A Synth is only as good as its presets

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You can always send your synth through Psychic Modulation's melt FX plugin :wink:

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Urs made Zebra 2. He will be a legend forever even if he makes nothing else. Period.

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fluffy_little_something wrote: Mon Oct 22, 2018 10:07 pm You can always send your synth through Psychic Modulation's melt FX plugin :wink:
Funny. I just bought Phonec 2 after messing with Phonec Cm for a few days. I also got Melt and I cannot stop playing either of them. They really sound like the good old days.

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anomandaris1 wrote: Mon Oct 22, 2018 5:10 pm I've never found any use for drone/ambient noise type presets. I guess they are useful for chill/cinematic type people, but you can use any type of sound with lots of reverb and get something usable for these styles...
I guess I'm not the only that thinks that - see Absynth - a very capable synth that has a reputation for only making such sounds. It's almost abandoned and there are almost no third party presets for it.
Arpeggiated or sequenced/too complex modulations with lfos,envelopes etc/self playing (like lots of Reaktor stuff) presets - also completely useless for me. You can't use them in a original composition without changing everything.

Give me a sound with assigned some midi CC (new Fxpansion stuff+Roli keyboard), XY morphing (like Alchemy/Kore and some others) - these are great.
i beg to differ ...
talented people spent time to create these presets ,
and i for one can find a home for them ...
reaktor and absynth , in particular ...

i quite enjoy taking presets that others deem 'unusable / useless' ,
and weaving them into a coherent track ...
perhaps a few tweaks , perhaps not ...
Image

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experimental.crow wrote: Mon Oct 22, 2018 10:14 pm
i beg to differ ...
talented people spent time to create these presets ,
and i for one can find a home for them ...
reaktor and absynth , in particular ...

i quite enjoy taking presets that others deem 'unusable / useless' ,
and weaving them into a coherent track ...
perhaps a few tweaks , perhaps not ...

And on the next day you find countless tracks imitating you, using the exact same self playing preset. The composer is the preset programmer, not you.
I've seen synths with "classic" trance/techno riffs in the factory presets. Guess how many kids will use them directly into a track. I doubt most of these will be any good, by some day someone may have a legal problem, if his tune becomes popular.

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anomandaris1 wrote: Mon Oct 22, 2018 10:22 pm
experimental.crow wrote: Mon Oct 22, 2018 10:14 pm
i beg to differ ...
talented people spent time to create these presets ,
and i for one can find a home for them ...
reaktor and absynth , in particular ...

i quite enjoy taking presets that others deem 'unusable / useless' ,
and weaving them into a coherent track ...
perhaps a few tweaks , perhaps not ...

And on the next day you find countless tracks imitating you, using the exact same self playing preset. The composer is the preset programmer, not you.
I've seen synths with "classic" trance/techno riffs in the factory presets. Guess how many kids will use them directly into a track. I doubt most of these will be any good, by some day someone may have a legal problem, if his tune becomes popular.
heh ...
Image

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anomandaris1 wrote: Mon Oct 22, 2018 10:22 pm
experimental.crow wrote: Mon Oct 22, 2018 10:14 pm
i beg to differ ...
talented people spent time to create these presets ,
and i for one can find a home for them ...
reaktor and absynth , in particular ...

i quite enjoy taking presets that others deem 'unusable / useless' ,
and weaving them into a coherent track ...
perhaps a few tweaks , perhaps not ...

And on the next day you find countless tracks imitating you, using the exact same self playing preset. The composer is the preset programmer, not you.
I've seen synths with "classic" trance/techno riffs in the factory presets. Guess how many kids will use them directly into a track. I doubt most of these will be any good, by some day someone may have a legal problem, if his tune becomes popular.
 
That's what I always wondered about those ARP/SEQ presets. Should they be altered before you publish something with those in it?

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sleepcircle wrote: Mon Oct 22, 2018 10:01 pm it's not all nostalgia. a big part of it is the ballistic nature of electric current, and the endless self-interactions which create all that sonic interest and liveliness.
True, which is why I'm considering going the hardware direction.
<List your stupid gear here>

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synths which contain sequencers where copyrighted material has been included within the factory bank should be named and shamed tbh. never seen that myself.

I'm under the impression that sequences are by far the least used category though. we've all heard countless regular presets in commercial tracks but, seq/arp patches? nah. and the underground producers steer well clear also, petrified of some other dweeb finding out about it.

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acYm wrote: Mon Oct 22, 2018 11:37 pm synths which contain sequencers where copyrighted material has been included within the factory bank should be named and shamed tbh. never seen that myself.
You have never seen any? Come on. Even the names of the presets give them away, you should recognise them, if you have listened to any electronic music in 90s, 00s. The reason they make them is to show off how close to the original sound is the preset.

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well yes but it's never an exact note for note copy of the riff.
if there's a synth where the factory bank has actual, accurate ripoffs of music in it, like, you select Insomnia and hold a key and the track plays, I'm curious to know which one it is, I don't think I have it.

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It's been a while since I've listened to the Eurythmics, but the default preset for Synthmaster is, uh, pretty sweet... and dreamy.

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This thread should really have been titled,"A synth is only as good as it's user" 💡
No auto tune...

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synth presets: the only way to judge them is to use them in context. some synths can sound amazing just browsing presets but first thoughts can be misleading until you have tried it mixed with other sound in a track. i find this with plugs like z3ta+... which i end up loving as a result....

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Presets are definitely important. Just look at some of the most successful keyboards like the DX7 and M1. Their presets are incredibly iconic and used on a lot of different records of the time. Most people couldn't tell you which synth they came from, but they will recognize the sounds instantly.

Personally I don't think using presets comes down to "lack of talent" or "laziness", just producers focusing on different parts of the process of making a song. Some of my favorite artists use a lot of presets in their songs, but the songwriting and production are interesting so it doesn't feel unoriginal. Electronic musicians are somehow expected to be jacks of all trades - song writers, sound designers, mixing engineers, producers, mastering engineers... While e.g. country musicians get away with using the exact same guitar "preset" on 10 consecutive albums :P

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