Pre-sets past, passed, and now

[vvv]

I started this thread so as not to OT this thread:
Default recording chains, etc.; lazinessossity

I remember sitting down some years ago with a left-handed copy of Waves and copying some of the pre-sets in Cool Edit. I never used the Waves except for that purpose, having tried some of its presets on source material to get the concepts (ex., opto-compressor vs. VGA, according to Waves).

But over the years I have developed some pre-sets I use repeatedly, primarily reverbs that work well together on guitars, or vocals, now coupled with relatively gentle compression first in the chain. I have a chorus setting I like on bass once in a while. I have FFT pass-filter pre-sets I use constantly, and a couple parametric settings for things like clarifying a Zoom H2 live recording, or brightening a vocal ...

I confess that pre-sets are another of my lazinessossities, a compromise to get past the tech and to the creation part faster.

And for yooze?

[kslight]

I make and use my own plugin presets, but it's less about trying to repeat the same thing more about getting my settings in order with one click to then tweak, or to dial up a plugin that I don't usually go crazy with tweaking. For example, on the L2 I pretty much always will set threshold to -3 and -1.0 as the output ceiling, etc..so I have a preset.

[digitaldrummer]

I have some presets that I use for drum recordings (that match the mic/pre setup I mentioned in the other thread) and yeah it saves me time. I change a lot of them depending on the song/mix but I know what the mic/pres do and then I know what needs to be done (if anything) to take it up a notch from there.

as far as in-box presets of plugins... I often listen to a few to see what the plugin can do but after that I almost always modify/customize the settings. it's rare that a preset would be perfect out of the box (after all we are using different mic, pre, rooms, converters, etc. so how could it be perfect except by chance).

Mike

[joninc]

yep, i do this too. especially for EQ settings - I usually name them for the artist I am working on so I can recognize where it came from in the future. ie: Bill Voc Mud Remover
, Sam acoustic guitar AIR etc....

[drumsound]

I honestly forget plugin presets even exist. I used effect presets as a starting point on outboard units, but that's about it.

Every time I try to save a preset to use on another track on a record, I never have a freaking clue where it is, because it doesn't show up in the preset list. I'm too much of a luddite for this shit, I guess,

[A.David.MacKinnon]

Hmmm. I often use presets as a starting point on EQs and comps but I almost always dial them in from there. To me it's in the same ballpark as pushing up the faders and roughing in a quick balance. I want to move quickly, I know what I'm after and I know of a few plug-ins and presets that will get me 75% of the way there. ONCE things are roughed in I always go back and tweak but in the heat of the moment it's nice to have a quick shorthand method of putting things in their place so you can focus on something else (along the lines of "I know the vocal needs to be huge and up-front so I'll rough it in with _____ so I can go and work on the bass and drums and hear things in context").
I've never gotten into making my own pre-sets for anything other than the Waves IR reverb. Even then the presets are all for my own set of sampled rooms.

[drumsound]

I started mixing a record where the drummer has what I would call questionable choice in crash cymbals. I spent some time with the McDSP AE400 "active EQ" dialing in both a static dip, as well as one a little bit higher that activates on the crashes. I did create a preset and continued it to the second song, and will most likely use it on most of the mixes.

[vvv]

I started mixing a record where the drummer has what I would call questionable choice in crash cymbals.

Ya mean, he used 'em?*

*Facetious question meant to tease Greg Juke ...

[syrupcore]

I use them a lot. Mostly as starting points but often it does what I want without futzing. Maybe I'm lazy. Well, I am lazy; maybe this is another indication of it, I mean.

Particularly with EQ or reverbs, unless it's a 'special effect' for a song, I tend to save anything I do in a global presets folder with a description of what it was I trying to do: 'brighten muddy guitar' or 'hum squelcher' or 'muted male vocal reverb' or whatever. Unless I know I can do what I want with a given plugin in 5 seconds (eg, roll off everything below 300hz), I'll start by looking at my preset list. Then I pick something that sounds close and go from there.

Couch it: These days I'm mostly only recording myself with a fairly stable stable of gear.

[Jarvis]

I started mixing a record where the drummer has what I would call questionable choice in crash cymbals.

Ya mean, he used 'em?*

*Facetious question meant to tease Greg Juke ...

hehe. Cymbal thread refuses to die.

[drumsound]

I started mixing a record where the drummer has what I would call questionable choice in crash cymbals.

Ya mean, he used 'em?*

*Facetious question meant to tease Greg Juke ...

A little more than I wish he had... He's a decent player though.

[Trick Fall]

i have a really tough time with eq, but I've found it really helps me if I use a preset to get in the ballpark and then dial it in from there.