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Re-using Sounds

Just curious to know how many of you re-use sounds in your various tracks. It's obviously common for many electronica guys to think that everything has to be original, fresh, even made from scratch because they believe that presets are for amateurs, or whatever. But, do you have certain sounds that you just think work so perfectly for you in so many situations that there's no sense in coming up with a new one for each production?

For me, I'm starting to find that my best work comes from reusing some of my drum sounds, particularly hihats and crashes, and to a lesser extent, some kicks. This is particularly true of EDM tracks for me. I think it gives my sound a bit of cohesion, but still allows me to experiment in other areas. When it comes to my downtempo stuff, I tend to use the same couple of pianos and, if I'm not recording a live guitarist, I generally use the same few guitar sample libraries.

Thoughts?

Oh yeah. I use supersaw all the time.






























































































































All the time.

Never really, though sometimes a sound from an old unfinished track will end up in a new finished one.

For me not repeating sounds is as important as not repeating melodies, because I consider my sounds as much a part of my "artistry" as the notes.

Since I do mostly granular synthesis and sample mangling, I don't really ever use the same sounds since it is almost impossible to recreate half of the time. I would say I have a few go to drumkits and my sub bass which usually stays the same.

Yes of course this is how you define your sound as an artist

i like to work from the ground up so have a tendency to use very different samples ect but my music will often sound the same when the track is done.

i think artist ect are kinda known for their own sound rather then what and how they make a track.

i have made tunes with some semi pros and noticed they will have a secret folder containing samples they have made them self and use it in every track they make.

If it sounds right, let it be

The rest is about politics

?

I personally don't care about using the same old sounds. Not everyone can reinvent the wheel, and that's something I've accepted. I use 909 and 808 kits in almost every single one of my songs because they work. Hating on someone for using presets is like hating on someone for using a guitar. There are many ways to play guitar, and there are many ways to play "EuroLead 0235"

I tend to use the same piano preset with a couple tweaks on the reverb timing...And many times have I pulled something out of an old session and dropped in a new one. If it sounds good, it sounds good

I used to think everything had to be different all the time but I noticed I kept going back to a couple almost every track I started so I dont fight it anymore. I mean, if I love the sound of a rhodes I can use it in everything I do, i'm pretty sure that doesnt make me less of an artist/producer/whatever

lots of other things make me less of an artist

I usually start from scratch but, that I believe is mostly because I'm too lazy to gather the sounds that I've created or used in my other tracks. I personally see nothing wrong with using the same sounds. I mean, I know its different with edm but, think about a band, when u see them live how often do they change their drum kit and other instruments, I know guitarists do often, but you don't see them pulling the drum kit out to put another one in, right?

In the few tracks I've made so far I tend to use variations on the same basic sounds. I have found a decent number of 'basics' I really like and just tweak them a little to fit the individual track and how/where they appear in the arrangement.

Just as a matter of personal taste (or lack thereof , I gravitate to the old rock and roll concept... even when you listened to a group like ELO who were no strangers to electronic synth sounds, their albums were pretty consistent and identifiable from track to track to album. You KNEW you were listening to ELO even when Jeff wasn't singing. (Anyone unfamiliar with ELO's "Time" album needs to give it a go)

On the opposite end, while I like Skrillex for the novelty and respect the work going into it, the only consistent thing is that it's glitch-WHOOMP glitch. The sounds are everywhere second to second and while novel and kinda cool from the production angle, don't make for an enjoyable listen for me.

FWIW IMO ETC Try the veal...

Yes that's how you define your sound as someone already mentioned.

Oh, one more thing...

From the guitar side, there's one phrase that comes up over and over on the "I need the ultimate tone" threads where GAS runs rampant and guys obsess over Klon ODs and NOS Mullard tubes.

"Les Paul, Marshall, Done"

I would equate that to this. All the time spent chasing that one truly unique sound, while fine, is time taken away from writing a truly unique song. Soundcloud has on it more unique sounds than I thought were possible. Unique (and good) songs worth listening to? Not so much by volume.

I shall now shut up and go try practicing what I preach

Given the current state of the EDM scene it seems that the current trend is for all artists to collectively use the same sound, so it won't matter if I use the same sound more than once.

I can't say I've ever consciously re-used the same sound, although I very often go to the same source for a particular kind of sound or sample which is close to being the same thing imo. I really can't see how it matters at all tbh. I remember hearing the same old DX7 bass patch back in the 80s on numerous records, and one amusing article in a music paper showing that the top 3 singles of the time all used the same patch. Nobody noticed (well, apart from us geeks) or cared back then so why should we now?

I try not to do it, but it has happened a few times.

Nope. I had a few signature sounds but they were never the same. Other than that, everything was a blank slate. But they always sounded like me despite nothing being the same.

Recently I have started building a folder where I keep the most important drum sounds from my newest tracks. It's mainly the kicks and some snares. They are all dry, so when I re-use them they get processed to fit each track accordingly. Mostly It doesn't even sound like it's the same sample.


This is really useful when I need proper samples for a track that started in a way other then from building the drum pattern. Usually I just fire up my daw, put the melody/sequence together and a minute later I have a pretty good drum part covered too.


This bypasses the painful process of searching for the right samples which can really kill the inspiration fast.

I've got a couple of synth patches which I've been using for at least 4 (some even 6) years now. i vary and tweak them a bit but they mostly keep a very similar character. Apart from that I've got some samples and signal chains I often use. Also I tend to re-use samples from earlier concepts and finished productions quite often. Especially the synth patches and signal chains are what I believe to be my signature parts.

for sure , some basic sounds , some percussion or effects, abstract strings, some atmospheric line although i tweak it each time

Recently i get obsessed with a kick and try to use it in more that one track

If a song is going to sound great, sell shit loads, and contains the same lead sound as 3 of your other songs on your album so be it.

However, I think people get caught in the trap of writing very similar sounding songs when they are working with the same sounds. I have caught myself doing this because for me, the sound inspires me to play a certain way/style, and sometimes particular modes/scales/chord progressions. In that case, I will create another sound that I havent used before (or even search through presets) and find a sound which hopefully inspires me to write something that is still me but also different. I have found it very frustrating at times but I try to keep challenging myself. If starting off with a new and different sound doesnt work, i usually try to come up with chord progressions I havent used before and this will usually set me off on a different path.

A producer friend of mine once said to me, when you are working on a song picture the music video/film clip to it, if you visualize the same thing for every song then you may have a problem because the songs may be imposing the same vibe, kinda strange but I must admit I do it from time to time.

i've rarely re used any hat/kick/snare etc because the library is pretty big and never felt like doing it, only a hat/perc loop that i created that was quite simple but imprinted a drive on the track instantly and i used in the next tune.

As for sounds i try to change my sound every 2-3 tracks but keeping some watermark, different detune settings, different filtering... whatever adding delay, phaser or other effects or not...

About the kicks now that i got curious i've always used different ones but in the end all of them sound alike, someone here pointed it once :P well it's a formula that seems to work for me although i tend to overpower them in the mix.

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