Work as a patch designer?

Need some fresh sounds? Want to show off your sound design skills? Here's the place!
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crystal
Posts: 5
Joined: 06 Dec 2016

22 Dec 2020

Hey everyone! I'm a longtime Reason user (all the way back since Reason 4 :cool: ), and I was looking to get some advice/pointers from people who've found work designing patches for Reason (or ReFills or Rack Extensions). I've been designing patches for people for a while but I was looking to turn it into actual work. Anyone had experience with this, and if so, how did you find RE designers or ReFill makers? Thanks in advance!

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QVprod
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22 Dec 2020

Refills don’t sell as well as they used to from what I understand. Rack extensions have pretty much overshadowed them. If interested in developing RE, you can sign up here https://www.reasonstudios.com/developer ... nsions.php

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Jackjackdaw
Posts: 1400
Joined: 12 Jan 2019

22 Dec 2020

It must be a hard market to crack. Every Youtuber and their dog is putting out sound packs these days.

crystal
Posts: 5
Joined: 06 Dec 2016

22 Dec 2020

QVprod wrote:
22 Dec 2020
Refills don’t sell as well as they used to from what I understand. Rack extensions have pretty much overshadowed them. If interested in developing RE, you can sign up here https://www.reasonstudios.com/developer ... nsions.php
I don't have the coding knowledge for that unfortunately... believe it or not I was actually thinking of something like tribute but even simpler, literally a one-wavetable synth with bare-minimum controls for like $15 that could work with the external effects of reason but load its own samples... would love to make it if i had the coding knowledge! And yeah, it doesn't seem that ReFills sell that well any more...

crystal
Posts: 5
Joined: 06 Dec 2016

22 Dec 2020

Jackjackdaw wrote:
22 Dec 2020
It must be a hard market to crack. Every Youtuber and their dog is putting out sound packs these days.
Exactly. I kinda wish I had started a youtube channel, gotten my name established... :x

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visheshl
Posts: 1235
Joined: 27 Sep 2019

22 Dec 2020

look i believe if the refill has tons of patches, and you price it at 9$ people will buy it just to have it in their collection for the sake it...make sure you have a few really awesome patches and keep the refill well organized. if you're a good patch designer i say try it out...put a few good refills on the store...the least that would happen is noone buys it...if you keep it on the store...chances are a few people would buy the refills every once in a while.... you'd at least get some extra money for a coffee or a burger or if you're like me a bottle of whisky

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Loque
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Posts: 11175
Joined: 28 Dec 2015

22 Dec 2020

crystal wrote:
22 Dec 2020
Jackjackdaw wrote:
22 Dec 2020
It must be a hard market to crack. Every Youtuber and their dog is putting out sound packs these days.
Exactly. I kinda wish I had started a youtube channel, gotten my name established... :x
Today you can make more money with your dog on a YouTube channel than creating refills.
Reason12, Win10

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Jackjackdaw
Posts: 1400
Joined: 12 Jan 2019

22 Dec 2020

crystal wrote:
22 Dec 2020
Jackjackdaw wrote:
22 Dec 2020
It must be a hard market to crack. Every Youtuber and their dog is putting out sound packs these days.
Exactly. I kinda wish I had started a youtube channel, gotten my name established... :x
Never too late. It's a lot of graft putting out regular videos though! Put something out you are proud of and see if you can make it grow. Got to start somewhere.

chaosroyale
Posts: 728
Joined: 05 Sep 2017

22 Dec 2020

"Preset designer" is not really a job* - it's more of a side-gig for musicians and engineers who already do something else.

With that said, every time a new VST gets released, they need a bunch of good presets, and eXode only has 24 hours in a day ;)

So, what you might want to do is get really really good at programming a synth by a maker who release regular updates or new devices, and send them it as an example your work when you have a collection of 100 presets or whatever. Also you can put that preset collection on sale on their forum and try to get some buzz there. If the devs like your sounds enough, they might contact you to make some of the official presets for their next device.

As other posters have said, "sound packs" are just everywhere these days, and if you limit yourself to refills or Reason-only devices, it will be a very small market. A preset pack for zebra or serum will get you a much bigger market, although you will also be competing with a gajillion other sound makers.

Ironically, while I am pouring cold water on the idea, I am also thinking about releasing an FX combinator collection (as a bunch of .cmb files, not as a refill because who cares about refills any more) simply because I have so many good ones and people here seem to like them and find them useful. I am not expecting it to make a whole bunch of money.

*I'm sure someone will find an exception to the rule.
crystal wrote:
22 Dec 2020
Hey everyone! I'm a longtime Reason user (all the way back since Reason 4 :cool: ), and I was looking to get some advice/pointers from people who've found work designing patches for Reason (or ReFills or Rack Extensions). I've been designing patches for people for a while but I was looking to turn it into actual work. Anyone had experience with this, and if so, how did you find RE designers or ReFill makers? Thanks in advance!
Last edited by chaosroyale on 22 Dec 2020, edited 1 time in total.

Yonatan
Posts: 1556
Joined: 18 Jan 2015

22 Dec 2020

Loque wrote:
22 Dec 2020
crystal wrote:
22 Dec 2020


Exactly. I kinda wish I had started a youtube channel, gotten my name established... :x
Today you can make more money with your dog on a YouTube channel than creating refills.
:lol:
So funny and sad, but probably very true. "All I want is a dawg and a kittie".

But if one creates really awesome combinator patches, and have good sound examples, and show off some of them in youtube, I bet it could be a side income at least, combined with other things. You could probably earn more than a spotify channel with ones original music.

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Jackjackdaw
Posts: 1400
Joined: 12 Jan 2019

22 Dec 2020

You can't even afford dog food for your YouTube dog on a musician's Spotify income.

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Billy+
Posts: 4157
Joined: 09 Dec 2016

22 Dec 2020

crystal wrote:
22 Dec 2020
Jackjackdaw wrote:
22 Dec 2020
It must be a hard market to crack. Every Youtuber and their dog is putting out sound packs these days.
Exactly. I kinda wish I had started a youtube channel, gotten my name established... :x
It's not impossible but I wouldn't quit your day job. Maybe doing regular sound design videos/patch creation on a channel would eventually become more lucrative but the reality is the providers earn the real money and the creators get some crumbs and the occasional freebie.

The best way to look at being a creator is that it's a fun outlet.

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bitley
Posts: 1673
Joined: 03 Jul 2015
Location: sweden
Contact:

23 Dec 2020

The best thing you can do is to try and create a name for yourself. Email and reach out to the large companies. By doing so I have had a success working for Propellerhead, Clavia, PowerFX, Arturia in recent years (V7, V8, Pigments) and many others, while also keeping a steady flow and successfully selling my own libraries. Refills are not counted out in any way at all. I even sell my sysex banks for several hardware instruments. Starting out making sampler disks and JX8P & TX81Z patches for producers like Stonebridge and Denniz Pop (RIP) in the 90's when I mainly worked on Ensoniq EPS 16 Plus and ASR-10.

(Free libraries available and holiday sale at my site right now as well.)

Another thing was that I got to be testing gear for magazines and helping out with product design. I invented Nord Micro Modular for Clavia and my name suggestion for Malström was Wasabi back when I worked at Phead. Malström was obviously the better choice as it was designed by Magnus Lidström but I am still proud of making patches like "Amazing Lead".

Another great experience was talking to my heroes and delivering sounds to them - and they emailed me! Such as Roland Orzabal / Tears For Fears and David Gamson / Scritti Politti, Johnny Marr when working with the Pet Shop Boys etc. The heart pulse rate goes up when you get connected with people like that if you grew up during their heyday.

If you have it, they will want it!

Merry Christmas
Patrick

avasopht
Competition Winner
Posts: 3932
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

23 Dec 2020

I think teaming up is the best approach. That way you can create the full package.

Design. Marketing. Produced loops processed by an expert ear. Management of some sort.

You can't do it all.

And since you're a Reason head. Create IDTs as well.

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QVprod
Moderator
Posts: 3488
Joined: 15 Jan 2015
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26 Dec 2020

crystal wrote:
22 Dec 2020
QVprod wrote:
22 Dec 2020
Refills don’t sell as well as they used to from what I understand. Rack extensions have pretty much overshadowed them. If interested in developing RE, you can sign up here https://www.reasonstudios.com/developer ... nsions.php
I don't have the coding knowledge for that unfortunately... believe it or not I was actually thinking of something like tribute but even simpler, literally a one-wavetable synth with bare-minimum controls for like $15 that could work with the external effects of reason but load its own samples... would love to make it if i had the coding knowledge! And yeah, it doesn't seem that ReFills sell that well any more...
You don’t need to be a coding expert. From the same page I linked:
Turn content into instruments

If you're apt at building sample libraries but don't speak the language of DSP, the Instrument Development Toolkit is for you. The Rack Extension SDK2 comes complete with an advanced scriptable sample player with a powerful array of built-in effects and more to kick-start your development. It also helps to convert content created for existing sample-based products into a Rack Extension instrument.
Otherwise, you can try giving away free patches to build a name, but I wouldn’t recommend being Reason exclusive if you want land a fair amount of paid work. Keep an eye open for opportunities though.

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StephenHutchinson
Posts: 459
Joined: 27 Sep 2019
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06 Mar 2021

visheshl wrote:
22 Dec 2020
look i believe if the refill has tons of patches, and you price it at 9$ people will buy it just to have it in their collection for the sake it...make sure you have a few really awesome patches and keep the refill well organized. if you're a good patch designer i say try it out...put a few good refills on the store...the least that would happen is noone buys it...if you keep it on the store...chances are a few people would buy the refills every once in a while.... you'd at least get some extra money for a coffee or a burger or if you're like me a bottle of whisky
Back in the old days of yore, the Prop Shop allowed people to put up their ReFills. I have ReFill Packer and have a number of ReFills and sound packs on my web site and in production at the moment. You mention "put a few good refills on the store..." How exactly is that done these days? I see a lot of content on the Reason Studios shop, but all the links that used to allow you to upload your own stuff disappeared ages ago. Is there some way of doing this these days? Any info would be most helpful. Thanks in advance. :puf_smile:
:reason: Reason User Since Version 1.0
:refill: Reason Sound Design & Content Creation
Sound Dimension https://www.sounddimension.io

ReFiils: Ambientia Cinematic Soundscapes | String Theory (Friktion) | Algoritmo (Algoritm)

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moneykube
Posts: 3447
Joined: 15 Jan 2015

06 Mar 2021

might do it if reason worked right
https://soundcloud.com/moneykube-qube/s ... d-playlist
Proud Member Of The Awesome League Of Perpetuals

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Kevin Sunray
Posts: 34
Joined: 16 Feb 2015
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06 Mar 2021

Hey I think that you can sell your own sounds easily if they sound good as is. For me as a producer I am always looking for a sound that can inspire me to do sth. Sometimes I will start with a sound that inspired me and at the end make a track were that sound cannot be heard at the end and be a secondary sound. So it's all about inspiring other people with your sounds. If you can do it you can sell them, I'm telling you. And you are lucky if you make sounds for Reason because at least me and I am sure there are others still want to use reason devices instead of VST. I do it all the times.

What I do not like though is those packs that have those great professional previews and when you buy them the sounds suck, and it has happened to me a few times in the past.
Also I know that when you buy a pack you will never gonna use all the sounds. That's totally fine with me. At the end imagine that you make a track from a pack that you paid 20$. Well really compare it with going out for a drink where you pay the same amount of money for that drink. Personally even if I use 1-2 sounds from a pack and I can produce something out of it, it worth the money. That's how I see it. At the end patches and loops and samples is a tool for us and a tool that can inspire us.

Also I will say this. If I had to choose a refill with 200 patches or a refill with 20 patches at the same price? Well If the refill with 20 patches has a sound that I like I'll prefer it over 200 patches that can't do that work. So what I am saying is do it but do it professionally, craft professional sounds that can lead a track, sounds that can stand without any other element.

Regarding how to sell them. I sold my own refills without going through a sound distributor but this was until 2016 because until few months ago I was inactive on anything music related. So I really don't have a clue if it worth selling them by your own now or through a third party store. I think if you can sell your stuff directly it may be better income for you.

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