Music Production: Software Part 2 – Generating Instrument Sound

figure 4: one of the coolest things of Reason is that you can connect all synths and samplers graphically via cables, much like dealing with real hardware modules and cables.

Choosing among Synths, Samples and Loops as Instruments

The basic rule to choose suitable sound generator software is to consider (1) composing style, (2) hardware limitation and (3) creativity.

In terms of composing style, for beginners who don’t have classical training, loop samples are a good choice to compose a piece of music in no time. On the other hand, GM synths are best for sketching your music on a staff, as you can take as many instruments as you need from the synth. Specific-purpose synths and samples are for people who are fond of composing specific instruments, and want some playable instruments in hands. For people who strive for achieving high quality sound, especially writing scores for TV, movies and games, sample libraries are almost the only choice satisfying your need.

In terms of hardware, a powerful CPU tends to be advantageous when using heavily-scripted synths and samples. A big size of a sample hard disk (100GB+) and a large amount of fast RAM (4GB+) are vital if you intend to run many sample libraries together. A fast spinning HD can help a bit in loading samples for very big libraries (assumed you have not enough RAM for streaming). GM synths are usually the best if you have limited HD space and RAM. For loops, hard disk space is more vital than the amount of RAM.

In terms of creativity, there is no boundary that restricts you to use either samples or synths. Sometimes you get the best result when layering loops with samples, or a piano synth may sound aesthetically better than a sampled piano, who’s know? Most composers own hundreds of synths, loops and samples for different situations. However, the bottom line is that you should start with a few favorite synths and samples, and to be familiar with them, before looking for another synth or sample – This process could be endless.

Of course, there are some websites contain samples/synths being downloaded for free. Some are high-quality too. GIYF again

Okay, I hope you can understand better for different synths and samplers. We will go on talking about in detail those software manipulating sound, which are vital for mixing and shaping your sound, in the next article, so stay tuned!