# Bought some presets but don't know how to use them...



## jsnleo (Apr 14, 2021)

So I have many synths but haven't really learned to use all of them, so I bought quite a few presets from different well-known sound designers. Clearly I haven't tried them all because there are at least thousands. I didn't watch those walkthroughs but I had listened to the demos before I bought them. They sounded really really good if not great in the demos. Once in a while I try to spend some time really digging in but I just can't get inspired. The only one I can really do something with is Dark Zebra, but you know, it's so dark knight.

In the demos the pads sounded subtle and beautiful, for example, but when I was going through the presets every pad sounded, hmm, too sci-fi. Leads in the demos sounded delicious but presets sounded too synthy, reminded me of those sounds from the '80s. I know some can be controlled with mod wheel, but still no luck. I'm not saying they sound bad, they're just different from what I expected. I really wanna know how to use them, after all that's why I bought them.

Do you think they changed settings when they were making the demos or they were all presets?


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## chocobitz825 (Apr 14, 2021)

synths require tinkering. Effects on the presets might have made some of the difference as well, but in general, you’ll have to play around with a combination of parameters to get the right sound.


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## doctoremmet (Apr 15, 2021)

The demos typically contain combinations of patches, and are composed -or at least arranged- little pieces of music that effectively use the presets in an “idiomatically proper” fashion. 

My point being: each preset needs a particular approach in playing. When you lay down a huge block chord on a lead patch it will likely sound horrible. When you find a pad, you may want to find out in what region of the keyboard it really shines. If it sounds kind of dystopian, maybe play some minor chords and some sustained chords and release the tension. If it’s a bass arp, maybe tinker with cutoff or resonance. Etcetera. My first hunch, reading your little story there, was: maybe you need to spend more time playing the synth patches to their strenghts....


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## Jaap (Apr 15, 2021)

I would ask the developer(s) to be honest. I sometimes get mails also when people want to know what sounds where used in the demo's and how they where used.


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