Ableton Forum

To each their own I say!
If you're comfortable hearing sounds in your music in other people's music then go for it.

I prefer to make sounds of my own for each new tune because I enjoy the process of making sounds and exploring different synth architectures. Also rather than hunting through libraries of presets saying to myself "no, no, no ..." I find it quicker to make the sound I want to hear. Quite often musical ideas stem from the sound design process also which takes me in different directions. Sometimes my sounds are made on analogue instruments with no memories (e.g. MiniBrute).

However, for me it's not a hard and fast rule. For example, if I'm making something which I want to sound like a real acoustic instrument (e.g. Piano or acoustic drums for example) then I feel no shame in reaching for a library. Then for some instruments which have truly amazing presets built in which inspire ideas (e.g. Oberheim Matrix 1000) I will start with a preset and maybe tweak it a little further to match what is pleasing to my ears.

p.s. Loved the "you're not a unique snowflake" comment ... Fan of Fight Club possibly? Great film!

Good comment.

Using preset or creating your own sound

both are good as long as you aim for inspiration.
you need a specific sound, then presets are time savers.

Why taking hours for making a sound where you could load the right preset?
Well you could do that for learning...
later, you'll have a better control over things, tweakability.

Hey OP - I don't care if you use presets or not!

I love creating my own sounds - but top priority is making good music.
I'd rather make good music with a couple presets here and there, rather than decent music with all-original sound design.

TheNobleNemesis wrote:I love creating my own sounds - but top priority is making good music.
I'd rather make good music with a couple presets here and there, rather than decent music with all-original sound design.

Same here. Plus you paid to legally clear those sounds you got in live suite, komplete, etc. Whynot make music with it? Don't get me wrong I love tweaking sounds till my heart's content, but sometimes I have a drum pattern or melody in my head that I want to try out and presets are good for putting a rough draft. Now my final product may not even use the preset sounds, but its great for the sketch.

When I finally had a better understanding of synthesis I was really into using all my own sounds but now I don't care.
One thing that helps knowing how to program sounds is just that it can be quicker if you know what you want or how to make it instead of flipping through sounds until you find what you like. But a lot of this depends on the synth and how much presets they have for it.

There are synths that are just as quality sounding as most of the popular ones but because they have a ton of presets (and youtube videos) is why they're used more.

I love creating my own sounds - but top priority is making good music.
I'd rather make good music with a couple presets here and there, rather than decent music with all-original sound design.

Saw this the other day & it made me think of this thread:

I'd just like to add that goat farming can be very fulfilling and it may have been that persons true calling so don't judge. For many the process is more rewarding than the product.

making love to a goat would be sticking point for me...

this thread was a great read.

i've grown my own music from instruments and drums from scratch to the point that i think it sidetracks me too much. at my DAW, i never sit down and make what was in my head, but not for lack of want. after the transport loops 40 or 50 times it just gets lost somewhere. if i sit down with my bass i get something a lot more like the melody in my mind's eye...

i've been seriously thinking about changing my stance on loops and presets lately (the last part of the intro to Mad Men has been urging me to) so this thread was well timed.

what i actually meant to post before all that came out was that so much rock and blues music uses the same 3 chords that this is far from an original dilemma...

make the sound yours.

i never sit down and make what was in my head, but not for lack of want. after the transport loops 40 or 50 times it just gets lost somewhere.

I'd recommend starting out in Arrangement then, and coming up with different chord progressions for an overall song structure, and then chisel more detail onwards.
You can get stuff done pretty quickly that way.

Example, just come up with different chord progressions each for verse, bridge and chorus. Then you can lay out the general template that each one will span so many bars until it changes, etc. So now you have like 3+ minutes of a song template down, then you have something to work with a sculpt it from there.

i'd like to see how YOU do that...
i've seriously been thinking about trying to come anew and toss out everything i [think i] know to carve a completely fresh approach for myself and form some new habits.
it sometimes feels like i've been this part of the band that is waiting for the rest of the band to show back up... but i think this one time in band camp... now, everyone is off in the woods.

I'll do a video but the list of things to finish right now is crammed and pretty time-sensitive.

As far as sounds, sometimes hearing the same popular ones can get old, but that's a personal preference, or at least a distinction between classic sounds like the 303 as opposed to the same trap riser or Massive wobble preset.

But a natural part of being new to music is wanting to sound exactly like who you like and it's a helpful learning process so you can't really hate on that.

Matt_Quinn wrote:Saw this the other day & it made me think of this thread:

Very appropriate, nice one

A song is more important than any of it's parts. It's fruitless and a waste of time to obsess over any one part of a track, sounds/presets are only one aspect.

You need to put things in perspective, you mentioned that you never finish a track, and that you speed too much time on programming sounds. You identified your problem yourself, you are spending too much time on your sounds.

It doesn't matter what you use in a track, whether it's presets, loops etc. It's about whether you put some thought into being creative and put in your own ideas. This will always shine through, regardless of the ingredients you use.

I would say if you're going to use presets then you should choose one quickly, within 5 minutes, and then move on to the next thing. Why? Because you may as well get the benefit of something pre-made and not have to spend time on it. If you are spending hours to find a preset, then you are losing out a bit. Those hours would be better spent learning to program at a separate time to making a track.

The other thing, that you also mentioned is that you often change sounds later in the track. There's a lesson there, as a track progresses you often change sounds of in it as you idea starts to solidify - so - knowing this will happen why spend lots of time on a sound right at the beginning when you know it might be changed later when your further in the track.

You need to implement a rule, only allow yourself a few minutes to either pick a program a sound at the beginning of a track. Then when The track is most arranged and towards the end of completion, then come back and attend to your sounds again. You will have a good idea what you actually need by then.