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General question on sound design
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| Katella |
I noticed a lot of emphasis is given to sound design and how it can take a good track and turn it into a great track. How do you guys approach this? For example, taking a popular soft synth like Sylenth or Omnisphere do you guys tweak existing presets or do you create sounds from scratch?
One point that boggles me a bit is that I assume the presets themselves are created by "pro" sound designers. So why do many of them sound so flat and basic as is? I get that using presets doesn't help with the unique-ness factor but strictly from a sound design quality perspective why is this?
Would appreciate any thoughts on how quality producers approach sound design from a start to finish standpoint.
Thanks! |
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| AlphaStarred |
| I don't know about soft synths, but the presets on an analog synth like a Juno 106 sound great. Tweak them a bit and you can easily get a killer sound. |
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| MSZ |
| Such vague and general questions dont really deserve precise responses, sorry. |
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| aquila |
| A supersaw drenched in reverb can make any track sound good ;) |
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| Katella |
MSZ, then don't even bother responding... thanks. A more productive and helpful response may have been to ask if I could provide more details or frame a specific angle to address.
OK back to the topic. What I was trying to get at is more in terms of actual sound design as opposed to FX. Yes add a lot of reverb and delay and voila, but how do you take a preset and make it your own? Is it all in the EQ? Obviously the preset as is does not sit right in all tracks so it does take some modding for it to sound just right. So I just wanted to get some thoughts on how various producers do that, whether it is simply EQing the sound or more involved sound layering and other specific techniques.
Thanks for those who did respond with good intentions. |
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| MSZ |
| Yes, I'll get right on that, thanks. |
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| Katella |
MSZ I apologize that's not who I am (edited my above response).
Anyways I hope this thread doesn't get too derailed as I thought it could be helpful but oh well. |
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| SystematicX1 |
I am gathering that what you are asking for however is two different things.
I "believe" what you are referring to is 1: a Production value and 2: The tone quality of a preset.
It can be summed up however with the reference to production.
EQ and compression assist in the quality of the mix |
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| Katella |
Ok thanks. I guess I'm talking more about tone quality then.
A more specific question may be this - if you have a specific sound in your head and need to get it down on "paper" what are some approaches of doing so? Do you usually take a preset that comes close and tweak it or would you use a type of synth that let's you build sounds from scratch? Or maybe both?
Some background is that I often get feedback that my melodies and song structure or on point but the quality of the sounds are severely lacking. I use a lot of the same software as other producers but I don't think I'm optimizing them as well as some others have demonstrated in this forum.
I just want some more insight on the approaches producers take to attain this level of quality. If the majority of it is doing the same that I'm doing but using more skill in the EQ and compression areas then that would be the answer I'm looking for... |
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| AlphaStarred |
| quote: | Originally posted by Katella
Some background is that I often get feedback that my melodies and song structure or on point but the quality of the sounds are severely lacking. |
Not to beat a dead horse, but the problem may lie in the software. Lots of software/digital stuff sounds like crap, to begin with, compared to analog stuff. |
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| SystematicX1 |
Well, imho it always comes down to what you put into it.
Taking a sine wave and throwing it into a song that has somewhat of a pattern isn't going to get you very far. Just like early dubstep
I hate using that as a reference, here especially and because I DO like some dubstep. But, there is alot of that I do not like based on the structure of the arrangement and composition. To me, it just seems more like a sound design showcase rather than a song.
In Trance however you have layer upon layer that adds either a very full sound or atmospheric.
Still, the production value will always come in. EQ in almost every way is essential
Presets are in the eye of the beholder. Some would say know how to design sound for a unique quality. Unique? Yes Good Sounding? Not all the time. The choice is yours.
If you are using presets, try changing the filters use your osc. Add affects like delays ,reverbs and panning. |
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| soulstar606 |
| quote: | Originally posted by AlphaStarred
Not to beat a dead horse, but the problem may lie in the software. Lots of software/digital stuff sounds like crap, to begin with, compared to analog stuff. |
lol ok no...do not listen to this. softsynths are perfectly capable of creating professional edm songs and they are what most(all) popular EDM producers use..so dont get fooled by comments like these
what synths are you using....lets start there...because some soft synths do sound less good than others... |
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