About the use of presets, packs: is it cheating?

[DJ Warmonger]

Is buying food in the market cheating? Real man should hunt the prey on his own.

Apparently no one in the world knows what technique did you use to create a track, it's only about outcome. For me its indifferent - I program my own sounds when I feel like and use presets when I don't have specific idea in mind.

[troxx]

You know what, it's exactly the point in that video on the 1st page. The average listener who is not a music producer/musician/composer is not going to care where you found or what you did to create the sounds in a track.

Something else to consider, do you enjoy what your doing? even if someone is using sound design or samples originally created by someone else? If the answer is yes, then crack on and don't give too shakes what anyone else's opinion is, at the end of the day its about having a good time, don't let someone else's so called high and mighty morale's on samples/loops/cheating actually make you feel bad and stop or hinder doing something you enjoy.

** Now close the browser and make some more tracks **

[Acid Mitch]

There can be lying if you tell people you create all your own sounds when you really use presets, but as music isn't a competition there is no cheating,. No rules are broken.

[Armadillo]

[troxx]

Its always fellow producers that always cry on about the use of presets/samples, as if their being short changed by the other guys/gals efforts. Am I really going to synthesise my own 909 or another similar kick drum when there are drum machines and oneshot samples already out there which achieve the same result? Even a drum loop if it works for you, what inherently stops you from using it, other than the fear that someone else has used that same drum loop & god forbid someone you don't know or have had any particular interaction with recognises that same sample.... holy %^&#, my life is in tatters!!!!!

Fair enough, people may get on there high horse with the more tonal synthesiser presets and making it your own, but really, that is an individuals opinion & should not and does not reflect the opinions of many other folk writing their own music. A lot of folk are not & have no interest in sound design, all they want to do is write a track & if presets help them do that, then great. Myself personally, I have load of sample libraries, sample packs, synth presets & I design my own synth sounds when I feel in the mood, if I want to use a particular loop straight up, i'll use it and I don't feel bad about tossing a few loops together to get something going. There are seriously too many music do gooders knocking around, spending too much time whining about other folk 'cheating' and programming their next 'unique' cowbell sound, than writing a track, jeez!

[deastman]

Use a preset, go to jail. Its the law, people!

[havran]

I think that using borrowed words and phrases (maybe even preformed letters) might be cheating in a way, but for me it's an acceptable compromise.

[T-CM11]

Here's the answer to end this topic:
If you follow rules that say that it's cheating, then it is. If you're not, then it's not.

[billcarroll]

Mozart was a fraud since he composed music using preset instruments. It's true. I read it on the Internet ... right after I posted it.

[T-CM11]

Mozart was a fraud since he composed music using preset instruments. It's true. I read it on the Internet ... right after I posted it.

I know what you're saying, but it's still a bad example. Are you a fraud if you're thinking about an M1 preset while making something completely different? Mozart scribbled down compositional symbols on a piece of paper - he didn't program instructions that (necessarily) resulted in a certain sound.

[deastman]

Mozart was a fraud since he composed music using preset instruments. It's true. I read it on the Internet ... right after I posted it.

I know what you're saying, but it's still a bad example. Are you a fraud if you're thinking about an M1 preset while making something completely different? Mozart scribbled down compositional symbols on a piece of paper - he didn't program instructions that (necessarily) resulted in a certain sound.

Its a little-known fact that Mozart composed all his music while thinking about the M1 house piano patch. After that, he was imprisoned for using a preset. This is a true fact. I read about it on KVR.

[T-CM11]

Mozart was a fraud since he composed music using preset instruments. It's true. I read it on the Internet ... right after I posted it.

I know what you're saying, but it's still a bad example. Are you a fraud if you're thinking about an M1 preset while making something completely different? Mozart scribbled down compositional symbols on a piece of paper - he didn't program instructions that (necessarily) resulted in a certain sound.

Its a little-known fact that Mozart composed all his music while thinking about the M1 house piano patch. After that, he was imprisoned for using a preset. This is a true fact. I read about it on KVR.

I believe it was Ludwig Von Vengeance that indicted him...
If only he had a modular system and a sex change!

[SteveWZ]

Such a pointless topic. People who use synths have been using presets since synths had the ability to save presets.

And on those tracks where the people used presets, they used and engineer to mix the track AND a producer to polish it too!!!!!

And quite often a session musician to do the bits they couldn't.......

So true...

[incubus]

You are all being served.....you're all being sued for not being original enough to talk on a forum.

[Xenos]

...I have made a lot of synthesizer presets over the years and I have even won a preset competition a very long time ago (lol), but I'm not a good producer. I can imagine there are lots of people who are the opposite of me, they happen to have great talent in producing/composing music...

I feel ya, man. I'm in the same boat as you. Highly proficient in sound synthesis, but can't produce for sh*t lol. I love writing music, but learned early on I just wasn't cut out to be a professional songwriter.