How do you stop being a "PRESET" Producer?

Elliottproducer

New member
Hey producers, my question today is what would be some good steps to becoming more of a legitimate "Sound Engineer" and engineering my own sounds, and not so much of a producer whom just cycles through preset after preset looking for sounds that happen to click with my creativity and thought, and/or just sound dope.

I've found this is incredibly crippling to my productivity, and really just laying out 20+ basic idea's for tracks with certain presets from Nexus, is not getting me any further in this game. It also comes with a kind of hollow feeling, like the work isn't really 100% mine.

So how do I get out of this rut? Do I need to blow $600 on an amazing synthesizer? The tools I have at hand are FL Studio and an Akai MPK Mini, and the also the internet (VST's??).

As for an idea of what kind of sounds I'm currently looking to produce now? Ambient soundcapes, clean sounds that provide to a more chill track, if that's of any help.
 
I felt the same when I first started. I thought it was all about presents. Buttttt I was wrong. There's only one simple answer. Learn Synthesis.

I find presents impede creational capabilities as you often don't have full control of the sound (you can only de-construct it so much.. and what you're left with is often some recorded sound, not a saw, pulse, triangle etc waveform).
 
Have you even experimented with what you've got going on inside FL studio already? There's no reason for you to go out and spend hundreds of dollars on vsts when, to me, it sounds like you wouldn't even know what to do with them at this point.

As Sequence2 said, learn synthesis, and for God's sake stop using those presets and don't give up until you actually realize that making a great sound out of an initial patch in any vst is a great deal of fun.

And also, I don't think there's anything wrong with using presets as a starting point to make a much better sound out of it.
 
Last edited:
Dude FL will get you so far with where you want to go.

Give Sytrus a try, you'll be surprised. It's full of presets, but try starting from the default sine wave. You'll be amazed at what kinds of incredible, interesting sounds you can make with some frequency modulation.

It's really not that difficult, just start twisting some knobs and see what happens. All honesty, I rarely know what's gonna happen when I do that stuff, but it always comes out sweet.

And don't forget there's a manual for all VSTs, so if you need further explanation on what something does, pop that open and check it out. The internet is one of your greatest resources too for free VSTs. Wallengard's right man, all that money you spend would just be a waste if you don't know how to use what you buy.
 
Last edited:
@Elliottproducer,

I took Bandcoach's advice and purchased Welsch's cookbook. It was fantastic for learning about the more underlying aspects of synthesis that you can't really find anywhere else. You could also check out Sound on Sound's Synthesis Secrets Vol. 1-64 (I think there is 64.. could be more/ less). The Sound on Sound volumes are free online to look up, and cover the exact same stuff in Welsch's (Although Welche's cookbooks make it way easier to understand imo).

I would also suggest the Dance Music Manual by Rick Snowman. That thing was my go to every day in the early days and REALLY helped me advance my synthesis knowledge (especially for working your way around a synth - it explains most knobs/ effects you'll find on most synths). I'm not to sure if the latest volume covers the newer elements such as Step Sequences like those found on Massive/ Spire/ etc.

Have fun! It's a lottttt of info to cover if you're new, but if you stick too it, it's incredible what you can come up with once you know your way around a Synth.
 
Hey producers, my question today is what would be some good steps to becoming more of a legitimate "Sound Engineer" and engineering my own sounds, and not so much of a producer whom just cycles through preset after preset looking for sounds that happen to click with my creativity and thought, and/or just sound dope.

I've found this is incredibly crippling to my productivity, and really just laying out 20+ basic idea's for tracks with certain presets from Nexus, is not getting me any further in this game. It also comes with a kind of hollow feeling, like the work isn't really 100% mine.

So how do I get out of this rut? Do I need to blow $600 on an amazing synthesizer? The tools I have at hand are FL Studio and an Akai MPK Mini, and the also the internet (VST's??).

As for an idea of what kind of sounds I'm currently looking to produce now? Ambient soundcapes, clean sounds that provide to a more chill track, if that's of any help.

Audio and Sound Engineers create presets to suit their workflows. For example, Sound Engineers who travel from venue to venue for the purpose of setting up and running sound for concert like events would have presets saved for the different locations they visit. Smart engineers use preset to get their sound systems and mixes where they should be. Time is of the essence for anyone who makes real moves in this business. Systems and mixes take hours to set up. Most of the time these are hours that we don't have.

In terms of Music Production and Sound Design, you'll need to learn your gear and it various configurations. The presets should function for the same reason, which is to save time; only, instead of setting up sound systems in various location, software configurations and templates will save the majority of your creative time. I don't know about the rest of y'all, there are times where I forget my ideas as a result of taking too long to shape the right sound for that track.

Nexus seems solid and anything you create using it is yours; however, I understand where you could be struggling with using only that software. I suggest that you start using and collecting some actual synths. You may like the Novation MiniNova or, if you can swing it, a Roland GAIA. You could also get more vsts, at the risk of overloading your CPU due to over processing. Audio requires less effort from your computer to record and manage. Either way, creative tools and options will help you with your presets delima IMO...
 
Audio and Sound Engineers create presets to suit their workflows.

So true.

Building on these ideas, there's nothing wrong with creating your own presets and having them saved in your library. If you know the general sound you're after, build those presets and when you feel a random creative rush, all you have to do is bring them out.

Even better, construct an entire template that has a majority of the things that you regularly use and load up those presets you've constructed to the template. (Route drums / synths to the mixer, set up sidechains, load some plugins, etc). Now every time you open your DAW, you can just get going and feel confident cuz it's your own sounds.
 
Last edited:
what's wrong with soundsets.. many hit songs have been made creating them.. honestly i get my sounds from everywhere... i dabbled into freeware.. they sometimes have vst's that are pretty dope
 
Nothing wrong with them, it just doesn't cater to the kind of music I want to make right now.

presets are sounds OTHER people made lol.. how does it not cater to your music.. that could have been you that made that preset lol..

honestly i look at it like this.. you could spend hours making a sound.. when there's a chance that there's a preset out there with the sound youre trying to create already.... it's almost like a waste of time.. i just have a good amount of vst's and if you look hard enough, you can find MORE than enough presets out there for them.. which makes my soundbank innumerable
 
what about buying synths that you dont know? like UVI Falcon and not Serum ? - YouTube

or hardware synths?

Nexus is a thing... when i need i certain Sound i open Nexus
 
Back
Top