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So can you spot a Preset?

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 7:02 am
by botched
Just got back from a long holiday, While i was stuck in some beach hut drunk i made a track entirely out of Pre-sets. This got me wondering!

Could people tell? Personaly i cant tell Oh and im not going to (Sound Cloud) the tune because its shit.

Re: So can you spot a Preset?

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 7:51 am
by sifres
Not really... Unless it's Brutal Electro Brostep :twisted: But really. It's better to steal smart then to create shit... Unless you steal an arpregiated melody right out of the box that is.

People tend to create better music from home made patches though. Because they invest time in them. If you don't bother to put time into creating sounds, your tracks are prone to lack certain elements too! Simply not trying hard enough ey ;)

Re: So can you spot a Preset?

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 7:54 am
by LFpHUNK
can u spot a gay

Re: So can you spot a Preset?

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 7:54 am
by nowaysj
I occasionally use presets here and there. But I love it when other people use presets. Not being sarcastic, though it sounds it.

If you use a preset from a popular synth, yes production heads will probably recognize it unless you push it pretty far.

There are two kinds of presets, in my estimation, relative to this issue, tonal presets that are just tones/timbres, and then melodic/rhythmic presets. I think using the later is less genuine, and far more easy to spot.

But if you can make a good song with presets go for it. Jesus doesn't give a fuck about presets, only throbbing bass.

Re: So can you spot a Preset?

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 9:29 am
by botched
LFpHUNK wrote:can u spot a gay
Yes,

Re: So can you spot a Preset?

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 9:34 am
by kejk
botched wrote:
LFpHUNK wrote:can u spot a gay
Yes,
Case closed.

Next thread.

Re: So can you spot a Preset?

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 9:41 am
by Basic A
nowaysj wrote: There are two kinds of presets, in my estimation, relative to this issue, tonal presets that are just tones/timbres, and then melodic/rhythmic presets. I think using the later is less genuine, and far more easy to spot.
'

This, its like the difference between playing the same Fender guitars as jimi hendrix or playing some hendrix tabs at a different tempo, right?

Re: So can you spot a Preset?

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 9:49 am
by stappard
I spot massive presets all the time, even in Zomby tunes (though my ears may be deceiving me).

I guess it says a lot about my familiarity with massive presets :lol:

Re: So can you spot a Preset?

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 10:01 am
by botched
kejk wrote:
botched wrote:
LFpHUNK wrote:can u spot a gay
Yes,
Case closed.

Next thread.
Bad men, DSF never changes

Re: So can you spot a Preset?

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 11:02 am
by slothrop
nowaysj wrote:But if you can make a good song with presets go for it. Jesus doesn't give a fuck about presets, only throbbing bass.
I think there are loads of ways that a tune can be original or expressive or interesting - it can do something fresh or expressive with any of:
* melody
* harmony
* rhythmic feel
* beats
* lyrics
* sounds of individual instruments
* combination of instruments (even if they aren't unusual in themselves)
* effects
* structure
* atmosphere / vibe
and that's just a quick list off the top of my head.

And I don't think any musician / composer really gives their full attention to all of those - a lot of great jungle is fairly harmonically unadventurous and doesn't use particularly unusual sounds but does go hell for leather on the beats, classic house does more with the vocals and the melodies, and a lot of older dubstep uses a fairly standard beat and a one note bassline but really works on making the sound of the bass unique and expressive.

So I think it's pretty ridiculous to jump on preset use as being a special thing and say that because you can't possibly producing interesting or expressive or original music just because you're using a preset flute sound rather than synthesizing your own. Particularly when a lot of the sounds that people do produce from scratch aren't exactly earth-shatteringly original - as in, wow, you've produced an analogue pad sound that sounds a great deal like all the other analogue pad sounds that everyone else did, but you did it from scratch instead of using a preset so it totally blows my socks off.

With whole-tune presets, I don't think the producer deserves massive props for sticking a beat under a preset, but I don't think it neccessarily leads to bad music - so it depends whether you're producing music because you want to do something creative yourself or whether you just want there to be more good music in the world. Again, I don't think it neccessarily makes for boring music - I mean, 2D is an awesome tune and sounds nothing like any other dubstep, even though it's obviously based on a preset - it definitely pushed the scene forward into new territory rather than holding it back and making it predictable.

Re: So can you spot a Preset?

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 11:47 am
by abZ
I have used presets but you probably wouldn't be able to tell because I usually process it at least. I usually can't tell but I told someone once that something sounded like a preset and he admitted it was. I have not clue what the patch was from it just sounded like that. A big clue is when you use an arpeggiated patch or maybe one from Massive or something. You would most likely get away clean if you use presets from something that most people don't use.

Re: So can you spot a Preset?

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 2:26 pm
by deadly_habit
abZ wrote:I have used presets but you probably wouldn't be able to tell because I usually process it at least. I usually can't tell but I told someone once that something sounded like a preset and he admitted it was. I have not clue what the patch was from it just sounded like that. A big clue is when you use an arpeggiated patch or maybe one from Massive or something. You would most likely get away clean if you use presets from something that most people don't use.
this
if the sound is done for me and i dont have to synthesize it, why am i gonna waste my time cloning a preset...

Re: So can you spot a Preset?

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 2:33 pm
by nitz
If your a reason then user, then yes. I will spot the comb from a mile way, no matter how much you process it, some of the original values of the sound still stay.

Re: So can you spot a Preset?

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 2:49 pm
by paradigm_x
Easy, black clothes, white collar.

Wait...

Re: So can you spot a Preset?

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 2:52 pm
by deadly_habit
paradigm x wrote:Easy, black clothes, white collar.

Wait...
:lol:

Re: So can you spot a Preset?

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 3:23 pm
by FSTZ
acces virus presets are next level out the box

but I still don't use them

Re: So can you spot a Preset?

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 3:26 pm
by deadly_habit
FSTZ wrote:acces virus presets are next level out the box

but I still don't use them
dnb does like mad though

Re: So can you spot a Preset?

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 3:39 pm
by Sharmaji
if the tune is really good and it uses a preset,chances are no one'll notice the preset.

if it's mediocre and the only awesome thing that sticks out is the preset patch...FAIL.

i hear both alot. really don't mind at all if it's done well.

Re: So can you spot a Preset?

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 3:45 pm
by FSTZ
deadly habit wrote:
FSTZ wrote:acces virus presets are next level out the box

but I still don't use them
dnb does like mad though
yes...

and I have a blast reverse engineering them

Re: So can you spot a Preset?

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 4:21 pm
by abZ
nitz wrote:If your a reason then user, then yes. I will spot the comb from a mile way, no matter how much you process it, some of the original values of the sound still stay.

Yep when I used reason I ignored the prests, sound banks even refills and even then you get pegged for using the distortion.