synthesizers

Freebase Dali · 05-12-2009, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr dave

but a square wave generator being run through filters and an effect is pretty much as far removed from a preset as possible, no? it's not quite as simple as hitting F27 on my buddy's old korg to get the 'sweet dreams' sound (or whatever the actual number was - he did have the same synth though).

i think you're right that it's a matter of perspective and i do agree with what you're saying. i think we're just getting lost in the semantics of the medium.

how about this for an example of what i'm trying to get at. let's say you have to make a soundtrack for a short sketch comedy clip and you need a laugh track for the punch line. do you use canned laughter from a sound effects disc? or do you pick up a mic and round up a bunch of buddies and hit record? ultimately it doesn't make a difference, the end product still gets a laugh track, but other sound effect guys WILL be able to spot the canned sample.

i guess i'm just the kind of person who'd rather make his own wheel than buy a tire.

You may get a better idea of what a preset or patch is if you checked out Native Instruments Reaktor 5.
It's a modular synth that allows you to build your own virtual synths within the program by using virtual wires to create connections between modules that work like the ones in real synths.
In that context, say you hook up an oscillator generating a square saw wave and maybe another oscillator generating a sine, plug it into some filters, an LFO, output that through some standard effects, and you end up with, for instance, the sweet dreams synth.
Well if you save that setup, you have just created a synth patch, or preset, that anyone using Reaktor 5 can download and use.

It's the same concept as another synth I have, the Access Indigo 2, which is a hardware synth. I don't plug modules into eachother, but all the presets are there and produce a specific sound. I can either use what's there, or tweak it to my liking using all the knobs.
The presets are generally mainstays on it. I'd have a hard time tweaking any of them and making them sound better than they already are. I'm not going to degrade my own potential just to avoid nay-sayers. If the song calls for a standard pad that I've heard before, then it's going there.
I care about what the music needs, not what the critics believe.