How often do you use library presets? (POLL)

[orthodox]

That's the question. It would be interesting to see what people mostly build on in Reason.

[Proboscis]

I use presets, because I'm not that knowledgeable on synthesis. But from the presets I often load several instruments into a combinator, with each assigned their own unique FX, even shift the attack on some, and route them through the 14:2 mixer (still within the combinator) to adjust panning, EQ & gain of each. I usually end up with something that if listened to, would not be recognized as any single preset. There may also be additional LFO's added to add some subtle movement to various parts, and I will always program the rotaries to do something extra in the sequencer. Often the buttons too, to mute or solo specific layers.

In the end it's a very custom and unique sound that I build myself, but made entirely from presets !

[Jackjackdaw]

For me, the sound design is an integral part of the creative process. So I am 'from the ground up' person. But I study presets a lot. To learn new synths and to get inspiration. I will often take a preset from new synth and try and clone it in one I am familiar with to see if the new synth brings something unique and is worth learning.

[reddust]

For now I take the first option as my synth knowledge is still far from getting a good sound in a short time but the goal is to make my own sound presets once I know how to achieve the sound I need for any situation

[chaosroyale]

I have never used a preset in my life and consider them a waste of space, but I guess that's pretty far in the outfield.

Actually - from a user perspective, I *would* appreciate more options to control the content we download, so each user could tailor their experience with a lighter or heavier install depending on their needs. The R10 optional contents were a good start in that direction: I would like the whole sound bank to be optional and even allow individual devices to be "unchecked" to lighten up the UI and speed up the workflow. Most of the native devices are pretty small in memory terms, so downloading them is not really a problem, but it would be nice to be able to remove things from the menus - people like me could install only the core program, no sound bank, and check only the devices they actually use, and have a super light and quick UI, not having to scroll through menus full of stuff they never need.

And of course the RE sync menu needs the option to select on the RE's you actually use, that's been overdue for years now.

[jlgrimes]

I use presets and tweak them. I find that usually helps gets my songs done the quickest.

This is probably more genre based though than anything as in many EDM styles, it's important knowing how to modulate stuff overtime so you will probably have more programmers, also a well verse synth programmer probably can get the sound from their head from scratch than preset browsing, but that said it's nothing wrong with either way as for many songs, the programming of a part could be more crucial than actually performing the part, where other styles, your playing/ step editing techniques probably come across more than the actual sound (or uniqueness of it).

Also while many dont program actual sounds, they might layer, tweak with EQ, Compression, Reverb and other effects to make the sound their own.

[Rising Night Wave]

I always use presets since I am not that much skilled in creating on my own.
I use presets for sounds and effects.
Sometimes I modifiy parameters.
That's it.

[VIVIsect]

I do a lot of sound design and I create my own libraries of presets/samples/loops to use later. So If I have a particular sound in mind, I'll usually just make it. But if I'm browsing through factory presets and hear something that I like, that inspires me, I have no problem at all with using it. I've used lots of Omnisphere/DIVA/Zebra presets. There's some amazing sounds there that I surely would have never come up with.

[Chizmata]

maybe once a year

[xboix]

You've missed off the option for "I always use presets and never modify them". There are more people in that category than will ever admit it in public.

[chimp_spanner]

I do know how to make presets, and sometimes I even enjoy it. But these days my time is so limited that if I fire you Reason I wanna make music. Not mess with knobs. So increasingly I’m using presets to get things done, adjusting them if I have to or making my own if it’s quicker

[adfielding]

Mostly 1 and 4 here, and it generally depends on context.

I used to blend the processes of sound design and composition a lot more back in the day, but these days my workflow is a lot more compartmentalised in that regard.

What's always been the case is that if I'm working on a particular project I'll draw from a palette of sounds - this will often be a mixture of patches I've created myself and sounds from other commercial sample libraries. This palette will either be something I consciously figure out beforehand, or something that naturally forms after creating the first track or two for whatever I happen to be working on. This helps to give the tracks a more cohesive sound, and means I'm not inundated with choice when I ought to be writing music. For a long time this process wasn't something I was consciously aware of, but something that would naturally happen anyway.

So yeah - I've made a load of sounds for commercial libraries, and I still draw from those myself, but I'm absolutely not averse to using and/or tweaking library presets from other sources. At the end of the day it's the music that counts, and if it sounds right - it is right.

[orthodox]

This is probably more genre based though than anything

Yeah, I thought about that. I just wanted to see to what extent the capabilities of Reason instruments are used. Because Reason seems to be more encouraging to work in that field than other DAWs, even if they provide the same capacities to sound design. The Rack and devices are in the center of things here and they occupy a large part of thoughts.

[TritoneAddiction]

I use presets all the time. But I often drench them in effects so most people wouldn't recognize them anyway.

[Philup]

The group I play with doesn't have the patience for me to faff around with synths when we are writing.
When we are jamming on a new idea, I find myself playing out pad lines or counter melodies and flipping through presets at the same time. Once I land on something that is close I save it and tweak it later when they are taking a break or when the session is over.

[Re8et]

I made a live-set last week using 90% presets because they sound good, they are a fast way to build up something, and they consumes almost no cpu!
But I'm talking Reason SOUNDS libray presets, no RE...

[Timmy Crowne]

I don’t mind using a preset if it works for the composition. I struggle against imposter syndrome, so I used to see synth presets as cheating, but I realized I didn’t feel that way about a sampled violin patch. No one cares if two composers use the same string section. So I try not to burden myself with that pressure anymore. Making way more music now!

[adfielding]

I don’t mind using a preset if it works for the composition. I struggle against imposter syndrome, so I used to see synth presets as cheating, but I realized I didn’t feel that way about a sampled violin patch. No one cares if two composers use the same string section. So I try not to burden myself with that pressure anymore. Making way more music now!

That's a really great way to look at it, imo.

[MrFigg]

Yep...presets. Scroll and scroll until I hit a good one.
Get a bit frustrated sometimes that many presets across different devices sound almost exactly the same as each other though.

[brand]

I voted "use presets with mods".

Having said that, I kinda get the idea that making your own sounds from the ground up is de rigueur in EDM and sound design -- even given that the poll reports a pretty low percentage of "create sounds" people. I'm trying to slowly learn about sound design. I've been making music for a long time, but as a bass player, not so much an EDM and sound design artist. So I have a lot to learn. But as others have said, I too have very limited time, so presets are very handy to have and tweak when I finally have a little time to work on a project.

But I think it's also fair to say that you can learn a lot from seeing how presets were made. Using them as is? Fine for me, if it fills the bill, I got no problem with that. But it's interesting to understand how to recognize how a sound was made, etc.

[Jackjackdaw]

If anyone is keen to start learning sound design from the ground up but is time limited or put off for whatever reason, I really recommend Europa in Reason Compact for iPad. It's a simplified interface but works on the same engine and patches can be exported to full fat Europa for expansion later. Its a great learning tool i think and worth the entry fee.

[Oquasec]

Presets are prolly one of the best ways to learn how to use something besides the manual.
Spend 8 hours on like one preset for each synth you use in the beginning.

[Proboscis]

You've missed off the option for "I always use presets and never modify them". There are more people in that category than will ever admit it in public.

I'm not sure I understand why you believe people are supposed to think it's some secret shame in using presets. No idea how many factory patches are in Reason for all the instruments, maybe 5,000 - it's not as if we're talking about some cheap 80's synth with 99 presets, and only half of them usable.

The heart of a great track is in the composition anyway, not in the many hours spent in making a single sound from the ground up. Now, I'm all for unique stuff, especially when it gets into the 'weird' category, and most of the electronic artists I am a fan of are (by my guess) creating a lot of their sounds from scratch, but on the flipside, acoustic guitar music hasn't changed in sound for hundreds of years, nor has orchestral music. Neither of the genres spawned from those instrumentation sounds is showing any signs of getting stale. Acoustic pop is always going to be in the charts, and orchestral music is always going to be in films.

I use presets all the time. But I often drench them in effects so most people wouldn't recognize them anyway.

This member's music is some of the most incredible stuff I've heard from forum contributions, so it's worth highlighting his post. And it raises a very good point, that presets can be significantly improved upon by no customization to the patch. A single preset ran through some basic FX (also factory patches for the FX if you want to look at it that way) can be changed significantly with nothing more than a Scream distortion and a Chorus. And as I stated in an earlier post, layering presets in a Combinator also creates whole new sounds, often without any tweaking of any single preset.

Hence why I have trouble comprehending why people should even feel embarrassed about using presets - and why you think this to be the case.

[Proboscis]

Yep...presets. Scroll and scroll until I hit a good one.
Get a bit frustrated sometimes that many presets across different devices sound almost exactly the same as each other though.

Two things come to mind here.

First is that it was so much easier to scroll presets before Propellerhead changed the browser. It was simply arrow up/down. Now, this can still be done, but one must create very specific conditions for it to happen. It's a pain in the butt.

And secondly, it would be great if we could remove (or hide) patches that sound similar, or ones that we know we would simply never use. For me that would be most filed under 'bass' for any synth. I don't think I've ever used a bass stab in my life (to me, bass is a sustained instrument, period), but that's what most of them are, and therefore very tiresome searching through hundreds of irrelevant entries every time.

[Jackjackdaw]

I spent many years as an acoustic guitarist. The very fact it sounds largely the same no matter what is exactly what inspired me to learn electronic music and craft my own sounds!