This Will Change Your Sound Design Forever

[@pickyourselfofficial]

FREE Guide - The Finisher Framework: pickyourself.com/framework

[@blakecasimir]

Folks that want to dive in but are still beginners / intermediate at sound design: focus on modulation. It's one the most important aspects of creating good synth sounds.

[@cinamynj]

Modulation like using envelopes to modulate parameters?

[@webkritik5411]

@@cinamynj yes

[@bailey5924]

@@cinamynj that and LFOs are the two biggest parts of interesting synth sounds imo

[@BigKnecht]

Volume envelopes, Filter envelopes and modulations are the three things that you need to know.

[@israelCommitsGenocide]

bitwig baby

[@PeteGunnShow]

I realized very early on that I was spending hours scrolling presets when I could just take the time to learn to make my own sounds. So now, not only do I save time, but I have definitely had more fun.

[@Submersed24]

I am thinking of clearing my presets but only keeping the “bones” like a basic “pluck” and pad and I can fill in the rest

[@PeteGunnShow]

@Submersed24 I like keeping them incase I need inspiration. Only because sometimes I get stuck in the rut of approaching sound design the same couple of ways. But I start with an init patch when I am creating. I keep saying I want to make some free preset packs to post or even create an entire song with just using one synth like phaseplant as a way to really get to know the synth. I already make my own drums with drumcomputer so it shouldn't be a stretch to just make the whole track.

[@Submersed24]

@@PeteGunnShow my issue with starting at init is that it limits you sometimes from more complex stuff. So I like to get certain general “sounds” pre made as a template for a custom “init”

[@spacemanspliff7844]

I love the way your ear gets better as you get better at picking up on the subtleties of certain changes. Theres so much at your fingertips with these synths, it’s insane. Awesome video, perfect for me as I’m beginning the deep dive into sound design.

[@felixdeubler1180]

Its a skill to make presets fit together. In my opinion, choosing the right sound plus maybe some ADSR gets you 99% of the way there. The key point is SOUND SELECTION. Just produce and listen and you will naturally develop a sense for what fits where. You will be surprised for how well the weirdest preset fits in certain parts of the mix. Thats why it is important to always mix and choose sounds in the context of the whole mix. Noone cares how your sound sounds on its own if it is never heard that way

[@AnoshterHaar]

While in a perfect and time free world I would love to try this approach myself. At this moment I just can't as I use presets a lot for the writing stage. When I am writing I do not want to be carried away by trying to imagine how I would like a sound to sound. To then waste more of my time transforming my imagined sound into an actual synth. It's not that I don't understand substractive synthesis or lack the imagination to come up with sounds. The thing just is that it takes my focus away from writing the arrangement in the first place. For me writing and arranging are way more important compared to finding the absolute perfect sound for a synth. I'd rather build from something already in the ballpark of where I want to go, changing it along the way or replacing it all together after a while. Than to reinvent the wheel everytime I get into a creative session. By doing that I keep most of my focus with the writing, arranging and mixing of the song. Which for me does the job fine. And while I can point towards songs or demo's of me where I clearly missed some cohesion between the parts, I recently have improved a lot and there is always something that you can do to fix sounds that fall short. Either by tweaking a preset, creating a new one, doubling or the mix. I have nothing against presets and people using presets. Nor against people believing they should avoid presets at all cost. In the end it is about the way you put sounds together and write a story. And for the people firmly against presets I have no problem with giving you a list of some of the greatest musicians/composers of all time that had no problem at all using presets...

[@pickyourselfofficial]

@@AnoshterHaar good points! I’m not against presets but I think it’s worthwhile to learn sound design deeply in order to either create stuff completely from scratch or adjust presets in a way so they actually fit with the rest. Most producers stop way too early in their journey and then blame the subpar sound on a lack of mixing skills where in reality it’s just bad sound design and sample selection aka bad source material.

[@jasonhoumusic]

You can separate the sound design and song writing sessions. During the sound design session, you just freely experiment and save the results in a custom library. When you actually write songs, call up some of your own sounds, make a sound palette and go from there. This way you have the best of both worlds.

[@AnoshterHaar]

@@jasonhoumusic meh I know that technique. And while it indeed sounds like the best of both worlds, in my experience It isn't. When having a sound 'creation' session, my brain wants to write. Creating sounds for the small possibility I once will choose it when in a writing session just isn't enough for me to then spend hours and hours on making what essentially is my own presets pack... And what is the difference in the creative writing session? This way you still go and click through presets, be it your own ones... What was the purpose of this technique for writing then? If it doesn't change a lot. I could see a way where it would help create more cohesion in your sounds as you just have to work with a small pallet of presets you created. And sure I have done stuff like that. Limiting what gear you can use etc. But I am a rather free writer. My music doesn't really fit a box. Nor does it fit the same box. Every piece can be entirely different. For me the possibility to have an imagination without limitations is what makes my music stand out (in my opinion). And if I limit myself to my own library, not only will my unique pieces start sounding more like eachother (which is unwanted), but I will not be held back and still seek out for more, new and different sounds either way. What's the difference in just going trough some more presets apart from your own? I mean the sounds you choose from your own 'preset' library still won't just magically fit anything. You still have to tweak and mix. Which is the exact thing I do with basically any other preset... Maybe I will try it again in the future. But I doubt if it would work for me.

[@AnoshterHaar]

@@pickyourselfofficial Great! I support that ofcourse. This method only works for me if I am not afraid to dive into a sound or synth to make it more like how I want it to sound. And just picking a preset and not doing anything with it is a receipe for a bad mix. So I do spend time tweaking the sounds to be more like how I want it to be. And this makes life a lot easier when you start to arrange. I also wanted to make one more point in favor of using presets which I forgot: it can help you discover new things or new directions your music can go into. I have had it lots of times where I was stuck or bored scrolling trough miles of presetlists, when suddenly a preset just hits the spot. Something unexpected or unintentional. We should not forget that making music with noise and synths always is about surprising your listeners but yourself as well!

[@robdeepmusic]

Thanks Philip. This makes a lot of sense, especially the "sounding impressive on its own". I've notice that sometimes I can get really tunnel visioned into the sound of one particular instrument like the bass or keys (i.e., the trees), and lose the full scope of the forest (i.e., the entire track). Often times, the harmonics of instruments and their working together change the vibe in subtle ways that are hard to detect at first but you gain more clarity the more you experience. For example, something as simple as sidechain compression of the bass and kick can make the bass "feel more groovy", despite the notes remaining the same and the bass being a simple operator or analog device.

[@JayM928]

Problem: you typically don’t get good enough at hearing and understanding mixing well enough until much later. So, even if you make your own, you won’t be well versed in what would make for a better patch than the presets. By the time you know that, you’ll probably already be making your own presets because your ears and mixing got good enough to where you realized you should. Conclusion? Don’t worry about it. Keep making music. Make a patch; use a preset… whatever you want. Having no one is gonna die if your mix isn’t amazing. Enjoy making music.

[@viviansutherland2169]

this video is awesome, been looking for advice like this for a long time, its basically a make your own presets tutorial

[@DMTCYMATICSDreamMusicTemple]

I make a living as a sound designer creating preset packs. Unfortunately I have little time for music production. Instead I spend time on each preset in a pack to inspire other music producers and save them time.

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Very cool to hear how much you dedicate to creating the presets. Like I’ve said, I have nothing against using presets but I strongly believe every artist needs to learn sound design a few levels deeper than most do to actually work with presets (and sounds from scratch) that work together well in a production.

[@eli-shulga]

First 40 seconds : Yes, yes and also yes.. EDIT: Back after watching the whole thing. Very interesting workflow, differently going to try it out. Thank you

[@TrizziEhgan]

For the sub layer, you could just use the Instrument Rack by selecting the instrument and effects and group them by pressing Ctrl+G, then duplicate the chain, remove the effects in the duplicated chain and do the rest. It's also important to name the chains so that you don't have to guess what's the main sound or the sub layer.

[@jimmythebold589]

yay. i love your enthusiasm. thanks, youtube algorithm, and thank you, phillip-

[@unfinishedmonkeyrecords]

if what he says in the first paragraph is true then simply turn off the fx section of the preset, keep the osc settings and tweak any modulation/lfo settings to your liking; should fix the issue...

[@OGtheGh_st]

if my project doesn't sound full with no fx I scrap it and move on to the next until something sounds huge then and only then do I find it beneficial to go deeper into sound design a good place to get to is knowing your sketch up tools inside out and reiterating over and over kind of like a pencil and sketchbook, use your basic sine triangle square etc avoid wasting time on setting reverb to a project that isn't even arranged and don't waste time trying to save something that isn't already holding its own.

[@TheSpeenort]

I like Vital because it's so visible. If and when I find a preset I like, Vital makes it easier to dissect and tweak things to my taste.

[@herrienek6672]

This sound reminds me a bit of the bells in Altes Kamuffel from PK

[@One_Call_System]

Awesome! This definitely will help me. You always have great advice, yiu should be bigger!

[@partlysimpson5154]

What headphones you have? Do u can get good results with them without monitors at all? Levels, depth?

[@TheShadow00000000000]

Your videos are so amazing and inspiring - keep going with this stuff !

[@ClicStudio]

Man what a great video, right when im getting interested in how to make sound design

[@richtrelo]

Fantastic video. Very well explained. I’ve definitely been guilty of tweaking presets to make it fit the track. This approach improves your sound design skills. Cool stuff

[@strangerting7818]

Great stuff! Would like to see tutorials on making darker, more abrasive stuff if possible 🤟🏻

[@CelestialForceDigital-ud6sq]

I totally agree.. really good video.

[@manuelwatts1864]

I've recently added Vital, but unfortunately I'm without presets. So it's bad news - good news. I'm also enjoying the "WickedTinker" with the Odin II modular synth ...

[@megamatt1915]

awesome video! love how you went over the core tenets of good and effective synthesis

[@stoxxhunter]

Great video! I totally agree that using the synths on board efx can be difficult in the context of a track and control overall. I would like to learn more about when, how and what type of noise can be used in sound design. Also I noticed you have a pad in the track for the video. Would like to learn more about pads and when / not to include. Thank you. Thanks as always for these tips!!!

[@konflikthippie2177]

Very helpfull the explanation is clear and precise! thank you so much.

[@notgodzod]

Excellent, really clear an informative. Thank you :)

[@juschu85]

You're right, the effects in soft synths are often not that great. However, they CAN have one advantage. Depending on how the soft synth is programmed, the effects might be part of the individual voices. That's not the case when the effects are after the summing of the different voices, but with built-in effects, at least it's possible to put them in the right spot. It definitely is always impossible when you just add effects after the synth. Those effects will always just get a stereo signal with all voices. Having polyphonic effects is interesting when you play chords and modulate some effect parameters with something like the played note or velocity. It gets even more interesting when you play the synth with an MPE controller and have more polyphonic modulation sources. Also just a random value per note can be great to separate the different voices from each other. If you want to try this, every true polyphonic synth has at least one polyphonic effect. The filter. Some synth have polyphonic LFOs. Create enough overtones with the oscillator, modulate the filter cutoff with the polyphonic LFO, modulate the polyphonic LFO's speed with the key, and play a chord.

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Really good point, you’re absolutely right in regards to different effects for specific voices!

[@juschu85]

I like this video but I just can't get it in my head how so many, if not all people doing these tutorials on KZbin keep duplicating their channels. It really drives me mad. Racks are a thing and Ableton has them for ages now. They are made EXACTLY for something like what you're doing at the end and are easy to use. Duplicating your channels is like hammering in a nail with a brick while there's a hammer right next to you. With chains, you can still individually control the volume of the main chain and sub chain, you can still EQ them independently, and you can still display them in the mixer as if they were individual channels. There are no disadvantages compared to duplicating channels, just advantages. At least in this case, that sound is one unit and should play the same notes anyway. When you use racks, Ableton automatically makes sure both instruments get the same notes. Without racks, that's an extra step. Since the two sounds form one unit, it also makes total sense to let Ableton display them as one channel instead of unnecessarily cluttering up your UI with more and more channels on the top level. Since the two sounds form one unit, it might also make sense to set the volume and EQ them also as a group after you did it individually. If you don't do that, you might already have found the correct volume relation for the two channels, but when you later want to change the volume in the context of the whole project, you have to change the volume of two channels. With a rack, you just change one single fader. Duplicating channels and then grouping them, gives you some of the advantages of racks, but not all of them. Groups are for a different use-case. Use them when you want to just visually group channels or process their sum when they're actually playing something different. Let's say you have some channels you're using just for mixing and you want to hide them by closing the group or you want to group all you different drum channels to process them as a group (for the case you're not already using a drum rack (there are valid reasons not to)).

[@pickyourselfofficial]

It’s all true but I intentionally try to not be too Ableton-exclusive. Many people who watch the channel are using Cubase, Logic Pro, FL studio etc. and I don’t want to waste time explaining what a rack is and how one might do this in another DAW. That being said, I love some of the Ableton specific tools so I’m happy to share them on the channel. TL; DR: it’s not just ignorance ;)

[@TheZarique]

Thanks for the video bro

[@FreakinTrash]

Nice video AND track! Keep going! All the best

[@HenningUhle]

Bravo! So, you've showed what I always say: Nobody needs every fancy synth or plugin to create unique and great music. With Meld and Roar, the synth manufacturer like XFer have a problem to explain why their products cost extra money. Nice video where you show what you can do with all the stock plugins. And especially Roar is my new favorite as it can be used to completely damage your sound or transform it to a new level. If you haven't already, I recommend using the Multiband Mode of Roar. It is real fun to fiddle around with the new possibilities. Ah, and for your bonus tip: You can also group Meld and use the 2nd one one octave lower. Overall, thank you for this video.

[@pulsarstar]

Very nice one Philip!

[@eabea]

delay+verb crushes my cpu tho, so i'm almost always saving that stuff for the end even though it makes sense to do it earlier for sure

[@PovilasCiplis]

well that was simply awesome!

[@alexfreeman7979]

nice and informative video! but take a drink everytime a separate video is plugged

[@deezuschrist]

I love bloopy sine waves. I could use only sine waves for everything and be happy.

[@prestonhart6685]

This is great 👍

[@TarkBike]

For an audio engineer your voice audio leaves a lot to be desired. I get that you're traveling and the room is not treated at all, but a lot can be done in terms of post-processing to improve a voice recording, remove echo and excessive lows

[@azimpradhan]

Do you actually use meld and roar in your productions or do you just make tutorials with them so that anyone with Ableton can follow along? I am asking because the lead sound you ended up with sounded rather digital and different from the rest of your mix.

[@EcoCentrist]

What does it mean to sound digital? Isn't everything we hear through a computer speaker technically a digital sound?

[@azimpradhan]

@@EcoCentrist technically yes. However, the rest of your mix is warm and analog sounding in comparison to the lead you created in this video.

[@pickyourselfofficial]

@@azimpradhan roar yes. Meld has grown on me lately but in many cases I’d rather go for Wavetable or Drift (which I think is fantastic).

[@victorarrudadj]

Amazing content!

[@julianaltmann3606]

Which headphones are you wearing in the video?

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Audeze LCD-X. Highly recommended :)

[@DerSteven23]

Sag mal, warst du nicht der Sänger von Punchers Plant?

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Ja so ist es 😅 wie geil dass du das weißt. Schreib mir gern mal ne Email und erzähl mir die Story, nur vom KZbin Nutzernamen kann ich nur mutmaßen ;)

[@DerSteven23]

​@@pickyourselfofficial Habe dir eine Mail geschick :)

[@PIZZAdayisback]

Pro tip for genres with WOUBWOUB noises: Make the jskknsk noises in a different project. Helps with lag if you have an LQ computer or tablet

[@andreievkalupniek5717]

So many presets come with effects and these have to be adjusted to the context

[@dondiegodelavega1695]

viva Valencia! Ahi estamos!!!!

[@raisingbarssince1978]

Saludos desde el carmen!

[@dondiegodelavega1695]

@@raisingbarssince1978 Buen sitio! Gracia por tus videos y aprovecha de Valencia y genuina gente.

[@gilangsuryadharma8965]

Wait I thought every daw process start with tweaking your sound then arrange it.

[@hanswurst2490]

I would NOT include delay/reverb in sound design at all! It is in both cases - overall & sound - the last step. One reason: you may want use sounds multiple times, and in different constallations. And then first on sounds, because you can move sounds in the stereo field by this.

[@cinamynj]

I’m kind of a beginner for this so probably complete wrong in my opinion: Something like a Kick in synthesis benefits from Reverb because an actual kick drum has a little room (drum) that the sound happens inside of Although idk if the 303/606/808/909 had reverbs. Which makes me think im wrong

[@hanswurst2490]

@@cinamynj And I am a player; with a workstation. Not a comic illustrator😉 Watch such videos for theory. You are right about percussions. Makes no sense. In contrary an excessive use of reverb can quickly spoil everything with noise. Exception could be strongly sounding drums (e.g. toms). But then only in solo-mode. Most times for everything: "less is more" 😉

[@thewizardtk]

It can have applications, all about context ;)

[@xSaintxSmithx]

Then you're not being very creative. Imagine you have a one shot and you wanna arpeggiate it using Timeless 3 before you add any other effects. There are plenty of creative contexts where you might put either effect first in your chain

[@lawrencethewolf]

Is it really so difficult for someone to understand how this or that synthesizer works that they watch such tutorials? Is it so difficult to turn the knobs and logically understand how it works?

[@MagnusThorJonsson-v8z]

no offence, but what were the ffirst 2 words of the video? Please consider a 1 sec space before starting the vid. I restarted the playback times and I just managed to make out the latter half of what I assume was "presets"

[@MagnusThorJonsson-v8z]

Good tutorial though. Some real solid advice

[@alexanderheld7501]

Premade Presets

[@gary_edwards]

"Pre-made loops and presets" I only knew that after turning on the subtitles, lol.

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Haha sorry guys 😅

[@raisingbarssince1978]

Wenn du in Valencia bist, bienvenidos, wir koennen gerne mal ne caña trinken gehen!

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Nice 🙌🏻💯😍

[@RainerErhart-nd5xf]

Ich mache lieber meine eigenen presets. Wenn ich presets nehme um schnell arbeiten zu können mache ich die reverbs immer aus und mixe meine eigenen send verbs darauf.

[@madmickey2957]

DUUUUDE 20 second unskippable add followed by minute long unskippable add.. WTF. Great video btw!

[@Soron-cadaverdog]

wy not group melt and then duplicate ?

[@pickyourselfofficial]

@@Soron-cadaverdog also possible of course :)

[@philColour]

This did not change my sound design forever, easy on the click baity titles. Preset designers don't make 'mistakes' as you put it, they are demonstrating the capabilities and features of a particular piece of hardware / software, it's up to producers/writers to decide how and where to utilise and modify these sounds, and understanding synthesis and sound design will go a long way here. Your room needs some treatment, or maybe do something in post, the voice over is quite unpleasant to listen to.

[@omnione7894]

❤❤❤❤❤

[@Raziaar]

Why you got hockey pucks on your ears?

[@pickyourselfofficial]

It’s going to be THE thing in 2025. Watch this space… ;)

[@DHisNotHere]

fe2 type beat

[@Submersed24]

Presets are awful. Every preset pack I have used has super impractical sounds that don’t fit in anything

[@tobytodelafontena]

Ok.

[@KHNIsTunes]

meaby you're using pressets wrong.. thank you for your video.

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Nothing against presets per se but you have to know some sound design to make them work well together

[@impolitikful]

This is like the exact opposite of what four tet does

[@cyberinstinction]

ja weil leute wie Chris Avence das vorgemacht haben und jetzt alle noch fetter und lauter sein wollen. versteht mich nicht falsch, die sounds sind geil aber die "szene" ist derzeit völlig überladen damit. ich bleib bei meinem klassischen synthy. manchmal kann weniger tatsächlich mehr sein.

[@tokateltoyoko2028]

why are you wearing the waffle iron on your ears?

[@pickyourselfofficial]

@@tokateltoyoko2028 I don’t like cold ears 🥶

[@helmet212]

I like Cat videos...

[@pickyourselfofficial]

For you with 🫶🏻 www.catsonsynthesizersinspace.com

[@helmet212]

@@pickyourselfofficial lol… much grateful.

[@2010freeworld]

tja channal wäre interresant wenn es den auf deutsch gibt, aber so sorry nein danke.

[@ilyeshmusic]

Bs....there are literally billions of presets out here...no need to do them from scratch everytime.

[@Zer0Spinn]

Not every sound every time. But some sounds I can legit design faster than I can find (the right version of) on a vst. Presets have their place too tho, obviously.

[@pickyourselfofficial]

I get where you’re coming from. Still, most producers lack the basic skills necessary to tweak them so they actually work well together.

[@ninjajoker5873]

Yeah but where is the originality with preset

[@MetalSupporter95]

Why so aggressive

[@ilyeshmusic]

@@ninjajoker5873 originality is long gone my friend...

[@study-ed4cb]

bro dont like cat video🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@Exaltation-heliacal]

Boring soft musicians.

[@montazownianr1]

Software/hardware it's just a tool, most of hardware synths these days sounds like vst anyway, but boring... yes, kinda boring :/