In this article Julian Schmauch shares his top 5 tips for getting the most out of presets. Get the convenience without sacrificing individuality.
Presets are a somewhat controversial topic among many circles of music producers. Some deem it lazy, others claim that you can never really find out own sound if you haven’t made every sound yourself. Yet if you have ever been a part of a commercially focussed writing session, you know just how common the use of ready-made sounds and presets is today. And given the myriad of presets most contemporary electronic instruments come with, it’d be a waste not to make use of them. You just have to tweak them a bit.
When it comes to effects presets, it is a very different story. At least with EQs and compressor plugins, presets can rarely fit what is on your track. More often, a “Big Snare” or “Pop Vocal” preset might actually make a track sound worse. There are some effects where presets are perfectly fine, like reverbs and delays. Imagine having to dial in the perfect “Plate” or “Hall” setting every time you load your reverb of choice.
1. Turn Off Internal Effects, And Add External Effects
Most virtual instrument makers use presets to showcase the full potential of their VST - why wouldn’t they? But they can’t predict which effects and other instruments you’re using in your production. That’s why most presets are loaded with the built-in effects. That can be one major obstacle to placing a sound into an existing arrangement. So turn off all the internal effects. Some virtual instruments offer a global effects bypass option like Tracktion Novum, while others only let you turn off each effect one by one.
Both approaches can be beneficial, as an internal compressor or distortion effect might just be what gives the preset its special character, so turning that effect off as well would actually destroy the sound. After turning off all the internal effects, a preset might sound a little “naked” or thin, compared to its gigantic effects-driven predecessor. The obvious next step would be to add effects plugins and sends according to what else is happening in your track.
2. Work With Envelopes
An envelope shapes a sound’s volume over time. And a preset’s envelope can be the reason it does not fit into your arrangement. Especially when it comes to the attack and the release phase of a sound. Their respective duration might be the reason the preset does not play well with all the other sounds. For instance, a preset might sound too plucky and percussive due to a fast attack, and clash with your drums and percussion sounds.
Or a sound might take too long to fade out after each note due to a long release and cover up a vocal line or a majestic string section. After turning off the effects, a preset’s volume envelope should be the first module in a virtual instrument you reach for to shape its sound.
3. Make It Move - Modulate And Automate
Just about every contemporary electronic instrument, both hardware and software, offers ways to modulate (i.e. automatically change) its parameters. Just by subtly modulating oscillators, sample start, filter cutoff or even attack and release times with a slow-moving LFO, you can introduce more movement into a sound.
If for some reason, the instrument does not offer adequate modulation capabilities, automate everything! This might work differently in every DAW, but do take time to change parameters over time.
4. Stack It - Layering Presets To Create A Unique Sound
This tried and true technique might seem simple, but its results can be the one unique sound you did not know you were looking for. Combine three, four, and even more instruments, each with a different preset into something entirely new.
Of course, here you need to be even more rigorous with turning off effects or adapting envelopes, or else you get a gigantic sound monster with so much reverb and modulation, no vocal, drums or melodic instrument can exist beside it!
5. Pre-Select Presets - Work Faster In Writing Sessions
If you’re ever sitting in front of your machine, feeling uninspired, maybe take some time to pre-select sounds from a newly installed virtual instrument. Electronic instruments often come with thousands of presets. It is highly unlikely that you will use all of them, let alone like all of them.
Weed through them and preselect the ones you like - either by using an instrument's own favouriting system or through your DAW. You will thank yourself whenever you are in production mode and you’re looking for another sound.
Work With Presets, Not Around Them
Even if you are a die-hard, DIY producer, presets can be of great use. They can be a very helpful tool to learn a new synth or sampler inside out, just by trying to rebuild a sound. In addition, many sound designers who create these presets spend months on learning the instrument inside out, so they do know how to get the best out of it!