Tough question.
Initially guitar and bass since those got me started playing music way back when. Within a couple of years I scraped enough cash together to get a four track and that really cracked my brain open.
A big contender would be a soldering iron though. Mastering that taught me that practically anything is potential gear.
I export the ideas in both MIDI and audio via Dropbox and then take it to Cubase / Ableton.
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Youāve mentioned before the OP-1 for finishing tracksā¦
Not so much mention of that for Digitone
Over the years, the thing that Iāve reliably come back to time and again is Reaktor. Most recently Iāve been so inspired by the M8 Tracker and then I recently decided to get a Maschine Mk3 which has proved to be quite the revelationā¦
I got mineās precisely because I had a realisation that it could be used in a quite Elektron way. Iād always thought of it more as samples and NKS standards etc - an inerface for the computer but still fundamentally tied to it. However, Maschine+ being announced got me thinking and then I realised that the Mk3 was a more cost effective way to achieve what I wanted and Iāve found that I never look at the computer.
The key to achieving this is to emulate the Elektron concept of āmachinesā like you get on the MD, MNM, AR and M:C. I do it using Reaktor Blocks by building a small synth which can be done in 10mins if you want (Iāll often play about for longer trying out different combinations of filters/oscillators/whatever) and then saving that. In Maschine, open Reaktor within a āsoundā, open the mini synth you just built, clear all the pages from the macros part of the Maschine and then create a fresh page of macros, click ālearnā and map the most important controls from the mini synth, then finally save that as a āsoundā. The whole process including building the Reaktor synth takes 15/20mins. After that, itās super quick to just browse to your user sounds with the Maschine controller and load a custome designed synth.
So, for me, Iām basically using Maschine with only itās internal drum synths (which sound pretty great) and a collection of about 8 āmachinesā that are tailored to my taste - I never use samples, browse plugins etc though I could in the future if I want - and the workflow is exactly the same as when Iām using my Elektrons. The other bonus is that I can open a project in the plugin within Live and then route the channels to separate tracks and then can record performances in the same that I use overbridge.
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Thatās definitely an opinion! Some people find that a workflow that works for them is the best way to feel inspired enough to make music at times. Some devices or instruments also brings things out of people creatively that more traditional ways wouldnāt. I know world class musicians that use a tambourine to start their guitar writing process. Donāt ask me why but thatās what they do. Itās kind of short sighted to think āitās about practice and learningā ok and what about if youāre well practiced and learned but bored! Life is multi faceted, as are people.
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Guitar. And a ZT Lunchbox amp that allowed me access to quality clean tones at a volume that didnāt shake the windows out
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Exactly. You canāt make music with a pencil or a car, even if those are the things that have helped you creatively.
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Agree on everything you say. Felt completely the same way.
Great idea with reaktor blocks. Makes so much sense to build small synths that fit the interface, only with few key parameters.
And the blocks sound soo good.
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Itās not short-sighted at all, itās a reaction to the way the topic was proposed. I totally agree that certain instruments or objects or workflows can bring out creativity. I didnāt suggest otherwise. But this thread was proposed in such a ridiculously broad manner, that it sounded like the OP was potentially a bit lost and looking for gear to solve a lack of creativity, which is a frequent theme on forums and often one which ends in money spent / lost, creativity and energy wasted.
The point is, if youāre practising and learning and making the most of what you have, then you tend to have a much stronger idea of what works for you and
what willl help you achieve more ā¦ and thus you donāt need to create yet another broad, aimless and pointless list of peopleās favourite gear.
You actually can. Imagination, creativity, knowledge and ability trumps a pile of gear every time. But hey, letās just write the word octatrack in a list a bunch of times.
Hah, give me an example of music made with a pencil please. Iāll give you that you can make music with a car, as Iāve heard and totally dig an album of a car running ildly for 40 minutes.
At least in part: EinstĆ¼rzende Neubauten āDie Explosion Im Festspielhausā.
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Yeah, used other gear as well and not the main instrument of that piece. Iāll allow the music to have been recorded, but the pencil should be the main instrument. And not like, hitting a table or scratching a paper but the pencil itself.
For example Aubeās Aqua Syndrome is all sampled sounds of water, but heavily processed so while water was the main sound source, itās not just him recording himself splashing around in a kiddie pool. He needed a sampler and effects to achieve it and Iād say the water itself wasnāt the most important single element in his workflow.
Pencils? Just a few quick examples of their uses that spring to mind:
Mini - 8Dio Tiny Object Sample Library for Kontakt VST/AU/AAX ā 8dio.com (pencil samples in this)
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/library/glass-of-water/ (instrument made with only glass of water and pencil)
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/library/pianochord/ (pencil used to strike strings)
Col legno - Wikipedia (a technique often performed with pencils to save damaging bows)
The point is, you can take the sounds made with a pencil (either snapping, writing, hitting an object etc) and easily turn them into music if you have the imagination. Iāve made live music with groups of children or less able adults using nothing but pencils or other similar items, with no FX or processing, just the sounds in the room. And did we make a creative, interesting and atmospheric musical performance? Yes, we absolutely did.
So now everything in this thread isnāt allowed to interact with anything else? No FX or processing or anything else needed whatsoever? Because thatās a totally different proposition. I donāt see why youāre imposing that rule to prove your point when people are taking the time to educate you. Samplers are nothing without samples.
Not to mention the fact that with all this talk about āworkflowā, a pencil can surely be one of the best creative tools, which is the theme here 
Have you ever seen hand-written scores? It can be an enlightening experience seeing the āworkflowā of those who built our musical history.
Yeah, just need a clear example of music where the pencil itself is the main musical element or the clear #1 piece of gear used in producing the piece. I can give you countless of examples of other more familiar instruments or more dynamic objects being used as a main element, most likely main source of inspiration but the pencil by itself isnāt one Iād imagine being the main source of inspiration for anyone, or the #1 gear that helped them creatively. Iāll be glad to be proven wrong!
Also samplers are definitely useful without samples, just make a feedback loop and you have a sound produced by the machine itself.
And just a disclaimer, this whole argument is pretty dumb and not to be taken that seriously.
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Thatās interesting. Iāve never delved into Reaktor, other than downloading a few Ensembles. I may take a proper look at Reaktor Blocks at some stage and see what it can do.
Itās good to hear others thoughts on Maschine. I used it daily for about 4 years, so itās played a big part in my music making past.
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Apple Earpods (the one with the cables, older iterations like from Iphone 4S). They sound just right to me.
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Electricity.
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I guess most of the classical music was written before being actually played.
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not with a pencil! and classical composers definitely played the music on piano or w/e instrument they had on hand and knew how to play before writing it down, or writing down ideas then trying them out before finalising them. even the story about beethoven writing a symphony when he was stone deaf is not true.
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In 2004, it was FL Studio and finding out I could record songs on a computer. The last few years, OT and OP-1 (and new guitars- every guitar has a different set of songs in it). I guess all of those are tied for #1.