Guide on how to find matching VST Sounds

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
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polyhickup
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun May 29, 2011 11:00 am

Guide on how to find matching VST Sounds

Post by polyhickup » Sun Mar 29, 2015 6:31 pm

Hey guys,
I often Face the situation that i got a nice melody and a drum Patterns but when I try to usw several vsts or find different sounds that match I dont know how to Start.
I think of the frequency spectrum and which Kind of Sound matches which instrument, but this doesn't help me finding the right sounds that match.

So you guys have help for me regarding this?

I would ne grateful,
Johannes

Garry Knight
Posts: 280
Joined: Fri Sep 12, 2014 6:24 pm
Location: London, England

Re: Guide on how to find matching VST Sounds

Post by Garry Knight » Sun Mar 29, 2015 8:19 pm

It depends to some degree on what kind of instruments I want. For example, for a bass I might just choose one that I know I've used before and that works with what I'm doing now; but I'm more likely to call up a synth I know fairly well and just design one that fits the type of music I'm making. And I'll almost always make sure it has a little mid-high frequency content and layer it with a purpose-built sub, these days usually made with a saw and pulse wave combination; I used to use just a sine wave but it's boring and too boomy.

With the kinds of music I make (electronica and EDM mostly) layered pads always seem to work better than a single pad. I'll go through some of my own patches and some factory presets to find two or three that fit the music, then layer them across the structure of the song, using automation to bring one or two out higher in the mix than the others, and switching some on and off depending on what else is going on and how busy it's all getting.

For leads, I have a few favourite sounds that I tend to like, so I'll call up a few patches and choose one or two that I'll then tweak to fit the music and the frequency range it's operating in. And it's nice sometimes to build a call-and-response type piece with two or more synth leads.

I'll usually have a few plucks and arps coming on in different parts of the track. And it's always fascinating to me to experiment with sounds that weren't designed for plucks. Patches I've used for pads or leads in the past can be turned into plucks by altering the amp and filter envelopes, and arps can be made to sound good by modulating the filter, or a Live EQ or AutoFilter, or even the sustain part of the amp envelope to give them a good movement across the verse/chorus/whatever.

Having said all that, I've just bought u-He's Hive and am playing with some gorgeously fat factory presets, layering and weaving them with my own new patches until I've got a complete piece. Oh, music's such a drag, isn't it? :D

I guess it's completely different with other music styles, though, and I hope other people post their strategies in this thread.
Garry Knight

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