In fact, there are many rather prolific sound designers that spend a lot of their time and effort creating synth presets for the masses.
But you can still find a master of your own and learn from them! Chances are, if you really like a patch that someone made, they have other synth presets you would enjoy as well. The sound design industry definitely seems like one that is worse for this trend. Knowing these things helps you avoid frustration in your own sound design sessions.Īpprenticeships under a true master is something that has slowly disappeared in many industries and trades of the years. Perhaps it is a certain wavetable that you don’t like when it’s used with a certain effect or filter. Take a few moment to dissect some of these synth presets to see if you can identify what it is that is rubbing you the wrong way.
There are probably even more that you find annoying or not worth keeping. Maybe you don’t have many patches that have mistakes in them, but I’m sure there are many you feel could have been done better.
Once you get it, use it right away.Ĭhecking out other peoples’ synth presets is also a great way to avoid making the same mistakes they do. Well, you can be sure to find synth presets that use that filter in such a way that allows you to wrap your mind around how it works. Maybe there’s a filter that you never use because it mystifies you. So use them! Try to find small elements in a patch that you can use as jumping off points in your own patches. Maybe it uses wavetables that you never use. Sometimes all it takes is the smallest sound to get the creative juices flowing again, and what could be easier than loading synth presets! Selecting a preset that you may not normally pay any attention to is a good place to start. It is also on the prowl for musicians, sound designers, etc and there are some great ways to fight it off. Writer’s block is not something that only haunts those who put pen to paper. Learning more about sound design, and synthesis in general, from reverse engineering synth presets is a great way to get past plateaus and/or writer’s block! Especially with the modulation assignments and macro controls. If it seems beyond what you could do on your own. Don’t throw it away! There is probably a lot you can learn from it. Perhaps it does not even sound close to something that you normally use in your projects. So you load up a preset that is really complex, deep and pretty much intimidating to you at your current sound design experience level. But I do feel strongly that presets are a GOOD thing to have on hand, and even to seek out! Now I am the first in the room to stand up and say that people should make their own sounds and not use generic ‘cookie cutter’ presets, as I do truly feel that it hurts more than just the songs they are heard in. It’s the idea that all synth presets are bad. And there is a common theme that keeps popping up in forums, magazine articles, Facebook threads, etc that is a little alarming to me. I do a lot of sound design, across a lot of different synths. I have a few tips that may make you reconsider.
There are many people who swear you should throw away all the presets that come with your synths, and maybe you’re one of them.