How to navigate in huge sound libraries

[John1992]

Hi all,

I pretty struggle each time I try to find a specific synth/keyboard sound that I have in mind when producing a song. I'm even not sure that I'm aware of all "categories" of sound that exist. The partition as I understand it now is:
synths, hammonds, keyboards (rhodes, electric piano, organs...), and acoustic pianos.

So my questions are (I'm working on ableton live):
1. Are there types of sounds that I am not aware of?

2. I have some plugins and there is a huge amount of sounds in them. The majority of these sounds is irrelevant for me, and every time I look for a specific sound texture I have to skip them all until I find it. (In most cases I find something close to my vision and change parameters to make it exact).
So what is your methodology for navigating in these enormous libraries and finding the exact tone you're looking for?

3. Are there any recommended plugins or places to find presets? I'm currently using serum and I have to admit that approx 95% of its default sounds are irrelevant for me because they are dubstep/techno style and I am trying to get more like kendrick lammar - mac miller 's beats kind of synths/keys.


I'll be thankful for any help

 

[Iron Keys]

I'm not gonna list em all as the possibilities are endless but some common ones you didnt mention;
- pads
- leads
- poly
- basses
- percussion
- brass
- winds
- strings

Etc.

My methodology is probably similar to yours (and i empathise with your issue as i used to be bugged by the same thing), but I head in generally the right direction; type of synth and type of sound; then I flick through presets whilst playing my midi keyboard until a sound kinda "sounds right".

There's a double edged sword to this - you may find a sound that isn't what you were looking for that sounds good and takes you a different direction; but this can also be a good thing.

Serum is a reaaaaallly popular synth, any time i see preset packs or tutorials etc vast majority of them are for serum lately. So you should be in luck there, just type in the sound you want + serum tutorial or browse demo packs.

As for non sounds you want, I feel you there too - but sometimes you can fins ways to use these sounds in your Hip Hop beat that *doesnt* even sound dubstep/house/edm. And that can add a sparkle or bit of interest to your beat, especially if used in a way that doesn't sound like its roots.

Post a couple examples of beats you really like, too.

 

[OGBama]

I @Iron Keys been enjoying the synths and other sounds in MPC 2 and I feel like aside from some free plugins I have I need nothing else.

 

[Iron Keys]

I @Iron Keys been enjoying the synths and other sounds in MPC 2 and I feel like aside from some free plugins I have I need nothing else.

I @OGBama think it is best to start out with less, and learn to make with what you have, so that it becomes apparent to you what it is exavtly you need. You learn what it is you're missing and what exactly you want rather than just buying/accumulating stuff that may not offer what you need.

 

[2GooD Productions]

I find the mouse works best.
j/k

Im in exactly the same place really, have a large collection of vsts and patches, but tend to stick to the patches Ive used before and work well for me. When I have some spare time I often go through patches that Ive never used just to see what they sound like.

Understanding ADSR can take a patch that isnt quite what you are looking for and making it just right.
ADSR = Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release.


1/ There are sounds many of us are unaware of, I doubt any of us know every single instrument.
2/ I find a patch that works with what Im doing, might EQ it a bit, add some reverb and delay and make it fit. Yes it can take time trying to find the right sound, and usually the sound I find was nothing like I had in mind and why most of my beats shape themselves depending on the sounds Ive used.
3/ Omnisphere has a good sound library of decent sounds, its not cheap, but highly recommended. Nexus isnt too bad, but not as good as Omnisphere, then there is Kontakt, that has some decent libraries, but once again, can get expensive depending on the libraries. I tend to use the factory library for it all the time, especially when looking for orchestral sounds. Rob Pappen Subboombass 2 is my goto bass plugin, or Trillian if Im going for a bass guitar. The best vsts arent cheap to be honest.

 

[YannFer]

I'm going to second what has already been said :
Serum is a very popular synth and the best place to find sounds is actually tutorials from youtube (I reckon it is boring to sit through a 10 minutes video to get the preset you need, but you'll learn a lot of sound design this way).
In order to take this task out of the way when I'm making music and my creativity is flowing, I indulge myself to sound design sessions, in which I'm not making music but focuding on making presets for later use and learning new tricks. It's actually alot of fun, but time consuming.

Synths are intimidating when you look at all them knobs, but there's not a lot of stuff you don't already know.
Learning the basic stuff can take any preset in the right direction. Stuff you should know are the sounds and qualities of basic oscillator shapes, ADSR, filters, basic fx.

And I would advise to learn your synth inside out before buying another. Serum is a great synth with a friendly interface and a large community. It is a very good choice.

Then if you're willing to pay, most major sample packs websites also sell packs of serum presets for every possible genre. Look at Fade's signature for links to these websites.

Finally, I agree that most presets from any of the synths I use do not sound "hip-hop" including Serum's. That's because the sound designers who make the presets often overproduce them. They all end up drenched in delay and reverb with LFOs messing with the filters... so you might want to turn all fx off when browsing your presets and find they're much more usable this way.

 

[LiveLargeBeats]

3/ Omnisphere has a good sound library of decent sounds, its not cheap, but highly recommended. Nexus isnt too bad, but not as good as Omnisphere, then there is Kontakt, that has some decent libraries, but once again, can get expensive depending on the libraries. I tend to use the factory library for it all the time, especially when looking for orchestral sounds. Rob Pappen Subboombass 2 is my goto bass plugin, or Trillian if Im going for a bass guitar. The best vsts arent cheap to be honest.

What 2good said.

My opinion if ur serious about producing and willing to invest a little, Omnisphere is most defenitly a must have in your vst arsenal. It comes with so many sounds, so versatile, for each genre it can be your go-to plugin. You can also obtain many presets for this, alot of free stuff too. If ur gonna be a proud owner some day let me know, and ill bless you with like 40 preset packs i collected this last year, both payed and free
Still, its probably what every producers struggles with, is you just have to keep searching and scrolling trough the lists to get that sound you want...Its also what makes the journey fun sometimes. You stumble across sounds that make you like..damn! Quick tip; save or mark any sound you like so can find it easier later on, or when starting a new project. You just scroll trough your ''favorites'' first.

 

[John1992]

Thanks a lot!

 

[Frankie_Lee]

So what is your methodology for navigating in these enormous libraries and finding the exact tone you're looking for?



I'll be thankful for any help

Not sure if it's relevant but Ableton does let you tag presets/instruments/effects with a coloured tags that then appear at the top of your browser. Really useful for creating a shortlist of stuff you use regularly.

 

[LiveLargeBeats]

Not sure if it's relevant but Ableton does let you tag presets/instruments/effects with a coloured tags that then appear at the top of your browser. Really useful for creating a shortlist of stuff you use regularly.

Nice. Not sure if logic has this, prolly do but have to look into this some time. Create some favourite one shots, that would be ace.

 

[OGBama]

@LiveLargeBeats