Just chime in to say thank you to everyone participating to that thread. So many answers, great stuff 
I didn’t find time to get to read all answers yet (nor playing much music) but I’ll!
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Depends what youre going for, stuff like autechre/rdj/amon tobin/squarep, etc. earlier stuff is mostly meticulously sequenced but with some subtle(or not) tweaks on the synths/textures/ambiance as the tracks progress, if you dont mind spending some time on the googles you can find bits and pieces of most of these guys studio tricks, workflows, etc …
some fun links, around gear and process.
(Syrobonkus interview afx-2014 parts 1 & 2 )
https://web.archive.org/web/20141103131334/http://noyzelab.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/syrobonkers-part1.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20141110102633/http://noyzelab.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/syrobonkers-part2.html
Aphex twin, use of Hockets and Counterpoint in melody and harmony
http://disis.music.vt.edu/eric/LyonPapers/AphexTwin/
(Autechre talking sequencers)
https://www.soundonsound.com/people/autechre-techno-logical
http://notebook.zoeblade.com/Aphex_Twin.html
http://notebook.zoeblade.com/Autechre.html
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To me IDM can be composed… i don’t see why IDM need to be 100% generative. I really do think the idea of harnessed Chaos is the key and the course from Noah Pred is great in that regard. I try to keep a ratio where i’m still the master of what i’m doing. For sure Experimentation and Sound Design will be the nerve center while Tools will just give me pieces of unintended ideas (and welcomed if it’s tasty to me, strange or interesting). I don’t let the groove to be generated by an AI i have to drive it the way i feel it and not the way it’s offer to me like click i like that clic i don’t like that… because then, what’s given is not thinked on what i already have. So i still come to my idea of a ratio like 60-70% Harnessed and Driven by me while 30% is giving me that extra. I also use sounds that i’m not too familiar with and Modular Mind Set is important.
But then i considered the construction like free jazz.
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Yes, surely, except if you use the song mode. The MD one, for example is like a tracker, very adapted to IDM. OT one, also
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After DJing for years at events where people need to talk instead of dance, I try to make my music something that’s full sounding, but you can talk over it.
Instead of blistering walls of noise, I like a lot of space in my music.
Lots of times when making tracks, I go through it and subtract a lot of sounds.
I widdle stuff down to only what’s necessary.
This is SUPER fun with conditional trigs.
Lately I’ve limited my new tracks to 1bar patterns and conditional trigs.
Also only using 3 tracks with the AK.
I like building in parameters like that, if forces me to stay in some lines, and in a way helps me develop a style instead of getting lost in unlimited options.
I also get really addicted to hearing each sound.
I want to highlight them.
I choose things so deliberately, and try to leave room to showcase that effort.
With conditional trigs, I NEVER choose a random percentage.
I fiddle with it and choose something on purpose.
My workflow is slow, but rewarding in the end.
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I mean IDM existed quite a bit before KOAN and Eno advocating for it.
God, I need this 
1 Realizing space through Elektron band/width filters
2 Using AHR envelopes to shape timing
3 “just use less shit!” the hardest so far!
@bodymechanics Since this is a more universal struggle (and my personality is definitely more-is-more) do you have any abstract tips or guidelines you use to separate wheat from chaff?
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Slowly start removing sounds until it’s not a blob
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Speaking on conditional trigs and also removing elements to let tracks breath, do you happen to use the neighbor “NEI” trig conditions at all? I’ve never really dove into them and it could add some nice empty spaces for an IDM track at certain moments.
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I use all the conditions except percentages.
They are so useful, especially when turning simple drum beats into something that evolves.
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just use the amen break, it works
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I tried, didn’t lead to anything interesting. I guess I lack imagination when it comes to this style.
I find the amen break slightly annoying at this point, but this is just a sidenote 
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I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I will be stuck in undergraduate sequencing the rest of my life and never reach PhD level.
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Amen break is tired. if you look at the IDM/braindance artists that did use breaks, the Amen Break (Squarepusher and The Venetian Snares aside,) wasn’t used as much as say, Incredible Bongo Band’s Apache break, or Rusty Bryant’s Fire Eater.
It does pop up, but it doesn’t define the genre the way it defined drill n bass, D n b, jungle, breakcore etc.
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Sure, i just found that amen works as source quiete well, when i tried slicing, where other drumloops didnt sit so well. I still process it though.