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Just got my hands on Z3TA+ plugin and it's insane. The presets are so so good. But not sure I feel about using them in any of my jams.....

Is it cheating to use presets?

Nope

naw man, just use them in moderation. don't bog your tune down with 20 of them lol

If it sounds good use it man. Shit, most of my pads are made from a sine wave and some white noise with processing. No need to get fancy about shit if you can make good sounds with something simple. A load of my tunes use presets to add bulk to my own sounds too. Nothing wrong with it at all if it sounds good. Fuck the elitist hate on presets.

it's nice when you first start out with designing sounds to reverse engineer presets.
just remember to develop your own style.

aslong as its not brutal electro ur safe lolz

i use alot of pad presets

Everything in this datsik tune is a preset found in massive...

Presets should be used sparingly.

My favourite thing to do is take presets and fuck with them until I have a very different sound that I can call my own. This way you can guide yourself by finding a preset you like, and then changing parameters and adding effects until it's an entirely new sound. This also enables you to learn how certain sound "types" are made.

I'm very picky and hate it when I hear sounds that are similar in different songs. Thus, I almost never use presets except when it's exactly the sound I want, first try.

kaiori breathe wrote:Nothing wrong with it at all if it sounds good.

Yep...

They are there to be used. Especially if you bought an expensive plugin for few hundred, the presets shouldn't go to waste!
The only thing I would say is to remember to learn how the presets were made, and to try and recreate some of the ones you like to understand more about synthesis. Remember that synths aren't just romplers! Otherwise you will be buying new synths every time you want more sounds, when in reality all you should ever need is 1 good synth. That's not to say it's not nice to have a few good ones of course, just spread your purchases out over time and learn each one.

i can't help but start my own basslines from scratch. but yea...everything else..if a preset does the job then why not? the only people that are going to notice are trainspotters anyways. who gives a shit?

Wikum wrote:i can't help but start my own basslines from scratch. but yea...everything else..if a preset does the job then why not? the only people that are going to notice are trainspotters anyways. who gives a shit?

Yeah this, basslines should really be made from scratch imo, leads I normally do too. I use reason so I never use presets with the inbuilt synths cos a: they are waste and b: I know the synths too well but when I am using ableton for pads I often hunt for a good preset to work with cos I don't understand chimera or some other vsts at all XD

Btw that datsik tune is the best thing i've ever heard from him! Though that's not saying I actually like it

paravrais wrote: Btw that datsik tune is the best thing i've ever heard from him! Though that's not saying I actually like it

You can't be serious...

I think the problem with synth presets bundled with the software are that 9/10 they are purely designed to show off what the synth can do –the chances of finding what you’re actually after are almost impossible… probably why so many forums out there are full with ‘help me make this sound’ posts!!

I think the sooner , as a producer, you start messing with your synth and making your own sounds (which also gives you invaluable lesson into how your synth works) the better. You'll also start to develop your own sound. As a side benefit your not going to sound like the countless 'cookie cutter' saturating the market. Also why be happy with somthing that's kind of close when if you took the time to learn the process of making a certain sound you can 100% get the sound/effect you're after.

Saying that - sometimes you stumble across a pure gem of a preset.
This track by Slam - the whole thing is based on a preset for arturia arp 2600

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIbI2kCFbvQ

It's completely untouched. But it's a beaut!

BananaBomber wrote:aslong as its not brutal electro ur safe lolz

i use alot of pad presets

I love how brutal electro has become a punchline in the production community.........it just makes me laugh. It's like ya know how i know youre gay!? How? Cuz you use brutal electro.........ha ha ha cigarette!! I dunno

th@-pu$$y wrote:

BananaBomber wrote:aslong as its not brutal electro ur safe lolz

i use alot of pad presets

I love how brutal electro has become a punchline in the production community.........it just makes me laugh. It's like ya know how i know youre gay!? How? Cuz you use brutal electro.........ha ha ha cigarette!! I dunno

erm...

sixth sense wrote:

paravrais wrote: Btw that datsik tune is the best thing i've ever heard from him! Though that's not saying I actually like it

You can't be serious...

I fully am, it sounds like something a forum newbie might post in the tracks for feedback thread. Whereas the other stuff i've heard from him just sounds like brostep crap. I'm not saying that tune is good, it's shit, it's really shit. But it *is* better than anything else i've heard by him.

lol just saw this new track from D double E. Uses brutal electro 2 a lot...

Maybe it will eventually become like the amen loop and people will start using it ironically?? or maybe everyone should just STOP

*sigh*

EDIT: actually I quite like that song XD

my man did the animation for that d double ee video. shameless plug for him and his crew http://exm-collective.blogspot.com/

mad love for sytrus presets