Using VST presets: Cheating?

muzzadj

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Ez! Another noob question from me.. As i said in my other thread about drums, i am just getting back into production and have a few easy questions for you guys.

Is it cheating loading up a preset in Massive for example and working from that? I used to always start from scratch making something as i felt editing someone elses work was cheating. It would always sound awful everytime and that is when i would give up working on a tune after being stuck for so long.

Do you guys see it as cheating or is it alright?
 
no its not cheating, as you learn you will find reasons to edit patches or make your own from scratch, but you have to learn synthesis a bit before you can have any idea what you can do with sound, play with the presets and see how they work, eventually you will start making your own, keep things simple, basic OSC and Filter settings are what you should focus on, check out tutorials for more inspiration and ideas, but dont worry about cheating...its a steep learning curve jumping from presets to your own patches
 
There's songwriting skills and there's technical skills. If you can write a banger using all presets and loops people will listen and nobody will give a shit how it was made. If you spend ages designing your own patches and building up your drums from single hits but the song is rubbish nobody will listen and nobody will give a shit how it was made (except maybe a few producer types who will appreciate the skill involved)

It's a bit simplistic maybe, dunno
 
There's songwriting skills and there's technical skills. If you can write a banger using all presets and loops people will listen and nobody will give a shit how it was made. If you spend ages designing your own patches and building up your drums from single hits but the song is rubbish nobody will listen and nobody will give a shit how it was made (except maybe a few producer types who will appreciate the skill involved)

It's a bit simplistic maybe, dunno

true, although 'rubbish' is highly subjective, i'm sure allot of popular music is built with sample packs, but i dont imagine it gives the 'artist' much satisfaction, could be wrong, some people definitly get off more from their own popularity than the music itself. do whatever you feel, nothings original anyway
 
Cheers guys, on the same sort of topic.. Is using a downloaded bass/synth and playing around with it looked down upon at all either? Or i am being far too paranoid about using other peoples work to my advantage?!
 
Ez! Another noob question from me.. As i said in my other thread about drums, i am just getting back into production and have a few easy questions for you guys.

Is it cheating loading up a preset in Massive for example and working from that? I used to always start from scratch making something as i felt editing someone elses work was cheating. It would always sound awful everytime and that is when i would give up working on a tune after being stuck for so long.

Do you guys see it as cheating or is it alright?

if your still messing with pre-sets, your probs not going to be getting a release on that tune, so why would it even matter? as stated above, its good to deconstruct a patch, see what makes it tick, then use that knowledge to make your own (y)
 
if your still messing with pre-sets, your probs not going to be getting a release on that tune, so why would it even matter? as stated above, its good to deconstruct a patch, see what makes it tick, then use that knowledge to make your own (y)

I kinda disagree with Richie here, If I'm not mistaken, there have been a few big tunes that have been released over the last few years where you can clearly pick out certain presets of certain synth's. Cant think of names off the top of my head, but I'll spend a couple hours over the weekend trawling youtube to try and find some for reference.

That being said, I totally agree that if you're doin it for your own satisfaction, and use it as a learning process, then it's by far the best way to start out if you dont understand synthesis yet. loading up synth presets, and looking at how they are set out, to make the sounds, is a great way to learn. Just start twisting each dial, noting what happens to the sound as you do so, and before you know it, you'll start grasping the basics. From there, filter envelopes and ADSR's, LFO's and Oscillators will all start to become good friends with your ears!
 
I kinda disagree with Richie here, If I'm not mistaken, there have been a few big tunes that have been released over the last few years where you can clearly pick out certain presets of certain synth's. Cant think of names off the top of my head, but I'll spend a couple hours over the weekend trawling youtube to try and find some for reference.

raise your hand if you have heard the term "brutal electro"
 
I kinda disagree with Richie here, If I'm not mistaken, there have been a few big tunes that have been released over the last few years where you can clearly pick out certain presets of certain synth's. Cant think of names off the top of my head, but I'll spend a couple hours over the weekend trawling youtube to try and find some for reference.

matter to me on a personal level (y) like prime said, doesnt matter if people dig it!
 
I am literally in love with richie_stix's gif...

Slip....that was me falling of my chair....

...and back to the discussion:
 
I think personally it doesnt matter how u make ur tunes. I spent the last few years building up a preset base of sounds I've created and liked so I normally use my own presets in tunes so essentially the same thing except I made the sounds previously. Use them as a guide but if u do use pre made presets in ut tunes then jus edit and warp with various effects etc and u will end up with something a bit more unique. It is always best to create ur own sounds obviously however this isn't always the best option for someone new to producing
 
Fucks sake Muzza... not being funny mate... these n00b q's are starting to piss me off!
















jks :P



I use presets. Mainly for pads cos they're quite indestinguishable(if that's how you spell it)... Sometimes for bass but I tend to use them and then tweak/change em up.

To be totally honest, why would they put presets in if people are too scared to use them for fear of being labelled as "plagerisers" of copy cats or whatever. As long as you use them to your advantage to make the track better, I don't think anyone will mind. Appart from those producer snobs that are all like...

"Hei! he uzed tht bass soundz frm Native Instruments Massive. I shuld no cos I am a well gd proddy that knwz hiz stuff abowt proddy. I dnt lik dis gys muzak cos he dsnt maek it himselff"

Sometimes I use pad riffs that have been pre made too... but that's another story...

Do whatever the fuck you want mate... If you make good musiczzz then what does it matter?
 
deadmau5 used templates for some of his big tunes. he's well known for using z3ta+'s "Chords of Life" preset in many tunes...make of it what you will, but if you ask me, using a vst preset is not really any different to using a branded amplifier and not custom building your own guitar. it's what you do with it creatively that counts.
 
chords of life is like the trance preset btw anyways. i could easily name 10 tunes that have that in there....

same with brutal electro. round 2008 like every jump up tune was made with it ..
 
Thats like saying a guitarist is cheating becouse he dident create the guitar

Yeah man, and that Beethoven's a fake. He didn't design any of those instruments and he doesn't even play them all himself! Loser.
 
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