Post
by glitchrock-buddha » Fri Nov 26, 2010 9:49 pm
The thing is, a preset is not a preset is not preset.
There are those presets that more of an instrument, which are rather uninteresting if you play a single note, but because of velocity and the range of sounds over the keyboard, yield very interesting results when played in certain styles. I would say good guitar, piano sounds, strings, or other real world instruments that are meticulously sampled are like this. Or synthetic instrument that are very dynamic in the same way and lend themselves to expressive playing. These are more instruments to me than presets (although the actual device would classify it as a preset). Playing one note and holding it does not make something that is usually considered music. I think in these cases using presets is no different from playing a guitar that you didn't make. The point is to play it. If you're super hard-core designer maybe you want to make a particular instrument but it's not really as much a part of the writing process, more of an inspiration.
Then there are presets that have so much going on and so many layers that they are small compositions in themselves. You find this especially with multi-layerd synths that have multi-stage envelopes. Pressing a single note can be make it play a song for you. This is where the sound design is really the composition as well. And of course there are infinite shades in between the two types I mention. At the end of the day, it does all depend what you want to get out of it. Is it satisfying for me to press a note and throw a bunch of stuff on top of that and call it my song? No. But I use presets all the time when I just want to play synths or keyboard. Even those presets that do have many layers and interesting textures (absynth and Alchemy pads for example) I do like to use sometimes, because they can be quite amazing. Those can also be sounds I like to create myself, so that's the gray area. I like to ask myself what the preset would sound like if someone else was using it. If I write a song on a guitar and so does someone else, they won't be recognizable just because of the instrument. With presets, if I think someone else using it will make it sound very much the same, the may affect my judgment about whether I want to use it or not.
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