# Preset Sounds For PRO Projects?



## Tino Danielzik (Jul 23, 2011)

Hi, 

I wonder, at what point would you say it's not a good idea to use preset sounds or loops from a sample library for a project?

I mean, I guess A-List composers never use preset sounds cause they want something new, unique and special. That's why some of them hire some sound designer for a project. 

But what about all the loops and sounds of a Spectrasonics Library (Stylus RMX, Omnisphere, Trillian), or synth sounds from Heavyocity's Evolve and so on...? Would you say it's a no go to use some of them in a bigger project?

For example, I noticed an Omnisphere patch in the "Avatar" score. Well is it that bad? Or I hear some Omnisphere patches in some "Lost" soundtracks. Of course, we, who work with those libraries recognize these things.

I ask this because I just finished a short documentary and had very little time to write some songs. I always wrote just orchestral things and now I had to write some songs in kind of "Moby" and "Sigur Ros". I used a lot of preset snyth and loop sounds to do that cause I had no time to program a bunch of drum grooves and so on. Also I'm not that good with electronic sounds and drums.


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## TheUnfinished (Jul 23, 2011)

Tino Danielzik @ Sat Jul 23 said:


> I mean, I guess A-List composers never use preset sounds cause they want something new, unique and special. That's why some of them hire some sound designer for a project. [/url]
> Don't you bet on that.
> 
> For example, I noticed an Omnispher...d Reality loops in A-list scores for certain.


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## midphase (Jul 23, 2011)

I have a bit of a controversial attitude towards using built-in presets. IMHO what's the point of spending all this money on these products if not to use them out of the box? Eric Persing is a great programmer, I am not. So I pay Eric Persing to program sounds by purchasing his products... what's the problem?

Some other composers might actually recognize where a sound comes from...boo hoo...thanks for pointing out the obvious but it really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things since they make up such a tiny percentage of the audience.

If you're into video apps like Motion and Aftereffects plugins, you'd recognize tons of stuff on TV that uses presets from those two programs. 

Having said that, I don't always work that way...there are projects that I feel the need to create more original sounds and in that case, I prefer to really start from scratch or go and find much more obscure sources...but usually you'll know when you're working on that type of project or something where the presets will do just fine.

The essence of this convoluted post is: if it works use it and don't stress too much about how other composers might judge you!


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## José Herring (Jul 23, 2011)

As, one composer put it to me, you don't want that hip new sound that you just used for your TV show today to be heard in every dog food commercial tomorrow. 

Personally if I'm not doing anything I'll build a bunch of sounds for future use. I'm kind of a stickler. I actually have an easier time building new sounds and loops, then going through 1000 presets looking for that one that works at this moment. But, if you do rely a lot on presets then you have to do at least something to alter it, or everything starts to sound like it's coming from a cardboard box.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Jul 23, 2011)

Kays sums up my opinion exactly. Presets are there to be used.

Now, there's a point where you get to painting-by-the-numbers music, and obviously that's not good. But this argument used to come up in the days before loops, in which people didn't want to use preset synth sounds. To me that makes no sense - although it's also true that the whole soundware industry exists in part because of that.


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## JPQ (Jul 23, 2011)

I think is nothing wrong use presets but i class itself bit more composer than sound designer.
and i mix sounds i mean i sometimes make own sounds. i prefer premade pads for example i cannot make good ones only one what i maked ever sounds too weird (i have problem founding right amount detune for example) and i dont ever rember i deleted it.


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## Mike Marino (Jul 23, 2011)

Good post, Tino. I'm working on a short film score right now that involves some loop usage and was thinking along the same lines as you've posed here.

- Mike


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## EastWest Lurker (Jul 24, 2011)

I use presets but usually I can't resist tweaking them a little.

That said, I hear unchanged presets all the time in scores.


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## charlieclouser (Jul 24, 2011)

josejherring @ Sat Jul 23 said:


> As, one composer put it to me, you don't want that hip new sound that you just used for your TV show today to be heard in every dog food commercial tomorrow.



This is only a danger if you would use the kind of sounds that would also work in a dog food commercial!

That said, I've never been able to use a stock evil-arpeggio or mega-ambient-pad anyway, as my tastes don't generally run in those directions. I do admit to having a bit of a compulsion to buy all kinds of sound libraries that never get used, like Heavyocity-type stuff, and most of it just takes up space on the drives. Thinking back, I HAVE used "dream piano" and "bowed titanium" from Omnisphere a couple of times, but whenever I get a new synth or rompler that has a large library of presets, the first thing I do is go through and listen to every single patch, making a sub-library of things I like right away, while the thrill of having a new toy is still fresh. Then, when I'm actually working, I only audition form this sub-library, as who's got time to search around in 1,000 patches of Omnisphere anyway? I've only managed to use a couple of sounds out of Omnisphere in all these years, but it's not because of a moral revulsion to doing so; it's more of sonic revulsion at the tone of what's coming out of the speakers. If you've got a pre-existing bed of your own sounds then those super-finished Omnisphere patches just sound too gigantic and "one-finger-cue-ish". If I'm looking for a simple bowed-wine-glasses type sound, I'd use a preset if I could find one quickly enough, and that's why I audition the whole factory library right away, constantly saying to myself, "come on, seriously man, would you ever use that sound?"

Drum loops, sure, I'm guilty of using some StormDrum loops on TV stuff, but in almost all cases they've had the beats chopped and rearranged, so the tone is the original but the rhythm parts are "new". Since I do all of my loop arrangement and manipulation in Ableton, it's easy to get crazy with pitch and time and come out with results that bear little resemblence to the input signal.


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## germancomponist (Jul 24, 2011)

I think there is nothing wrong with using sound presets.

O.k., when you can listen to a drum loop on every score, like it was in the days when "percussive adventures" came out, then I would not use it.... .

BTW: I never use drum-loops, hate them, because they mostly do not work perfect, and I am not willing to be a slave for them, to write my music arround.... . o/~


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## clarkcontrol (Jul 24, 2011)

Unless the project specifically calls for loops and synth, I find it impossible to use omni/stylus on almost anything. Those ultra produced patches just kill the acoustic vibe on an orchestral track unless they're ultra simple/small. I've done a couple scores with nothing but spectrasonics and logic synths and they came out killer though, so I neatly avoided the "hybrid struggle." But even then I had to look to find the less iconic/epic patches for the mix to have enough space. 

I find it hard in a similar way using combi patches too. I fall into a certain way of composing (more trailer/epic) where I disregard voice count/leading etc. All in the name of faster and easier.

I LOVE omnisphere. So amazing. But if I knew how little I would actually use it, well, nah, I still love it =o 

Don't get me wrong, I use nothing BUT presets. Orchestral ones lol.


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## bryla (Jul 24, 2011)

I had a Jerry Goldsmith quote in my signature a while ago:

(paraphrasing) "What's wrong with a preset sound? An oboe is a preset sound, it's the notes that matter"


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## germancomponist (Jul 24, 2011)

bryla @ Sun Jul 24 said:


> I had a Jerry Goldsmith quote in my signature a while ago:
> 
> (paraphrasing) "What's wrong with a preset sound? An oboe is a preset sound, it's the notes that matter"



+1


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