using only one synth one soundpack

[iamthor4]

i know some
of you make your own sounds
i can but some are ok some sound like my asshole on the toilet , plopety plop..
but something that really holds me back is having too many sounds.
so A question for you guys
if you find a nice synth or a really good refill,
would you make a whole ep or album with one synth or one refill? and
maybe some slight extras like for drums or some strings? , do any of you keep it that minimal ?
i think im gonna go down that road because i am wasting years literally searching for the next great plug in and wasting my time going through hundreds of presets to find a good one ,

so maybe having just one quality soundpack is the way forward and sticking to that what do you think
and like people said on another thread i can always reinstall afterwards .

[willy_dinglefinger]

Generally aye I'd be fine with making a collection of songs based around just one specific 'sound' or synth or patch(es) or what have you.

Having said that though, I studied music and sound engineering for over 6 years full time and at some point early on I had to get my teeth into synthesis and that led to me really enjoying that type of sound design. Thus even if you think it holds you back, I would still recommend spending a couple hours learning about one specific device (eg. dig up some Youtube videos on Europa or Thor or something and play along, or check out the Reason Experts website and follow some of that dude's amazing walkthroughs etc).

I know it can be a bit daunting but it really does pay off and bring a lot of joy later on.

Alternatively, maybe just pick one device per week or whatever and use only instances of that in your compositions? Like next week just limit yourself to Subtractor and insert FX, see how that ignites a bout of passive learning and experimentation, then once you're bored do a bunch of new ideas using only Europa etc etc.

[iamthor4]

Generally aye I'd be fine with making a collection of songs based around just one specific 'sound' or synth or patch(es) or what have you.

Having said that though, I studied music and sound engineering for over 6 years full time and at some point early on I had to get my teeth into synthesis and that led to me really enjoying that type of sound design. Thus even if you think it holds you back, I would still recommend spending a couple hours learning about one specific device (eg. dig up some Youtube videos on Europa or Thor or something and play along, or check out the Reason Experts website and follow some of that dude's amazing walkthroughs etc).

I know it can be a bit daunting but it really does pay off and bring a lot of joy later on.

Alternatively, maybe just pick one device per week or whatever and use only instances of that in your compositions? Like next week just limit yourself to Subtractor and insert FX, see how that ignites a bout of passive learning and experimentation, then once you're bored do a bunch of new ideas using only Europa etc etc.

i appreciate what your saying and i did learn thor its easy to get some
simple sounds out of that saying this
it takes years to get good at making sounds , i can see some sound designers early stuff they was selling compared to years later and its miles better tbh , so 6 years is a long time for me at my age , i know how to use an lfo and effects and tweak a sound get a bit of modulation and i have made my own small bank of sounds for thor , but sitting there making sounds ( unless really really simplistic , creates the same
problem for me as scrolling though sounds , ie spending too much time on that and not getting enough music done
i think if i wanted to be a sound designer it would be fine and while i think over time
i could get decent as my patches now are ok the transition from ok to wow is a long long head scratching one which takes away from making songs
thanks for your help bud but i more meant limiting yourself to a bunch of sounds
even big producers use other peoples sound banks dont they ?
it would take me quite a few good years to be on the level of sonic underworld or luftrum i think
although i have made some ok ones theres are nicer

[Oquasec]

I have a habit of only using subtractor sometimes, but when I feel like I'm inspired to do more I pick up thor and europa or some RE.
Refills cover acoustic instruments while RE & stock plugins cover the electronic side.
---
Propellerhead sort of simplifies the whole idea of music production and basically gives the process it's own terms and system to deal with introducing a different kind of ecosystem for audio producers to use.

[EdGrip]

I'm terrible for getting drawn in to hours of tinkering and not making anything much - I'm ok with it because I enjoy the tinkering very much!

If you want to finish songs, I think you have to treat the sound design as a later part of the game. Use some basic sounds to come up with chord progressions, melody, ideas like that. A stock piano. A toy Yamaha keyboard. A guitar, even. Even the most electronic dance bangers are chord progressions and verses/choruses at heart. Have a songwriting/musical ideas day, up to a basic arrangement, using any old instruments.
Then have a sound design day, where you start to apply sound design to that musical idea and arrangement. (I'm writing this for myself as much as anyone, of course)

[TritoneAddiction]

I have done many many projects, both indivudual songs and entire EPs around particular synths. Picking only one synth to work with is awesome imo. You really learn a synths strengths and character. And since there's less choice, songs happens faster, at least in my experience. If you don't want to go that extreme using only one synth, decide beforehand what instruments you would like to explore and limit yourself to those.
For example I'm thinking of doing a project around the Noise Engineering synths. Or maybe a project around the 3 synths from Ekssperimental Sounds. There will still be plenty of sounds and options, but there are some limitations. Too much choice can be paralyzing for sure.

[iamthor4]

I'm terrible for getting drawn in to hours of tinkering and not making anything much - I'm ok with it because I enjoy the tinkering very much!

If you want to finish songs, I think you have to treat the sound design as a later part of the game. Use some basic sounds to come up with chord progressions, melody, ideas like that. A stock piano. A toy Yamaha keyboard. A guitar, even. Even the most electronic dance bangers are chord progressions and verses/choruses at heart. Have a songwriting/musical ideas day, up to a basic arrangement, using any old instruments.
Then have a sound design day, where you start to apply sound design to that musical idea and arrangement. (I'm writing this for myself as much as anyone, of course)

this is a really good idea

[iamthor4]

I have done many many projects, both indivudual songs and entire EPs around particular synths. Picking only one synth to work with is awesome imo. You really learn a synths strengths and character. And since there's less choice, songs happens faster, at least in my experience. If you don't want to go that extreme using only one synth, decide beforehand what instruments you would like to explore and limit yourself to those.
For example I'm thinking of doing a project around the Noise Engineering synths. Or maybe a project around the 3 synths from Ekssperimental Sounds. There will still be plenty of sounds and options, but there are some limitations. Too much choice can be paralyzing for sure.

i was thinking a list good ideas

[sdst]

of course you can make an album with a single synth

you can make an album with one of these, subtractor, Legend, Obsession, ES400 FM, PredatorRE, Expanse, Antidote, and more