the essentials… meaning - what do I really want to have hands-on in a live situation. The OT also gives me great routing options such as running a click track to the drummer.
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3… that’s the magic number.
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Max did a great job with that video, sent me down a fun rabbit hole with OT/A4
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2 for me. DN handles basslines, Melody, pads. MD handles percussion, in most cases when they’re paired. Enough knobs to keep my hands busy. I could always use song mode from the MD to make arrangements easier for the 2, but my DN is setup as a midi brain for my studio. Which has me thinking, I can maybe go MD midi out to DN midi in for song mode, and hopefully not get midi lockup, hmm…
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I use the AR and OT live plus synths. I use song mode on the AR atm with manual changes of patterns on the OT. I use the OT as a mixer/fx box and loop player. I often flip around the songs, using the OT transition trick to crossfade between patterns/songs. I did bring my SV-1 out live, with a bassbott. I will just use the bassbott and run SV-1 samples/stems from the OT in the future - (although live patching is great fun - but I have new ideas as i learn more OT).
when in the studio i try to limit myself to what my setup will be live, that way there isn’t much difficulty translating stuff from studio to live. for a short while i gigged and wrote with a monomachine and 4 volcas. because everything was sequenced from the same place, it was an incredibly easy workflow. i’m finding lately that two elektron boxes (dt/mnm) work quite well together for myself, in the studio and live. unlike using the monomachine to sequence the volcas, attention gets split across the two elektron boxes so live i dont think i would want to juggle more than that.
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That’s how I am. As more of a traditional artist it doesn’t feel the same making music you can’t play at least 80-90% of live. Led Zeppelin for instance was very different live than in the studio but they got all the main aspects across.
With my A4, DN/DT setup the A4 just didn’t fit in correctly, about to get a Rev2 instead. I think in a year or two I’d feel comfortable getting an OT but I’m new to sampling and have never utilized it before outside of my DAW so the DN/DT combo is perfect due to the pattern change syncing, letting me play the Sub Phatty and guitar as I please mostly with the occasional tweak here and there.
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Probably 2-3 is the sweet spot for most if you plan on actively using all of them during a set… obvious adding in other complex instruments will lower the number a bit. Something like the A4 sounds really lively to me even if you just run sequences live with out tweaking, if you spent the time building interesting patches, while digitakt likes to get a bit more attention. But yeah I think all the boxes can benefit from more input which is why solo elektron jams usually are awesome also.
For the studio recording I don’t think there is a definitive answer as it is so dependent on what your overall workflow is. Personally I’ve never had more than two on the go at one.
For live I do think that a more slimmed down approach should be favoured unless you’ve got a road crew to do the setup and break-down for you. I’d say two would be the maximum I’d be comfortable with but only if it was the two Elektron boxes only as that’s plenty to be dealing with. Probably with a notional split of one being for rhythms and one being for melodic/harmonic/random sounds.
I am in the (very, very) slow process of pulling together a liveset and one of the goals is for it to fit in a backpack. So, I’m just going with one… it’ll be the DT acting as the main hub with some external boxes to be sequenced by it. Right now, leaning towards DT, Skulpt, Acid8 and Volca Sample. I think that hits the sweet spot of flexibility and complexity.
That sounds nice mate. I’m working on a track for my first ever release of my own music, a thematic release. Hopefully it’ll be done by the end of the year even though it’ll be under 30 minutes lol. I think I might release a jam/skeleton of the track, unmastered and such with minimal effects. I like to do things in one shot (aka live) if I can but sometimes it’s hard managing all the devices and a guitar.
Would be great to hear what you make with that setup, sounds like a great combo.
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I like just working with the OT. Occasionally ponder the Digitone, but wish the operator relationships were more flexible. May get a TX81Z instead. But with the A4 and OT it just felt like too much. I’m not big on pattern sequencing though, so to really PLAY the Octatrack, that alone keeps me plenty busy 
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Two for me. RYTM and OT. Plus a couple of nice peddles.
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Still got a wee bit to go with it… all the components are sorted out but I need to sequence out the various parts of songs and practice and all that good stuff. I’ll likely share with the Elektronauts when I get there!
I couldn’t imagine handling a guitar at the same time but then I struggle to stand up and play guitar at the same time. I’d imagine that conditional trigs would be a life-saver for keeping things from getting too stale while you’re focusing on guitar parts.
Just the Rytm sending clock to M32 and 0-Coast is all I need!
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THE TRINITY!
Ok, a trinity, now that there are so many to choose from.
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Post a groove 
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