Universal Preset search .. or.. A device-wide way to find the perfect preset

mikejohn

Not sure if anything like this exists and I’m definitely not a developer so I’m not proposing a new app or anything; I’m more or less sharing some thoughts and looking for some insight.

On every project I’m working on, there almost certainly comes a time when I find myself endlessly rifling through AUs and their presets, loading and unloading different ones, searching for “that” sound for “this” project. In my minutes to hours long detours, I almost just as certainly end up thinking to myself how cool it would be if there was a universal place to search and sift through my favorite presets on all of my AUs: a one-stop-shop to quickly audition sounds without loading and unloading a bunch of different AUs with all of their various ways of sorting and searching through presets.

I’ve considered the manual approach for creating such a system, which would be cumbersome, to say the least. Basically, I’d make short audio recordings of my favorite presets and save them in a folder and tagging structure that’s easily navigable to quickly audition sounds. (I could see Sample Crate or Media Assistant coming in handy here).

A quick example: the topmost folder level could be sound types, with the usual suspects: Bass, Lead, Pads, Keys, etc. Then I could use tagging for the AU name, though, this would require a lot of tags, and might not be the most efficient way .. and I really don’t want to do this.

Ideally, there would be a more automated way (or at least a little less manual way) .. Say, after you’ve created a new preset in any AU, you could save it (and an audio sample of it?) to a universal database, housed on your device or in the cloud, and within that database are folder and tagging options so you can customize it how you’d like. There would also be a simple audio player for auditioning purposes.

Or, you could let some kind of AI based file snooper loose in iOS that can see, hear and recognize all of your AU presets and sort them within a universal database on your device and offer you audio samples for each one as you scroll through them .. when you find the preset you like, it asks how/where you’d like to open the AU with the selected preset loaded. Again, I’m definitely not a developer, but once upon a time I aspired to dabble in sci-fi writing …

Anyway, just spitballing here .. this whole system could just be a different way to waste time sifting through sounds but I think it has its merits; it’d be useful for me, anyway.

I’ve wondered if AUBE has this kind of universal preset searching/saving or tagging capability (I don’t own it) but from what I’ve seen and read, it doesn’t seem like it does. Is there anything out there that can do something remotely like this?

Anyone else run into the-endless-search-for-the-right-sound issue?
Do you have any systems in place to optimize this process?

I’d love to hear y’all’s thoughts or insights for how you deal with this. I just don’t have a good enough memory to recall every preset from every Audio Unit I own ..

wim

Loose thoughts:

• NS2's has a preset database that allows tagging. Except for it's internal plugins, you still have to manually tag things. It's nice though. Just a side comment tough. I know that's not what you're after.
• AUBE doesn't have preset searching / saving / tagging.
• The way I deal with this is to enforce discipline on myself to separate the phases of building a song into: idea generation, arrangement, sound choice and design, and mixing and mastering. I do my very best not to divert into any other phase while working on another. Only when I finish phase, or get temporarily stuck, do I divert elsewhere. So, when generating ideas or arranging, I go only for the first app where a vaguely close preset comes to mind, trying never to spend more than a few moments finding a "placeholder" sound.

mikejohn

@wim said:
Loose thoughts:

• NS2's has a preset database that allows tagging. Except for it's internal plugins, you still have to manually tag things. It's nice though. Just a side comment tough. I know that's not what you're after.
• AUBE doesn't have preset searching / saving / tagging.
• The way I deal with this is to enforce discipline on myself to separate the phases of building a song into: idea generation, arrangement, sound choice and design, and mixing and mastering. I do my very best not to divert into any other phase while working on another. Only when I finish phase, or get temporarily stuck, do I divert elsewhere. So, when generating ideas or arranging, I go only for the first app where a vaguely close preset comes to mind, trying never to spend more than a few moments finding a "placeholder" sound.

I appreciate the thoughts Wim, thanks. I’ll take discipline over AI any day ..

You have a very orderly approach .. maybe I’ll take some of these phases you mentioned and make them into my own.

I like the idea of not spending too much time on the front end looking for the right sound but getting close with the first app that has something like what I’m looking for.

Sometimes I’ll let myself get lost in searching or making presets simply because I’m stuck on a part .. or I’ll start playing with effects, which is fun but can also derail the bigger project of writing a song.

At the end of the day, it’s just fun to play ..

wim

@mikejohn said:
You have a very orderly approach .. maybe I’ll take some of these phases you mentioned and make them into my own.

I like the idea of not spending too much time on the front end looking for the right sound but getting close with the first app that has something like what I’m looking for.

It depends on mood and what I'm trying to do. Often a whole piece can be inspired by a single stumbled-upon preset, so there's no hard and fast rule. But, if I do get into the flow of one phase, I do try not to get distracted by others at least until I run out of ideas.

Sometimes I’ll let myself get lost in searching or making presets simply because I’m stuck on a part .. or I’ll start playing with effects, which is fun but can also derail the bigger project of writing a song.

At the end of the day, it’s just fun to play ..

Yep. Well, for some of us anyway. Actually finishing things is highly important to others. I found strictly separating the phases was the only way I could keep up any kind of pace during a period where I had fixed goals to put out finished pieces regularly.

Now I just noodle with a big dumb grin on my face.
My wife has to periodically check to be sure I'm not watching porn.

mikejohn

@wim said:

@mikejohn said:
You have a very orderly approach .. maybe I’ll take some of these phases you mentioned and make them into my own.

I like the idea of not spending too much time on the front end looking for the right sound but getting close with the first app that has something like what I’m looking for.

It depends on mood and what I'm trying to do. Often a whole piece can be inspired by a single stumbled-upon preset, so there's no hard and fast rule. But, if I do get into the flow of one phase, I do try not to get distracted by others at least until I run out of ideas.

Sometimes I’ll let myself get lost in searching or making presets simply because I’m stuck on a part .. or I’ll start playing with effects, which is fun but can also derail the bigger project of writing a song.

At the end of the day, it’s just fun to play ..

Yep. Well, for some of us anyway. Actually finishing things is highly important to others. I found strictly separating the phases was the only way I could keep up any kind of pace during a period where I had fixed goals to put out finished pieces regularly.

Now I just noodle with a big dumb grin on my face.
My wife has to periodically check to be sure I'm not watching porn.

Haha