That is a nice story!
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I find the combination of quality instrument + quality sequencer together with deep yet accessible functionality what makes Elektron special for me.
My first box was a Digitakt and after spending some time with it, I made more music I loved in a week with it than I would in a month with all my midi/computer based setup.
Got an Analog 4 next and at first felt a little underwhelmed by the sound…but again I took my time to get to know the instrument and soon its beauty emerged in front of me.
My third Elektron box is an Octatrack Mk2, I got that just a month ago, spend the first night taking it slow with all the talk about how complex and complicated it can be…and found my way right into it real quick despite its phenomenal functionality and depth.
To me what makes these boxes special is that they really are instruments to me, each with a clear purpose, each with a UI/UX design that gets out of my way (once the underlying logic is understood) and makes happy accidents possible (by being so damn jammable).
Lastly the quality and feel of the build (at least of the boxes I have…I know there were problems with quality control for a while) makes me feel like I am dealing with something solid that is worth its money and that inspires me to approach it with some solidity.
I love these boxes, writing this as I’m listening back to a late night jam that happened under last night’s moonlight… 
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For me the “magic” is, what makes me always go back to one of my Elektron boxes again and again. They are very versatile and there is a continuously ongoing process of exploring new things. They never got boring. They always have been inspring … even after years.
Maybe the magic is that they are tools, which stimulate creativity in many ways.
What makes the Elektrons unique for me is the well thought out combination of a very good sound engine and a deep sequencer. But I think that has often been said before 
If I compare the workflow with all those trigs and locks to a standard DAW approach, I would say that I never would do this Elektron trigging and locking there. Many Elektron boxes make it easy to use more then hundred parameters creatively on the fly, without deep thinking, record them, change them, improvise over them …
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My first Elektron device was Sidstation, which I bought used sometime in 2009 or so. I think both the Machinedrum and Monomachine were out By then, but Octatrack wasn’t out yet. Elektron had a reputation for making really fascinating products that were regarded as being very high quality, they felt out of my reach, and listening to the sound demos avaiable back then I wasn’t sure if they would have been for me. They really seemed to be going against the trend, doing their own thing.
Sidstation turned out to be a bit less magical and way, way more temperamental than I had hoped to, and I have a very strong love/hate relationship with it. On good days I love it, and on bad days it can’t even do simple midi sync properly. I still use it quite a bit, even if I’ve moved away from typical videogamey beeps and boops, atleast for the time being. The rawness, purity and power of it is still something I enjoy.
Digitakt was my second product, and I think with it the magic is that it sounds so good and is more than the sum of it’s parts. The workflow is so easy, it’s really pleasant to work with, and making all sorts of quirky sound experiments with it is really easy and inspiring. I had a couple of drum/sampler thingies before that, sold them because they didn’t sound essentialy any better than just using samples on a Computer. Digitakt has this really muscular, 4k ultra HD quality to it, especialy after the compressor update.
Digitone is my third Elektron piece and it’s like the dream synth for me, everything about it is so perfect. Amazing sounds, amazing usability for freaking FM synthesis, pair up with Digitakt really well. Really feels like something I’ve been looking for my whole life.
I think for me what has made me so into those two is the usability and excelent sound quality. Maybe for the older generation of users Elektron devices have been these tantalizing puzzle boxes to be perfect, for me they’re like really high quality Instruments, pretty much everything about them is so enjoyable to work with.
Except Sidstation. But that is a thing of it’s own & a practice run for the Company.
Funny how you can see how the parameter locks have their ancestry in the wavetable function on Sidstation though.
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For me the magic is that Elektron product dont lose value as as fast as some other brands.
My first Elektron was the Sidstation in 2001 it was more nostalgic. Two months later the Machinedrum and that changed my way of making sounds & music immensely.
For years the Machinedrum UW & Monomachine where my favorite instruments.
Nowadays my favorite instruments are the Analog Four mk2 & Analog Rytm mk2 and I really enjoy the new form factor.
The most important magic about Elektron is the sequencer like a big way of modulating the sounds!
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I love the design, the small size of the machines (AR, DN, A4, AH, OT), and yet the immense flexibilty. The apparent complexity gives me days, weeks, months, years to learn and explore these machines, to adapt them to what I like to do, to what I did not know I like to do. Kits, parts, scenes, sounds, machines … daunting at first sight but then long term pleasure. With these machines staying with me for years, I appreciate the updates and care they provide to make even more with them, but also ensuring they are reliable, stable etc. I got to Elektron with the dark trinity. I know nothing about the company or the people there but for the reasons stated above, I like not only the “products” but also the people behind the machines.
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Daniel Hansson
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Amen!
Yea i was thinkin yesterday when watching Simon’s instagram of his M:S demo tune, where else would you get a company member making an official demo acid track heavily influenced by Aphex, and really damn good too.
Love the Elektron guys
And I feel at home with their gear in many ways.
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Older products are Monoliths
It’s getting rounder, maybe Elektron products will become progessively spherical…
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That demo almost convinced me that the fake skybox is real. But then I slept on it, and I am yet again firm in my belief: they would never release a machine where all labels are in capitalized letters. PURE Savagery!
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Fun topic… I have a hard time defining it. I started with a MNM about 9 years ago and it still remains my single biggest music purchase which felt like such a big investment to make at the time. Over the years, I’ve got a good few others usually on a good deal 2nd hand and I think the next one I bought new was the DT. But I couldn’t say there was one unifying and singular aspect that I could point to and say “that’s the magic”. They all seem to work really well as a whole and one their own, but also work so well with my other gear.
And they all have such longevity that I know I’m unlikely to ever sell any unless I hit financial struggles that necessitated it. Otherwise, if I’m not in the mood for one - I can find a wee cubby hole for it a while… 6months, a year or two… but at some point I’ll come back and get the smile on my face from using it and rediscovering it.
I guess I sound like a bit of a mad hippy… man.
Plock swing and the machine’s ability to make my random fuddling start to sound groovey and imaginative.
Naturally it’s all me.
But I couldn’t have done it without that elektron magic.
Elektron Magic is trying to figure out what speed and multiplier means in the real world… only wizards understand it.
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The Elektron magic for me is the multifuncionallity. It’s so impressive that they manage to incorporate so many functions in a small box like the Digitone for example.
And its the support that the Elektron staff gives us on this forum. Never experienced that before with another company.
Yeah, that’s really true. Tonight I was making a kick sound, got bored of it and tested different settings and all of a sudden I ended up with a hard Dubstep sound that sounds so bad ass 
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elektron magic isnt so much a sound as it is a feeling… as i walk passed those other synth owner in the supermarket in the parking lot in the office i can feel the feeling inside me …and my smirk as i walk past these other synth owner in public lets them know it too. i walk 64 steps at a time
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They cram quite a lot of functionality into a small space, look super cool, and sound good. I also really like the workflow (generally).
As a (serious) hobbyist, the most important thing is that I’m attrcated to using a piece of gear. Otherwise it won’t get bought or used. A lot of that is down to how it looks (and after that, how it works). I am a designer by trade after all.
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FYI, The MegaCommand gives the MD those things plus more.
As for Elektron magic, the inspired ‘scenes’ of the Octatrack, performance features of the Rhytm, as well as the CTR machines of the Machinedrum are still unmatched by any other hardware instruments.
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