Do you use presets?

ToxicBass · Post by **ToxicBass** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 12:52 am

I don't use presets at all but was just curious whether any of you other producers did?
If so what do you use them on/for?
I've always been under the impression that as electronic music producers all patches are made from scratch but I'm interested to see whether this actually applies in real life.

Wrigzilla · Post by **Wrigzilla** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 12:55 am

Depends, if I want a delay on every 8th note then yes I'll use a preset on my delay unit. If I want a specific tone on a melody/bass/whatever then no, coz I know I can synthesize it myself.

sixth sense · Post by **sixth sense** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 12:58 am

Personally I don't use them but they are there for a reason somebody designed them to be used if they didn't want them to get used I'm sure he/she could of left the software blank for you to create all your own.

Njamimars · Post by **Njamimars** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 1:01 am

I use them to get idea's, sometimes I change some settings, to make it sound some unique.

glottis5 · Post by **glottis5** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 1:14 am

I used to be against using presets, but I've changed my mind recently. I don't think I've ever used one without changing it a bit and adding effects, though.

deadly_habit · Post by **deadly_habit** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 1:18 am

if they sound good yes
no need trying to recreate something that's already done
hell some of the most iconic sounds in edm were presets at one point

abZ · Post by **abZ** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 1:26 am

Sure sometimes.

jobbanaught · Post by **jobbanaught** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 2:20 am

deadly habit wrote: hell some of the most iconic sounds in edm were presets at one point

TM45 · Post by **TM45** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 2:22 am

Mostly. Building nice sounds from scratch is very tedious, Much easier to take a preset that has the right idea and make it the sound you're looking for. Would I be able to replicate that sound? Yes... but It'd take me much longer and delay musical creation!

Also I save all the synths I make myself as presets, then use them where I need them. All my subs are the same setup, cause I spent ages perfecting that one sound, so I'ma use it again.

There is nothing cheap about using presets, If they're the sound you're looking for, then why not. However, using presets and not deciding if it is the right sound is laziness.

the_agonist · Post by **the_agonist** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 2:27 am

ToxicBass wrote:I don't use presets

i can appreciate that most creatives have ethics when it comes to working on their art or whatever they call it, but i cannot see how people can have such hard and fast rules for themselves when it comes to audio. just because they didn't make it themselves.

if i want and like a 303 sound i'll get a 303 sound without going around the houses for it, if i want and like the colour blue i'll get the colour blue, if i like that pad preset that Photek made for that reaktor synth...i'll play it, record it, and probably use it, if i like the piano...(you get the picture...Don't fight it, feel it).

If it makes people feel better that they made every single the sound themselves completely from scratch and need to tell themselves and other people that that was what they did...then i think there's other issues going on or at the least there's something lacking. Perhaps they should be working in a lab on some sonic audio innovation, going beyond the key's, filters, envelopes, soundwaves, oscillators, source, voltage and energy and instead be looking at new theories and approaches to DSP, instead of involving themselves in genre specific music production, where epic numbers of producers are using similar tools developed to get them on the same path as the innovators who have since long wondered into new territories.

Sirius · Post by **Sirius** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 2:29 am

a preset is like picking up an instrument. if its the one ya want to use... use it.

but when it comes to the mixdown stage... ya gota effect it to put it in the place you want!!

most of the time people want something original. but thea aint nada wrong with using something for its qualities like!!

!!chea

+3 · Post by +3 » Sat Oct 30, 2010 2:50 am

Sirius wrote:a preset is like picking up an instrument. if its the one ya want to use... use it.

but when it comes to the mixdown stage... ya gota effect it to put it in the place you want!!

This.

abZ · Post by **abZ** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 2:58 am

Sirius wrote:a preset is like picking up an instrument. if its the one ya want to use... use it.

but when it comes to the mixdown stage... ya gota effect it to put it in the place you want!!

most of the time people want something original. but thea aint nada wrong with using something for its qualities like!!

!!chea

Sure. I don't think you would be able to spot a preset in my music. Besides the fact the programming is all me, there is also effects chans and all that. I mean next thing you are going to hear is using a premade vst is lame. Learn how to code you lazy fucks!

AfterEmpire · Post by **AfterEmpire** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 5:00 am

I usually like to make my own settings on synths. 80% of the time i feel like I'm cheating if i use some preset that somebody else made.
BUT at the same time, I do like to use em to get me pointed in the right direction that other 20 % of the time. They do make some cool shit every so often, but it just hella sucks havin to click, click, click my way through 900 presets till i find a sound that fits into my track.

And even when i DO find a preset that I'm feelin, I always fuck it up and change it in a lotta different ways just to have my own signature sound.

Remember, it's about originality, moving forward, and avoiding stagnation musically.

I've said it before and ill prolly say it a thousand more times, Without Contrast, Your Dead.

Voodeedoo · Post by **Voodeedoo** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 5:08 am

I think using a software is lame. Learn how to create your own software, you scallywags!

No no, scratch that. Buying a pre-made computer is lame. Build your own computer to use your home-made software!

jklol
I don't really use presets anymore, but when I find one I feel would be needed in the track, I can never help but add effects and fix the EQ'ing and such.
Even the masters use premade loops, though. I've heard countless garageband loops in songs by Thievery Corporation, Prefuse 73, and Justice. Even Aphex Twin used an Ableton Suite preset on his track "Z Twig".

symmetricalsounds · Post by **symmetricalsounds** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 11:52 am

i wouldn't cuss presets but just remember they are what someone else has done with a synth. it has their choices/their taste/their mood embedded into the sound.

Echoi · Post by **Echoi** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 12:04 pm

I sometimes look to Reasons presets for inspiration for pads only.

samurai · Post by **samurai** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 12:08 pm

i generally don't but that's just because i like sound design. it has nothing to do with artistic integrity or anything like that. i see no problem with using presets. and like somebody already mentioned in this thread a lot of the time i use presets from effect plugs. maybe i'll tweak them a little.

plus what deadly said is true. some of the most iconic sounds in edm are based on presets. you don't have to reinvent the wheel everytime.

Genevieve · Post by **Genevieve** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 12:29 pm

I'm not against presets, but when it comes to synth patches I refuse to use them simply because I just wanna get really good at sound design so forcing myself to only use my own patches helps.

That and I don't like the bulk of all presets for what I wanna do.

It's really a 'to each their own' type deal, really.

TM45 · Post by **TM45** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 12:57 pm

It's like asking, do you sample your own drums/piano/whatever - I'm sure there are some people who do... but why would you? It costs a small fortune for a mic and studio environment to get a good piano sampling set up, and then you need a piano as well. Drums are slightly easier, but who buys a drum kit just so they can sample it? In the end most people just hit the 303/808/909/whatever, because it's the right sound. There's no point recreating it, if it's already there. EQ it, effects on it, make it yours, but don't do unneccessary leg work. Unless you really like fouriers theorem, then by all means spend forever making a violin sample from scratch

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