Creatures of habit or do we just know what we like.

[runningman67]

So many options.

I am going through a weird phase.
I am slowly going through all my sounds on my Kronos and Blofeld, trying to find patches that i like and nearly like and hate.
It takes hours and days, weeks, months !!

It is stopping me writing. It's become an obsession. It's as if I have to justify it to myself that I must squeeze the pips out of my expensive toys.
As if somebody is watching and judging my progress.

Probably just yet another 'mid life crisis thing'

[LZ]

I didn't vote because I don't think any of the options apply to me.

I haven't bought any sounds, but also rarely use presets unless it's a basic piano, EP, organ, strings, etc...but even then a lot of times I end up tweaking them and saving them in another location. I pretty much customize or create from scratch patches for every new song I do. The engines provided from stock offer all I need to do this.

But in my case, I'm playing a variety of covers, so it's a matter of nailing specific sounds, not just pulling up something I personally like.

[jeremykeys]

I have a bunch of favorited sounds that in most cases started off as factory sounds but tweaked them to me liking. But then probably unequal amounts I use other sounds in my Kronos. I also program sounds. Sometimes it's just easier to make a new sound than to hunt all over to find one that fits.

[SanderXpander]

I also really recommend understanding the underlying principles that make up the sounds. While finding a cool preset can be inspiring, browsing presets looking for something specific is usually time and energy consuming and most of the time you end up with something that isn't quite what you meant. If you regularly spend a similar amount of time on learning how to adapt and program your own sounds, you'll get far better results.

Or I do, at least. Your mileage may vary.

[Kontrol49]

So many options.


It is stopping me writing. It's become an obsession. It's as if I have to justify it to myself that I must squeeze the pips out of my expensive toys.
As if somebody is watching and judging my progress.

I always write/Compose with just a Piano and Notepad and sometimes a vocal line or guide drum track(for deciding tempo/Groove) and nothing else once the song is structured and chords worked out then I will work on instrumentation/Voices/patches and go through suitable patches or editing to fit but this is normally a separate focus or some days after once I'm happy with the song.

I've always believed that if the song moves you and sounds good with a basic demo or sketch then nothing else matters sound wise,infact some of my Demos have been left with just a Piano/Voice because I felt a certain vibe was captured at the time of composition that would perhaps be lost by over egging the song with loads of instrumentation.

Doodling and checking out patches and editing synths is not a bad thing to decide what you like and stuff,and expanding your synthesis knowledge I've spent many and hour or day or week tweaking and creating sounds but you can soon lose yourself.

The problem with loads of sounds and options is it takes away your focus from writing,Keep it simple,For me the compositional stage is just that,not an exercise to auction sounds to see what works.

Its also a better way of working IME because you have plenty of complete song material and structures to work with rather than trying to make something from nothing which tends to lead to boredom and frustration.

Its a discipline thats always worked for me.

[GregC]

Every non original song I record is different. To be expected.

I carefully listen to ( for example) the trumpet, string, bass, etc parts and match up as best as I can. This way it somewhat resembles the sound of the original tune.