# Preset jockeys: how do you keep track of them? (or do you)



## bill5 (Jan 1, 2021)

Wondering as I have a spreadsheet and as time allows I'll wade through some and jot down ones I like with some notes about the sound, since obviously I'll never remember them...anyone else?


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## Jkist (Jan 2, 2021)

When I do use presets, usually its because I don't really know what I'm looking for yet. I need a texture, or a lead, or something along those incredibly vague and generic lines. So I'll just flip through until something catches my ear, and then when it does its chosen and saved into that project file, so no need to remember it.

If I have a specific sound in my head, I can usually choose a "class of preset" (i.e. synth lead), and then tweak that preset from there to get what I'm hearing in my head. So once again, that doesn't really require remembering a specific preset.

However, with some synths, I think there is a bit of value in tracking certain presets and ranking them. I love Omnisphere's star ranking system for this reason. Sometimes when I have some free time, I'll just peruse Omnisphere and rank presets. Then, when it comes time to make music, I have a nice list of presets I think are amazing all nicely sorted.

Also I like the U-He preset browsers, where you can color code presets, and make your own system of sorting them. Really handy!

But if your synth of choice doesn't have any sort of preset management stuff...yeah an Excel spreadsheet would probably be my first choice, there are so many ways to organize information in Excel.


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## BlakStatus (Jan 2, 2021)

I'm a preset junkie and I use Komplete Kontrol software for managing/organizing presets for the most part. Then it's super easy to recall a preset I marked as a favorite by type, tweak a couple knobs to make it my own, and go from there.

I'll sometimes use the internal preset management of a synth as well (as mentioned above).


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## bill5 (Jan 2, 2021)

I guess I'm the only one who is dumb enough to wade through them ahead of time  But hopefully that will save me time in the future when I'm looking for certain sounds.


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## Mornats (Jan 3, 2021)

BlakStatus said:


> I'm a preset junkie and I use Komplete Kontrol software for managing/organizing presets for the most part. Then it's super easy to recall a preset I marked as a favorite by type, tweak a couple knobs to make it my own, and go from there.
> 
> I'll sometimes use the internal preset management of a synth as well (as mentioned above).


I manage them using the favourites feature in KK too. I wish there was a way to categorise them or add keywords/tags so I know why I thought a particular sound was a favourite.



bill5 said:


> I guess I'm the only one who is dumb enough to wade through them ahead of time  But hopefully that will save me time in the future when I'm looking for certain sounds.


I do this too! Usually right after I buy a bunch of presets but also at times where I've a bit of spare time but not enough to do anything productive. So I usually go through and pick out favourites from my presets.

Quite often a preset will point me in the direction of a musical idea so I'll try to browse in my "quick start" template* so I can simply hit record if needed.

* This is a template with 8 tracks set up with an empty Kontakt sitting in KK on each track with routing to a reverb channel. All FX are set up ready to go (usually Neutron on each track). It's lightweight and loads quickly.


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## bill5 (Jan 3, 2021)

Mornats said:


> Quite often a preset will point me in the direction of a musical idea so I'll try to browse in my "quick start" template* so I can simply hit record if needed.


Yes that happens to me sometimes too...a certain sound will kick off an idea in my head and I'll play a few notes or chords; it won't end up being a whole song right there, but I capture the idea.


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## ReleaseCandidate (Jan 3, 2021)

bill5 said:


> Yes that happens to me sometimes too...a certain sound will kick off an idea in my head and I'll play a few notes or chords; it won't end up being a whole song right there, but I capture the idea.


If it's just a single clip I save that as an idea. If it's more, I save it as a new projct/song/'whatever your Daw calls that'


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## bill5 (Jan 3, 2021)

I just save it on a single track as its own file. Usually it's just a small snippet.


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## dgburns (Jan 3, 2021)

Will never use an NI product again to keep track of presets!!!!

Why?

In a word - Kore.

Safest way, IMHO, is to save the presets right in the file system of the plugin. Why? Because then it is not DAW dependant, unless the plugin uses a different file system for presets based on AU, VST and AAX, which is still a possibility.

TAGS***

If the plugin has a tagging system, this is by far the preferred method, aka Omnisphere.

By Client***

By Production, as Track presets within the DAW, and as VEpro and DAW templates (as well as saved inside the plugins). I tend to revise the template after every episode/reel myself. Partly in case I drift in my track settings or organization.

I will never, ever trust NI komplete. It is too risky IMHO to house preset organization in such a shell product. If they decide to kill it like Kore, you will lose that work eventually.

Looking back over the years, preset management is somewhat dubious to me, I have many many presets stored in Logic that don’t work anymore because the plugin was updated and the preset management system no longer reads the ‘old’ format. At some point, you need to consider that you may lose the recall factor. I give high marks to those devs that place a value on backwards compatibility.

Bottom line, make things audio if you want to retain your stuff past the plugin’s lifespan.


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## BlakStatus (Jan 4, 2021)

Mornats said:


> I manage them using the favourites feature in KK too. I wish there was a way to categorise them or add keywords/tags so I know why I thought a particular sound was a favourite.


You can add custom tags to them. At the bottom left, just click edit.


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## Mornats (Jan 4, 2021)

BlakStatus said:


> You can add custom tags to them. At the bottom left, just click edit.


Oh wow, cool. Thanks for letting me know! No idea how I missed that


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