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Generally I like to custom craft my sounds but I use certain source sounds a lot. For instance I use Superior Drummer for most of my drums but over the span of the 3 libraries I have, each with several options per drum, there's a fairly large variety of samples. The fact that they're multisamples helps as well, since different velocity will produce a similar sounding but different sample. A lot of times I'll pitch them and envelope them and of course they get processed in individual channels and the drum buss. Despite that processing also being quite similar each time I do it, my compressors and eqs aren't set exactly the same each time, which all stacks up to a relatively unique sound each mix.

The comparison to standard electro-acoustic instruments is a good point. However the focus of these two genres need to be taken into account. The Beatles used the same instruments and recording gear for ages because they were focused on songwriting, melody, harmony, etc. And despite their love for using the same gear, they still managed to coax out a wide variety of sound on their albums. Reuse of sounds is fine as long as you still do something creative with them each time. If you've ever defended a lack of musicality in your tracks by saying "It's more about the sounds and texture" then you'd better make sure you're not just reusing the same sounds and textures over and over.


There's also something to be said for the value of experimentation. If you're sticking to the same sounds all the time how are you ever going to discover new ones? You'll learn a lot from trying to synthesize new timbres and coming up with modulation schemes. I'd say unless you're already a master sound designer and have chosen the subset of sounds that you like best, you should continue to break new sonic ground. If not for the sake of your music's quality, then for your own growth as a producer.

honestly it's about melodic content when it comes to "leads, pads" etc, I don't see people reusing "sounds" mattering at all.

Hypefiend wrote:honestly it's about melodic content when it comes to "leads, pads" etc, I don't see people reusing "sounds" mattering at all.

And now Live 9 can replicate drum patterns and chords from samples I think "reuse" is going to increase. Stand on the shoulders of giants. It's all fun, so long as you're creative and you're learning and not just plain stealing for the sake of it.

I have a few awesome sub bass sounds I've made that i'll use all the time to add sub to my tracks but usually other sounds I try to reuse minimally.

I think it's perfectly acceptable to re-use sounds that could solidify you own sound as an artist. Sometimes it's called a "signature sound", something that's easily recognizable and unique to said artist.