Selecting sounds?

T

TDOT

New member
Probably the one thing I have the most trouble with, and it may seem simple.
Is selecting good sounds that mesh well together...

I can spent so much time and go through 100's of sounds before I here something I love?

What do you guys do? any tips?
Do you just have a library that you saves with sounds you love?
better vst?

Or is it more so picking a sound that's close to what you want and using EQ and compression and other tools to mold that sound?
 
Honestly I have so many sounds in my library and many I would never use, so I should organize them. But really it's about going through them and finding what you like/what fits the song. VSTs will obviously help you build patches and a library of sounds and will help you tweak your sounds to help them come closer to what you are looking for.

Drums are a little more difficult because there isn't much you can do to tweak after the original sample other than eq, compression, ect. (I'm sure someone can tweak the hell out of some drums; I just don't do it).

Overall, I would just say experiment with different things, and when you do find drums/instruments that you do like, I'd recommend putting them in their own folder so they are easy to find in the future (although I also don't do this, but I need to). If you have any other questions, ask them because your post was pretty vague (I am not sure what sounds you are even looking for).

Professor John
 
Thanks for the response, yea the question was vague and we don't know the sound I'm looking for...because I'm not looking for any particular sound or working on a project.

I'm asking in general when working on any projects. How do they find sounds that mesh well together, how long does it take them? and what's a good approach to help with that?

In terms of drums I have no problem, I layer and eq and compress to get that I want.
 
it terms of selecting sounds, don't over think it, rely on instinct and your ears - if it sounds good, it is good. Of course a quality sample bank and good VSTs will save you some time, or you could also learn about synthesis and start creating your own sounds.

Sometimes you have to step away from the song to work out what it needs...take a step back and figure out what's missing and maybe that'll help you to select the right sounds.
 
I just find one sound I like, usually lay down some chords and then just browse mad sounds until something meshes well with the chords I played. I notice some people select sounds individually without playing what they have and playing the sound over it, you might love some sounds individually but together they might sound like garbage lol.
 
When I have a part of a song I just imagine in my head what would sound well, hum a bit over it and then try to find something...
It's not an exact science. I might feel like using a horn and try a few horn sounds till I find something that satisfies. It doesn't cost me ages, and if it does cost me ages I'll start working on another beat because it's no fun anymore :)
 
Good looking on the response, true say though maybe if it's taking too much time to find a certain sound, it's time to move on to the next. Because it does become boring and annoying to just sit there and listen and audition so many different sounds.

I think a VST that just with great and interesting stock sounds will be nice. VST's have tonsssssss of presets already made...Massive for example, I have thousands of sounds, all that sould amazing, if I was into producing dance music or something in the lane.
I never here no stock sounds that just sound dirty of the top
 
xansid said:
When I have a part of a song I just imagine in my head what would sound well, hum a bit over it and then try to find something...
It's not an exact science. I might feel like using a horn and try a few horn sounds till I find something that satisfies. It doesn't cost me ages, and if it does cost me ages I'll start working on another beat because it's no fun anymore :)
Click to expand...

This is usually what I do especially if I am using real sounds (piano, horns strings). If I'm looking for more synth sounds, I usually think about where the synth will fit sonically; not in a complicated way but just highs, mids, lows. Basically I think of what the synth would be replacing if I was using real sounds, and try to fit it together that way.

Professor John
 
Professor John said:
This is usually what I do especially if I am using real sounds (piano, horns strings). If I'm looking for more synth sounds, I usually think about where the synth will fit sonically; not in a complicated way but just highs, mids, lows. Basically I think of what the synth would be replacing if I was using real sounds, and try to fit it together that way.

Professor John
Click to expand...

Good answer thanks for that
 
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