how do you choose your sounds

[for]

how do you choose sounds for guitar, drums, bass

for example how do you choose which snare to use..

is there a site i can go to and listen all kinds of snares...or kicks

[ivansc]

Boy!

That is like asking "how long is a piece of twine?"

First step is to audition everything you already have I suppose.
Tough if you already have Komplete 8 Ultimate and a bunch of other stuff.

My method is crude but sorta works.
Mostly I have specific genres of sound that I already know I like, so I have tended to buy virtual instruments I have auditioned and that I know contain sounds that will be usable for me.

Once I had those ducks in a row it just became a matter of listening to the various options I had for the specific sounds I was needing.

Oh and I tend to use complete kits rather than bits and pieces culled from different places. Makes it easier to get a kit that sounds like it is all in the same room.

[V'ger]

Bedroom Producers Blog is a great site that lists all good samples, plugins etc, have a rummage there.

As for snare etc, dont forget to be inventive. For example layer 2 or more snares, and use EQ and compressor to get the sound how you like it. Same for bassdrum etc.

Also check out some forums like Gearslutz and KVR audio for ideas. For example it now appears that for guitar sound the new revelation is a plugin called S-Gear.

For bass, there's Trilian which is also highly regarded, but is crazy expensive. You can anyway go a long way with free samples or plugins, so check out Bedroom Producers Blog like I said.

[msore]

Choice of sounds may be mostly determined by
the nature of the song,
genre and
intended audience.

[JoeBlivion]

If you can't get the drums to sound like Bonham, then go for the Charlie Watts, he's always right where he oughta be.

I agree with what's already been said here. Hopefully you've got a direction in mind, cause there's an endless supply of loops and samples. Too many options can be like kryptonite and can leave you unable to decide...because they are all so freaking cool!! It has happened to me anyway, I'm recovering.

[OpIvy]

It's easy. Heavy or soft

[boka]

Originally Posted by msore

Choice of sounds may be mostly determined by
the nature of the song,
genre and
intended audience.

and your taste...

[kindafishy]

Fun question.

I guess context is important here. I don't mix other people's material (yet), so anything I am choosing sounds for is an end to end production. I guess that makes it easy (or easier, I guess).

For me, guitar is the easiest because I do all my writing on the guitar, so I know the vibe I want to have for the finished song. So, guitar sounds that I want are something that just falls out naturally.

Bass comes down to plugging it in and jamming along with the basic guitar track with an ear for emphasis, power, dynamic control and vibe. Simply put, do I want it to be round, punchy and driving or do I want it to be smooth, supporting and melodic? ...or any combination of those? It comes down to what is right for the overall production of the song and what drops in while jamming it out. I guess this is an experimental/creative process for me.

Drums were the hardest for me in the beginning, but pretty straight forward now. It was always a matter of auditioning everything in the beginning, which was just an exercise in consuming time and second guessing my mind and my ears, so I had to take a step back and spend a couple weeks just playing with the kits and getting really familiar with their sounds outside the world of working on a song. In hindsight, that was similar to just picking up an instrument for the first time and getting to know it's characteristics well. Anyway, for drums, for me, it is pretty much the same process as bass. I have an idea of what I want the end result to be (sometimes right away, sometimes after a bit of experimenting), and then it is just taking the two or three kits (or kit pieces) I know are in the general area and figuring out what fits best.

Of course, sometimes that all gets thrown out the window, lol. For example, on the newest song I'm working on, I had an idea, but none of the Superior Drummer kits that I thought would work fit the song. Just to keep working, I ended up loading up the Jamstix default kit that I honestly never thought I would use on anything... and it fits the song perfectly. I guess the point here is that even after you come up with a system for finding what you are looking for, keep an open mind because what works can come from other places.

[Sinner]

Depends on my mood and I guess the song. I have collected samples and patches over the years and have evolved a folder system by type.

If you looked at my harddrive, youd see folders like

Brushes
Kicks (aren't usually hit with a stick of some kind so are out there)
Sticks
Mallets
Other

inside the stick, brush, mallet folders you'd see
Toms
Cymbals
etc.

inside those are the names of different sampled drum sets. That is usually Ludwig
Gretsch
etc.

and I just remember eventually what they sound like.

Now I have some suffixes I use for collections I have that have any room ambience so I don't mix and match sets that sound out of place together, but that is esoteric.

Other is non drum things, like anvils, cats, wooden doors, etc.

With BFD, or the other sampler players, I can save the sets, so that saves time, but it is usual to open a preset and then swap out a few things.

[morgon]

Kindsfishys' posts are always good advice imo, familiarize with bass drums and keyb sounds enough and after a while they virtually choose themselves.

And +1 also to the organization methods Sinner just described.