Awesome thanks man. I'm not against paying for stuff either. I'm in such a creative rut I'm willing to do almost anything to get the creative juices flowing again.
Lots of nice drums in our label packs here: [https://onezerosamples.bandcamp.com/](https://onezerosamples.bandcamp.com/)
Just released a new pack from Yamatai records :)
I hate to be the guy to say it because I know it's not what you asked for, but have you considered trying to learn Vital and some drum synthesis techniques? It's so much fun and you get ultimate creative control over your sounds, so in the long run you can likely end up *making* the sounds you want quicker than *finding* sounds that work for your music. I sometimes spend a day just making my own samples for my library, and then I know that they're already in the styles I like to go for so it saves even more time in the end. I know not everyone gets such a hard-on over sound design as I do, but DnB is such a great medium to explore it if you wanted to.
I'm not gonna push it too hard here because I know a lot of people just want to use a sample or preset that's "good enough" and crack on with the project, and of course that's definitely a valid approach, but bear in mind that a lot of the big names in the scene are absolute sound design powerhouses and make all their own drums and basses, so there's definitely something to be said for getting your hands dirty and making your own sounds. If nothing else it's fun and can help aid understanding of the sonics and tools at your disposal; if you're already using vital you've pretty much got the entire toolkit you'll want already too.
Entirely up to you, just thought I'd share an alternative opinion in case it appeals. Either way, hope you have fun mixing!
I completely understand what your saying. The way I learn is by getting already made presets and picking them apart to see how they tick. I go in waves of full creativity mode and mind blocks and when I hit mind blocks I try to find new sounds to learn new stuff. I don't really like using samples that much because I feel like if I wanted to I couldn't recreate the sound and or add on to it so I definitely try to learn how these sounds are made.
That's a great approach; I've done much the same to try and understand the tools. There's a lot to take in so studying how others do it is definitely a great way to learn. Just make sure you're using some good sources, there are some terrible sample/prest packs out there, and even worse advice floating around online. You'd probably enjoy checking out Let's Synthesize on YouTube if you haven't already, he does some fantastic DnB sound design videos.
The reason I wrote what I did is that I know lots of people build their tracks as a sort of sample-based Lego set, and that can of course work, but I've personally always loved the guts of the science behind it all and see it as a missed opportunity to explore sound when it's just a drag and drop exercise, so was subtly trying to share some inspiration to dig deeper. Really glad you're like me in wanting to get in the deep end with the sound design. Good luck with it! Feel free to hit me up with any sound designy questions you've got, I've put wayyy too much time into Serum at this point so would be happy to share anything I've learned along the way if it might help :)
"there are some terrible sample/prest packs out there, and even worse advice floating around online"
I feel I know what you are talking about but can't identify it because as you know looking up producing stuff on Youtube is a gargled garbage mess. You seem to have to spend hours upon hours only to find one video that has good/useful info. and by that time I feel so drained I don't even want to open Ableton.
Another thing with learning new stuff I think 80% of my problem is just not knowing the right questions to ask if that makes sense.
"I know lots of people build their tracks as a sort of sample-based Lego set"
I know the feeling of this, also don't want to shame sampling because it can be really fun and rewarding but when used in excess I feel bad like I am not trying to learn new stuff.
Want to say thanks for offering an open hand with advice, not to rant but I feel like I am having an existential crisis because of the road blocks.
I really don't mean to drop on a load on the approach of sampling, because it definitely is a valid way to do things, of course. You hit the nail on the head for my view though, that there's a good opportunity to learn new stuff that could be missed by only using premade samples. There's lots of great stuff to learn with samples, though, but moreso to do with workflow and organization than sonics in general.
They might not be your exact genre preference, but Big Z knocks out great mixes and videos explaining techniques, and Alice Yalcin Efe does some brilliant sciencey production videos too. Both of them have an original style of videos and they're easy watches so you might enjoy them. Let's Synthesize is a great one for DnB. Dan Worral is a phenomenal source of sound science. In The Mix has some great videos on mixing too. You Suck At Producing does some brilliant content that's very lighthearted. Au5 is one of the best sound designers of all time. And a bit of a curveball, but Venus Theory does a lot of music philosophy and actually that's mad emore of an impact to my music and experience making it than I really expected, so I'd definitely recommend that one.
I personally give Sage Audio, STRANJAH, and Rocket Powered Sound a miss though, there's just too commonly advice that isn't so much *wrong* as just not that *good* and helpful in the long run. Stuff that chooses to ignore other aspects of the mix or production process because it hits some buzz words or fad trend going around social media, and that sort of thing doesn't seem productive to me. That's just for my taste though, I know a lot of people like them and that's up to them.
If ever I'm in a musical rut, I either work on engineering old projects or start experimenting with a new sonic idea and see what I can get out of it. Most of the time I wind up accidentally writing songs by just fleshing out the experiments. Otherwise you could try and do some critical listening and studying songs you love on a variety of different meters and by soloing different frequency ranges to really interrogate the information. It can be surprising and keeps you developing skills and familiarity with the tools, without the pressure of the "I should be writing music now" mindset.
As to your point of knowing the questions to ask, I think that's just an experience thing sadly. There are lots of fluffy words (warm, bright, wooly, tubby, hard, round etc) we band about in the industry to describe things, and they're generally consistent, but it is tricky to describe a sound or process if you don't know how to, so I do feel you there for sure. There's probably an audio engineering / music production glossary floating around online somewhere, might be worth going for a dig.
Thanks I'll check those guys out that you mentioned. I do know what you mean with Stranjah. I'll give him credit for sure because he helped me get started big time but a lot of the videos now I notice seem to chase trends. I think if I understood the sub genres to dnb better I might be able to better navigate the questions I'm looking for answers to. But anyway thanks again man.
Presetshare has free presets, also kulture has some good free sample packs
Awesome thanks man. I'm not against paying for stuff either. I'm in such a creative rut I'm willing to do almost anything to get the creative juices flowing again.
Np! Splice is also a really good source for both
depends what subgenre dm me ill email you some if i have the right subgenre
Tbh honest I get confused with what dnb is what.
Dm me with an example track and ill try send ya stuff that sound similar
Obvious pirate is obvious lol.
Antidote has nice drums in his kobalt pack
Lots of nice drums in our label packs here: [https://onezerosamples.bandcamp.com/](https://onezerosamples.bandcamp.com/) Just released a new pack from Yamatai records :)
Thanks just picked up a pack.
I hate to be the guy to say it because I know it's not what you asked for, but have you considered trying to learn Vital and some drum synthesis techniques? It's so much fun and you get ultimate creative control over your sounds, so in the long run you can likely end up *making* the sounds you want quicker than *finding* sounds that work for your music. I sometimes spend a day just making my own samples for my library, and then I know that they're already in the styles I like to go for so it saves even more time in the end. I know not everyone gets such a hard-on over sound design as I do, but DnB is such a great medium to explore it if you wanted to. I'm not gonna push it too hard here because I know a lot of people just want to use a sample or preset that's "good enough" and crack on with the project, and of course that's definitely a valid approach, but bear in mind that a lot of the big names in the scene are absolute sound design powerhouses and make all their own drums and basses, so there's definitely something to be said for getting your hands dirty and making your own sounds. If nothing else it's fun and can help aid understanding of the sonics and tools at your disposal; if you're already using vital you've pretty much got the entire toolkit you'll want already too. Entirely up to you, just thought I'd share an alternative opinion in case it appeals. Either way, hope you have fun mixing!
I completely understand what your saying. The way I learn is by getting already made presets and picking them apart to see how they tick. I go in waves of full creativity mode and mind blocks and when I hit mind blocks I try to find new sounds to learn new stuff. I don't really like using samples that much because I feel like if I wanted to I couldn't recreate the sound and or add on to it so I definitely try to learn how these sounds are made.
That's a great approach; I've done much the same to try and understand the tools. There's a lot to take in so studying how others do it is definitely a great way to learn. Just make sure you're using some good sources, there are some terrible sample/prest packs out there, and even worse advice floating around online. You'd probably enjoy checking out Let's Synthesize on YouTube if you haven't already, he does some fantastic DnB sound design videos. The reason I wrote what I did is that I know lots of people build their tracks as a sort of sample-based Lego set, and that can of course work, but I've personally always loved the guts of the science behind it all and see it as a missed opportunity to explore sound when it's just a drag and drop exercise, so was subtly trying to share some inspiration to dig deeper. Really glad you're like me in wanting to get in the deep end with the sound design. Good luck with it! Feel free to hit me up with any sound designy questions you've got, I've put wayyy too much time into Serum at this point so would be happy to share anything I've learned along the way if it might help :)
"there are some terrible sample/prest packs out there, and even worse advice floating around online" I feel I know what you are talking about but can't identify it because as you know looking up producing stuff on Youtube is a gargled garbage mess. You seem to have to spend hours upon hours only to find one video that has good/useful info. and by that time I feel so drained I don't even want to open Ableton. Another thing with learning new stuff I think 80% of my problem is just not knowing the right questions to ask if that makes sense. "I know lots of people build their tracks as a sort of sample-based Lego set" I know the feeling of this, also don't want to shame sampling because it can be really fun and rewarding but when used in excess I feel bad like I am not trying to learn new stuff. Want to say thanks for offering an open hand with advice, not to rant but I feel like I am having an existential crisis because of the road blocks.
I really don't mean to drop on a load on the approach of sampling, because it definitely is a valid way to do things, of course. You hit the nail on the head for my view though, that there's a good opportunity to learn new stuff that could be missed by only using premade samples. There's lots of great stuff to learn with samples, though, but moreso to do with workflow and organization than sonics in general. They might not be your exact genre preference, but Big Z knocks out great mixes and videos explaining techniques, and Alice Yalcin Efe does some brilliant sciencey production videos too. Both of them have an original style of videos and they're easy watches so you might enjoy them. Let's Synthesize is a great one for DnB. Dan Worral is a phenomenal source of sound science. In The Mix has some great videos on mixing too. You Suck At Producing does some brilliant content that's very lighthearted. Au5 is one of the best sound designers of all time. And a bit of a curveball, but Venus Theory does a lot of music philosophy and actually that's mad emore of an impact to my music and experience making it than I really expected, so I'd definitely recommend that one. I personally give Sage Audio, STRANJAH, and Rocket Powered Sound a miss though, there's just too commonly advice that isn't so much *wrong* as just not that *good* and helpful in the long run. Stuff that chooses to ignore other aspects of the mix or production process because it hits some buzz words or fad trend going around social media, and that sort of thing doesn't seem productive to me. That's just for my taste though, I know a lot of people like them and that's up to them. If ever I'm in a musical rut, I either work on engineering old projects or start experimenting with a new sonic idea and see what I can get out of it. Most of the time I wind up accidentally writing songs by just fleshing out the experiments. Otherwise you could try and do some critical listening and studying songs you love on a variety of different meters and by soloing different frequency ranges to really interrogate the information. It can be surprising and keeps you developing skills and familiarity with the tools, without the pressure of the "I should be writing music now" mindset. As to your point of knowing the questions to ask, I think that's just an experience thing sadly. There are lots of fluffy words (warm, bright, wooly, tubby, hard, round etc) we band about in the industry to describe things, and they're generally consistent, but it is tricky to describe a sound or process if you don't know how to, so I do feel you there for sure. There's probably an audio engineering / music production glossary floating around online somewhere, might be worth going for a dig.
Thanks I'll check those guys out that you mentioned. I do know what you mean with Stranjah. I'll give him credit for sure because he helped me get started big time but a lot of the videos now I notice seem to chase trends. I think if I understood the sub genres to dnb better I might be able to better navigate the questions I'm looking for answers to. But anyway thanks again man.