What's your opinion on Presets ?

[Zenkrey]

I wouldn't be getting anywhere without presets. I don't want to spend time on sound design right now, because I want my songs to be better structurally, and making songs would take me forever if they didn't exist. However, I do tweak them a little bit so I get the sound I want.

You are correct about the consideration of time, not everyone has a lot of time to create an original sound from scratch. However, this isn't always the case, because a lot of good presets are really simple and based on always the same simple concepts (for example how to make an arp). The real struggle is present when you have a complex sound idea in your mind and don't really know how to realize it in practice. In that case, searching for a preset, at least similar to the one you think you need, is better than realizing it from scratch, simply to reduce the time needed to get things done quickly and jot down ideas fast. Remember that reinventing the wheel is not always a good idea.

[FarleyCZ]

just say no to presets, kids

Or learn from them, then try to make your own

the problem is most people don't.  At least when you're starting out it's better, imho, to start from a blank initialized setting and to learn from there, as opposed to reverse engineering something you don't understand.

I think the real problem is that a lot of people want to be ready, great and potentionally Garrix-out to fame as quickly as possible. In that case, learning sounddesign is an obstacle. I don't agree with it, but imho that's what happens.

[Tylox]

I tend to find googling and watching a YouTube video for the sound I'm looking for tends to be more successful than flipping through a bunch of presets. That way, it forces me to learn how the sound is created and also so I can tweak it to taste during the process.

I rarely find the exact sound I'm looking for in presets, but I also don't download or purchase patch banks beyond what is included stock with the synth.

[CollinSullivanMusic]

It can be a nice place to start from but I don't really believe in using the exact sound without at the very least a little bit of manipulation to make it your own.

[fxbip]

Well they can be really useful.
I like to write a melody and play through like 20-40 presets and see how it sounds(especially in absynth for ambient sounds) cause it can give result you would not have though of making the sound yourself,it gives a variation/luck factor to the track/sounds,cause ive notice im obsessed about some sounds and when i sound design sometime i always end up with same sounding sounds i always use.So for that its useful.
But for some things i only make the sounds myself.

[Babasmas]

try looking for tuts on youtube. SeamlessR has like hundreds usefull bass tutorial, some synth tuts and more. He's the best way to start. Although if you type "How to [Sounds]" You'll find a lot of results for what you want. Most of those people give the preset.

Starting with preset made by others are fine as long as you try to understand them and recreate them later. Then when you have the basics, then try making some on your own.  Save the one you make and threw the one you've found on the web.

Sometimes, having slight change on a preset can be a way to sounds unique.

[MEDMAN]

Well, between using a bass preset or samples of a bass stab for example i'm 100% with a preset, at least you can make some reverse engineering from this.

[ERLAND]

what matters is the re-sampling.

[ShawOfficial]

Use of presets is fine and I use a few of them myself.
I don't do much sound design as of yet but I'm learning it and I believe that it'd be easier for any producers to make sounds rather than to keep browsing new sound banks for presets.

[auvic]

The connotations that come with 'presets' seem to be associated with 'selling out' by not making their own sounds. I don't particularly believe that--could be a contributing factor or not. I personally don't use presets, but I don't hold anything against those who exclusively do. They're just not sound designers.

[Lycii]

Presets are amazing. Like everyone already stated, they're great for layering, learning how to make a sound, and anything else.

[TheAGNO3]

I think it's perfectly fine to use presets just as it's perfectly fine to use samples, as long as you're in some way either processing the preset or sample to make it less noticeable and more of your own. I use presets really often and then just adjust the perameters and it ends up as it's own thing. It's kind of like painting with a template or something like that, always nice to start with a little bit of something to give you inspiration and then you can branch off from it. I think in dance music presets are part of the culture anyhow ie. 303s, 808s, Rees bass, etc.etc.

Do what works for you! Just my opinion.

[Tonton]

I love presets, because skipping through them they might not be exactly what i'm looking for but a lot of the time they spark ideas for other parts of the song. To me production is more about piecing stuff together and make it work then design the particular puzzle pieces themself. Also a lot of organic sounding stuff takes a lot of time to make, time i'd rather spend on a chord progression.

And at the end of the day, even *Init* is a preset.

[ncktab]

I use presets as a guide when it comes to making my own patches. But I enjoy moving through large sound banks and then think "Huh, so thats how you make that sound".
It's useful for jumpstarting creativity and the writing process.

[Nogan]

I'm more into creating my own sounds but IMO sometimes presets can be useful when I get a creative block or if I want to learn how a certain sound is made, and then fooling around with it to get a new sound

This is basically what I do; I look for a placeholder sound to toy around with musical ideas, and then from there I like to create more deliberate, detail-specific sounds.