Dawesome, HydraTek, and Spektralisk offer three FREE copies of the Dawesome Kult virtual instrument and a brand-new double expansion pack to one lucky BPB reader!
The expansion pack project is called Oblivium, and it’s divided into two individual packs: Oblivium Alpha and Oblivium Omega.
It’s a meticulous collection of handcrafted presets that explore dark synth tones. The patches result from a collaboration between two sound designers who combined their artistic influences and unique styles.
Originally inspired by the Doom soundtrack and designed for Dawesome’s epic Kult synthesizer, Oblivium features a dark dystopian vibe. It is perfect for any composer or music producer looking for aggressive, organic, and complex sounds.
The sound bank has a strong horror-movie influence, and you will definitely get some inspiration for a spooky cinematic soundtrack.
Each expansion pack features 75 expressive presets, deeply customizable for both traditional MIDI keyboards and MPE controllers. The patches offer a vast array of sonic variation and customization possibilities for each of the 150 included patches.
With a main focus on complex sequences and aggressive, abrasive basslines, Oblivium Alpha thrives in gritty cinematic scenarios. It works great for dark bass-oriented music genres, while its sibling Omega takes care of desolate soundscapes and apocalyptic drones.
For those unfamiliar with Kult, it’s the latest innovative synthesizer from Dawesome.
Its uniqueness comes from its +30 complex oscillators, based on the mathematical chaos theory called Strange Attractors.
While not the place to dive deeper into this fascinating subject, it’s enough to say that you must hear it to believe it.
Kult’s innovative sound shaping options allow for organic overtones, a paradise for west-coast buchla-style synthesis enthusiasts.
You can further shape the sound with intuitive FM and AM synthesis controls, which seamlessly interact with the natural, organic sources.
The expanded filter section features a formant filter per voice, two comb filters that are driven by a distortion stage, and an analog filter with two coupled stages.
Featuring also an arpeggiator and a powerful but intuitive modulation system, the timbres possible with Kult are countless.
This is now your chance to get your hands on Oblivium, which offers a wide range of sonic textures to discover inside Kult.
More: Dawesome Kult / Oblivium Alpha / Oblivium Omega
The Giveaway
Dawesome, HydraTek, and Spektralisk offer three FREE copies of Kult + Oblivium Alpha and Omega to one lucky BPB reader.
To enter the giveaway, answer the following question in the comments section below: Do you prefer using presets or programming your synth patches from scratch?
We will randomly select and announce the lucky winner on this page on Monday, September 25th.
Good luck, everyone, and thank you for reading Bedroom Producers Blog!
The lucky winners are:
- Klaus
- Dmitry
- KalnzEB
Congratulations to our lucky winners (you will receive the prizes via email)! To everyone else, better luck next time – more giveaways are coming soon.
574 Comments
Pascal
onI use presets mostly, but only because my own sound design skills aren’t as good as I’d like them to be yet. I’d love to achieve the level where I could sell presets myself.
mikaela
onlately I find myself using more and more presets just so I don’t get stuck in sound design all day
Matthew
onProgramming for the win! Always fun and you can get the exact sound you need.
Robin
onI prefer to program sounds from scratch, starting from the init patch.
Jesus Angulo
onStart from presets and then go on from there.
Behrang
onPrefer to build my presets from scratch and then get inspiration from premade presets
Yi
onI program from scratch, but if there are certain sounds I can’t really replicate, I’ll open a preset and do reverse engineering to understand how they make the sounds.
DIYfuzz
onI prefer to program from scratch most of the time, unless I have a task which has to be done quickly.
Santiago M.
on90% of the time I prefer making my own presets
Spektralisk
onSo many interesting and inspiring comments! Thanks guys and good luck with the giveaway.
Jason White
onLove building my presets from scratch. Helps make my music more unique and I learn all about the synth in more depth, rather than just relying on the inbuilt presets.
Good luck everyone in the competition! :-)
Mikael
onI like presets to start off, and then if I got time I can loose myself in hours just tweaking around :)
Gary Thompson
onWell even though I love sound sculpting and feel the need to be original but have to be honest and say that I prefer presets. I gets me inspired so quickly and keep it melodic from there.
Niedec
onI prefer using presets if I had to pick. I like sound design, too, but when I’m in a songwriting mood, I’m not in a sound-designing mood and visa versa. Plus I like to treat presets as helpful band members: they contribute sounds I didn’t have in mind but changes the tracks for the better. It gets me out of the formulaic rut of dialing in the same patches and expands my understanding of options. Then I take what I learned and hone it when I’m back in sound-design mode.
HPN
onQ: Do you prefer using presets or programming your synth patches from scratch?
A: Any way the wind blows doesn’t really matter to me, to me.
West
onI just tell chat GPT to write a song for me and call it a day
Andrea
onIn my case it’s always a combination of both. I usually start with a preset and prepare a demo of a song, and the further I go, the more I tweak the patches and create a couple of new ones when necessary. With millions of patches available, often created by top notch sound designers, it makes no sense not to try and adopt them in my music. Besides, deadlines often make you take a shortcut when possible so you can spare some time just in case you have to focus a bit longer on mixing and mastering.
Jani
onBoth for sure! Depending on the mood and situation.
Halma
onI prefer doing my patches from scratch. But I like preset browsing too because sometimes thy can show the full potential of a synth.
Matt H
onI like to start from a preset
Francesco LM
onI prefer to program my patches from scratch
Bruno
onstart with a preset and then tweak it
Ossko
onI usually use presets and tweak them a bit, but depending on the context sometimes I prefer to make my own sounds from scratch
AJ
onI use every method available applicably. I use presets when I’m In the mood to make a beat fast, & get an Idea out more quickly. Then If I don’t like the sound/preset I will then use the secondary option which Is to tweak the preset to preference, liking etc.
Lastly. The 3rd method, in no particular order to prior methods, would be to just create a preset from (INT) scratch. I tend to sound design my sounds when I want a more unique sound stylistically for certain vibe.
Ultimately, (presets) teaches/shows you the inner workings structurally of what control features to be engaged for “sound design” is predicated upon theoretically..
In turn “sound design”, & having a grasp, understanding of it allows you to then masterfully create presets. Which IS why I say I use all 3 methods, i.e preset, tweaked modified presets, & straight from (INT) scratch
And I always start with the basics, essentials etc. Then I’ll try to get fancy with effects/modulation patterns lol..
Michael
onUsually just use presets honestly, tweaking them if necessary
Jordan Robles
onpresets
Andris
onI prefer use presets and tweak them till they fit in overall mix and blend perfectly in vibe.
Jan w.
oni am a tweaker, often starting with thoes INIT sounds and fiddeling around from there
Ben Swartz
onStart with a preset then customize it
Xaither
onTo be quite honest, I spent years trying to learn to make my own patches but honestly, I still love presets. Besides being great to study, they actually help me in writing music. I find a big issue with making my own for a project is often getting lost in said sound design rather than actual music writing aspect.
Jaromír
oni love make start patches from init patch .-) from null to somethink new :)
karim
onUsually start with a preset
Hubert
onUsually I find a preset that is the closest to the sound that I look for, and then tweak it to my taste
Igor
onProgramming my own patches which is the beauty of sound creation anyway.
Dan
onBoth depending on what I need.
Marc
onDepends, if time is a factor then presets offer a great starting point so you can just get on with making music. If I have more time I like to create my own weird and wonderful presets, especially in synths like Vital, Serum & Alchemy. I don’t think people should be so hung up on whether to use presets or not; if it helps you to make great music then why should you care?
Eksodizl
onProgramming patches, saving them and being surprised by them later when trying in the context of another track. Some become recurring, like when you make a unique and effective bass patch.
Jerry Abstract
onPresets – if they are good.
Oleh
on40% – use my own presets, 60% – presets from developer
Fotis
onUsually I use presets as a starting point, but I’m slowly learning how to make patches from scratch, especially in Vital. Some synths have a “randomize” option which generate brand new sounds on the fly, and I find that fun, especially in Melda’s MSoundFactory which has allows you to adjust the randomization amount by ctrl+clicking or alt+clicking the “Random” button.
Klaus
onPresets are a great starting point to see what the synth is capable of. There are some sound designers who can really create a work of art. And then you try to come up with something that is not a work of art but work in progress but that is fine. It is always learning from the best and trying to get better.
Florin
onI like to tweak some presets! But give me presets and samples …cause I don’t that much braincells to waste!
Hamish
onI can do both depending on what the music is doing or needing. I do like to find a preset that I like the general vibe of then launch off into new tangents with it and see where that ends up.
d(e_e)p VOiD
onFrom scratch.
Pablo Baico
onI prefer programming my synths patches from scratch.
Kadir
onYes, I prefer.
Francesco Ricci
onLike everyone else, I prefer to use the best of both worlds.
Pablo
onProgramming myself.
David Marek
onPresets I guess.
Martin
onI’ve been using presets a lot lately.
Vasya
onPresets…
Anna
onI prefer to use presets.
Andrew Hall
onHi. I prefer to tweak a preset.
Salvador Delatorre
onDefinitely prefer to scroll around through presets and build from there
Jonathan Marchant
onI like to use presets most of the time, but if I’m feeling froggy, I sometimes build one from scratch and save it for later.
Natan
onMe myself.
Mike
onI’d say it’s 50/50
Adam
onI like to be creative and do it myself. But sometimes presets are much more interesting than what I can come up with myself. In this case, I will select presets.
Mark Hughes
onI like to start with a present, tweak and add fx.
germán schlude
onI use presets because as a blind person, manipulate lfos or ascillators is dificult to me.
Cody
ona little of both for me. I’ll usually see what a synth can do by thumbing through presets, making tweaks along the way. Then I’ll often begin searching for the “init” patch or setting (sometimes for much longer than I’d like!). From there, I like to explore from scratch. When tweaking existing presets – they often sound so good these days, it can be pretty hard to make it sound anything but worse when tweaking existing presets IMO but all depends on the synth!
Lucien
onMostly use presets and edit them, only a few times have I found a preset fit so well that I barely touched it. More often it ends up sounding completely different, but the preset gives a good starting point.
Josh Cooper
onPresets define the sound I’m looking for, then slight adjustments can sometimes get it to a finished state, when I want to get really creative, I go for a preset that is not really suitable, then try to mould it using an arsenal of tools and effects… Experimenting can often bring totally new flavours to a once simple sound, which never fails to surprise my ears.
Arnold Robles
onI like to start with a preset and tweak from there.
Tonecii
onI love finely crafted presets that I can tweak to my liking rather than start from scratch. I’m not big into sound design, I’m more of a plug’n’play kinda guy.
Alex Hepting
onUsually the presets sound cheesy and not fitting really into other takes so I tweak sounds with a lower octave I have freedom layering with different tops which can be more detuned. Also splitting different timbres on the piano scale which is fortunately not only possible with samplers.
Joshua Veldman
onI like to find a preset, strip it of FX, tweak it and then later add my own effects. That’s the ideal way to get where I want to go
Daniel Calado
onDefinetely, from scratch. Where’s the fun otherwise?
Robert Saunders
onI prefer using presets because I don’t have any sound design skills.
Georgios Matis
onI love presets. if it needs some tweaking i might do but prefer the sound complete from the provider.
shane
oni tweak that preset til it doesn’t sound like that preset any more.., and then i’ll tweak it some more..
Kahlil Smith
onI would prefer to program my own sounds but I really don’t know how to create sounds useful to my genre(s). So ultimately, I scroll through TONS of presets.
jay jay
onPresets will make me lucky more :)
Corti.Son
onHi, I like to create my own patches.
Claud Anghel
onpresets all day
Swazi
onUsually but not always start with a preset
NITYA
onpresets mostly
valerov
onpresets
Gabriel
onI like using presets as a starting point fit programming my own patches quite often.
Christian
onI prefer DIY with Phaseplant
Oliver
onI usually go through the presets when demoing a synth and then, if the synth stays in my toolkit, I try and ignore the presets and make my own until I have a good grasp of the instrument.
Jack Armstrong
onI definitely use a combination of both presets and making my own sounds from scratch. There’s often a steep learning curve when figuring out what every parameter of a synth does and how they work together, so taking a preset and deconstructing it down to the simplest part, and then reversing all of that is a nice way for me to understand how the preset is built and how the synth works. And then I can tweak the preset or use similar elements when making a sound from scratch to make new sounds without feeling like I’m just flailing and turning knobs at random.
Aaron
onI like to explore presets and then I tweak them to get the sound I want when inspiration hits.
Marcelo
onI prefer a preset setting and then modify it to my liking.
Niklas
onPresets
Arshan
onI prefer watching a tutorial about all the features and that helps not getting stuck mid-way in a project. Either that or reading the manual is always an option
Radiofloyd
onFrom scratch for me, it’s just more satisfying. That being said, I do make the patches often a fair bit before I use them, and I tweak them for every song I make just a little, aside from sound designing the output a bunch as well.
giovanni
oni prefer presets
Steve
onI like to start with a basic waveform then discover where I can take it via various processings and manglings:)
Krzysztof Szychowski
onHello
It is dependent on what is being done. Some situations demand a new sound other situations can be a derivative of a preset. So, both is the answer.
Thanks for the opportunity to win the plug-in.
Philip
onI like creating my own patches, but that’s more random exploration rather than designing a particular sound. When producing, I tend to use tweaked presets.
Mike
onUsing presets as a starting point and working from there. Unless I have a specific sound I am trying to create
Falko Erkmar Freund
onStart with preset then tweak
Al Felton
onI usually prefer presets so that I can get a feel of what else I can do with my track. Once I get a handle on the synth then I will create my own.
Thanks
Masat
onI would try the presets first.
Solo
onBrowsing presets is a great way to have a starting point for tweaking and sculpting the sound, of for finding inspiration, and discovering the instrument capabilities, even if you have a very specific sound in mind.
Jay Tea Moore
onI prefer to use presets and then do some tweaking, if needed.
el-bo
onPresets, then tweak to fit the track :)
Roberto Bravo
onI like to build a synth by myself with a reference sound to achieve the sound that I want.
Gangiacat
onPresets are the tools that teach you how to get what you want.
Karsten Krause
onIt entirely depends on each new track; presets as starting points or starting from scratch.
bCow
onPresets can be good for inspiration, but I never leave them unedited. I love sound design, about as much or even more than I love making music.
Mike
onI prefer to create a patch from scratch. I use presets to learn and for new ideas to explore.
PsychoTomek
onSometimes programming is good what’s make the sounds unique but I like too good preset’s. Both options are good!
Patrick Osterday
onBoth!
Felix
onI like to look at presets to see how sounds I like are programmed. After I understand how to get specific sounds, I prefer to make the presets myself.
Hellmuth
onStart with preset then tweak
Pedro
onI create generally my own sounds …
Oper-8
onPresets are a great way to get inspired !
Al F
onI explore the presets, choose one I like and then change it to the context of what I need.
Martin Osteroth
onMostly Presets, but later adjusted to my needs.
Kick Thakur
onI personally find that it really depends on my creative process and what I aim to achieve. I see the merits in both approaches. Using presets is fantastic when I want to save time and have immediate access to a wide range of sounds. However, when I’m looking for complete creative control and the ability to craft one-of-a-kind, personalized sounds that can truly make a composition stand out, I enjoy programming synth patches from scratch. To me, the ideal approach often involves a combination of both techniques using presets as a starting point and then fine-tuning or layering them with custom elements to create a genuinely unique sonic palette.
Arsenial
onI’m a preset tweaker!
Jörg
onI usually start wirh preset and fo fromm there
Piotr
onI prefer to made my own presets from scratch and I use them if I can.
Of coruse I also like to use original presets or modify them – it all depends on what I am looking for.
Making sounds is for me nice hobby – like making music.
Andrew
onFrom scratch baby!
Lipton
onI like to mix and match. If I like the preset then I use as it is otherwise I tweak it till I hear what I like.
Ryan Martin
onFrom scratch, but sometimes use presets to work off of if I have a more specific sound in mind:)
Alex
onI’m relatively new to making electronic music, so I always start with a preset that matches the vibe of whatever song I’m working on. From there, I’ll modify it (usually with a bitcrusher or LFO, my favorite effects).
Pman
onProgramming from scratch
Mikael Fredriksson
onI like to start with presets and then go crazy experimental :)
tom
onUsually start with a preset and adjust.
Robert
onpresets
wagner Alves
ondeve ser maravilho essa predefinições top demais esse eu queria
Martyna
onI usually start with presets and then tweak them also. I actually find it quite hard to create whole sound in any synth from the scratch
Damya Thompson
onI’m trying to learn sound design so when it comes to synths I program my own sounds :)
Wiktor
onI start from scratch to check, using a few of my favorite settings, how the synthesizer sounds compared to others that I already know.
xchak
onI start with the presets because is faster but if and when I have time to play around I will make my own. thnx :)
Joe
onI overwhelmingly prefer creating patches. Some days I’ll sit with one of my synths or plugins and just design sounds, with no goal other than the pleasure of creating something new. And those experiments often inspire new tracks, which demand more new patches. It’s a beautiful creative feedback loop.
Nathan
onDepends on my mood, but I often start with a preset and tweak it as I see (or hear) fit :)
Artioc
onPresets
Bruno
onI like building new sounds out of inspiring presets
Daniel Ene
onQuality presets are always welcome
Dave Younger
onInprefer to roll my own, but am not averse to a good preset.
Dave Thomas
onuse preset settings as an idea to help understand how a new vsti can be used
Nattapak Kaweethammawong
onGreat presets, its make more idea for work
Frank
onI like me some well-crafted presets
Mori Frik
onI like to use presets, to tweak them. But sometimes I create a self-made presets
Laura Reynolds
onCombination of both. I understand synthesis and enjoy programming my own patches, but sometimes I just need something quickly. If I am familiar with the preset library, that can be the fastest way to get a patch I want; but if not, then it may be faster to just program a patch from scratch, depending on the synth. For FM stuff, I tend to use presets.
Mate Simunić
onI like and use both but i prefer building it from scratch.
Cody T
onMan, tough to say as it really depends on my mood and the synth and what I’m trying to achieve. I always feel slightly weird about using presets in a song (zero judgment of others doing this though!). Dawesome is becoming a top 10 dev in the past couple years. Epic style and ear for what sounds great!
Jim
onCustomize presets
Max
onStart with preset then learn to build from scratch.
Dawesome & Spektralisk both killing it at the moment!!!!
eric J
onI love good presets. such a good way to learn some of the synths features.
BeakyJay
onI prefer to start from a preset and then tweak it a bit, for speed.
Ivan Grigorov
onusually i try both
KozmykJ
onBoth ways, but most often I tweak a Preset.
Robert
onBoth:
I love sound design and creating my own patches, but I also use many presets when composing.
Suny
onI prefer to program my synth patches from scratch, but whenever I have time, I try all the presets and save those which inspired me as favorites, either to use as is, or to dissect how they were done, or as a basis for a new patch.
Johnny Yesno
onSCRATCH
Axel
oni prefer to use presets, but i always tweak them (and they end up sounding totally different and not like what I expected, but that’s the fun part of producing :)
Steffen
onPresets.
Success Ajayi
onI love using presets and then set to taste
Yanko
onthere are companies and designers who know this well and I will never create better sounds than them, which is why I prefer to use ready-made presets,
emre babus
onMostly prefer programing my own patches from scratch.
rosqa
onI Prefer starting with preset, then i tweaking them
pupkin
onPresets
Alexander
onI use presets a lot and I don’t think where anything is wrong with it.
Christian GERARD
onI prefer using presets
Steve G
onI always start with presets to then tweak from there.
Alex
onWhen I had time in my youth? programming them.
Now that I’m a father and need to pay the bill, presets !
Aleks MZ
onI much prefer programming synth patches from scratch.
James
onI do a combination of both. I make presets from scratch, and use factory presets (mostly tweaking the parameters)
Thanks for the chance!
Ben Jammin
onFor the most time I listen to the overall sound of a synth and it’s presets to get an idea of what to create out of it and then I either pick a preset and experiment with it or I take the idea of my journey through the bank and start from scratch and try to get to the vibe I captured and try to create it.
Good luck all!
Sezinando Manna II
onI start from a preset and then I work from there if I feel the sound needs that.
Freddy
onI think it’s best to start from a preset that suits your production and then modify it to your liking to give it the final touch.
sai
onUse your favorite presets. Program the software you are familiar with from scratch.With love from Japan！
hmztsurukawa
onBasically, I create a preset myself
Darrel
onFor architecturally complex/unusual plugins my standard MO would be to pick a preset that’s close to what I want and tweak to taste. Or, if there’s a randomise button, I’ll hit it until I get something I like, and tweak. Subtractive analogue-style patches are way more likely to be built from scratch.
Jamie Marvel
onI prefer not to prefer :)
THRL
on– Do you prefer using presets or programming your synth patches from scratch?
– I prefer tweaking the presets. We can learn much by analyzing the included ones.
I think it helps to understand the workings of the more complicated plugins.
It would be awesome to animate the changes (sliders, knobs) – some interfaces can do that, but that can be very process-heavy and can increase latency.
Scott Sturgis
onI like starting with presets and then modifying them from there. This is perfect for my Techno too!
Peter Teipe
onUsually start with presets then dial it in further to my preference for a given track.
Darin Paterson
onPresets then tweak as f
Matt DragonDope
onYea, I’m usually a bigger fan of making my patches from scratch.
Reg
onIt depends if I need inspiration, or if I have a specific idea in mind
Michael Curry
onI prefer presets for a starting point, if I really know the synth, I will make adjustments, or occasionally start from scratch.
monocycler
onStart with preset then tweak
Yvan
onOoh! Pesets save me Time….and I Can sculpt myself from them.
Dee
onBoth…& everything in between…
ollo
onOften I using presets for a starting point but I also built sounds from the scratch or using random generators.
Boogieman
onBorn as a preset man :P
L
onPresets and then some tweaking
Marco
onI do both, but mostly using presets and modify it.
Dennis
onSometimes from scratch, sometimes start from preset
Nick Severny
onEither starting from scratch or with my own patches I created earlier. It’s always good to know the intricacies of a patch, and there’s so much new and exciting stuff to explore about a synth when you set it all yourself
Joseph Wilk
onI like to use random parameter generators and then tweak from there.
Real Trepanier
onUsually presets
Thomas Tweak
onDo you prefer using presets or programming your synth patches from scratch?
Sometimes I prefer tweaking a preset and at other times I want to create my patches from scratch.
davide
onUsually i start from preset and then tweak a lot to fit my taste!!
Dennis
onBoth of course
Rolly Gao
onI like to start with a preset.
Maurus Fernandes
onMaking your sounds from scratch can be fun and unique but I prefer presets. As presets let’s me get vibe of the melody more quickly as I can change through fast.
JASPER LABUSCHAGNE
onI like to see what I can do before I check what others have done. Have spent countless hours designing sounds.
Joel Gomer
onI always start with a preset as a jumping off point.
David Noll
onI like to program my synth patches from scratch
Karl
onWhen I was much newer to music production, I would exclusively use presets, but now using some knowledge that I have gained from learning synthesis, I like to experiment with synths to get the sound that I want. However, if I am a bit bored, I might use a preset.
Vasek
onStart with init preset then tweak
Anime
onI like to program my synth patches from scratch, but sometimes i surf factory presets
Jason
onPresets and distort to my liking. Dawesome is Awesomeness!