Sound Sketching: The Cure to Endless Preset Scrolling
Do you catch yourself scrolling sounds, feeling like none are working?
I did this for years. Until I realized the problem wasn’t my sounds.
It was three skill weaknesses:
- PLANNING: I didn’t know the kind of sound I wanted in the first place.
- SOUND IDENTIFICATION: I couldn’t recognize when I had found the right sound, because I couldn’t hear its potential outside of what it was currently doing.
- SOUND EDITING: I didn’t know how to make a sound become the right sound through editing.
The fix that helped me: Sketching practice with different sounds, so I could hear what they wanted to do, and how to shape them to fit different ideas.
But how do you practice?
FIRST: Think of each sound in 3 dimensions: Shape, Timbre, World.
Shape = How it moves (Long pad vs tight pluck?)
Timbre = How it sounds (Gritty, sharp vs clean, round?)
World = The source (Orchestral vs synthetic vs acoustic?)
SECOND: Try this mindset flip:
“Don’t ask what your sounds can do for you. Ask what you can do for your sounds.”
Because when you flip it around, any sound can be a good sound.
It’s up to you to respect it enough to learn how to make it one.
Just listen. What is the sound naturally wanting to do?
THIRD: Your Homework - Sound Sketching Practice
- Grab any sound. A stock preset, a VST you’ve been wanting to play with, or a preset you love. Note it’s SHAPE, TIMBRE AND WORLD the best you can.
- Write at least 3-5 ideas in it. The more the better. Notice what it feels good doing - and what it doesn’t feel good doing.
- Repeat this process as part of a regular practice routine, and you’ll quickly start recognizing how to treat your sounds with respect - and they’ll respect you back.
You’d be surprised how many of the impressive sounds you hear in commercial tracks are very simple - they’ve just been used well.
Avery
