Teach 1 Tuesday

Your Sound Libraries Have Hidden Potential You Haven't Tapped Yet

• Toni King • Season 1 • Episode 42

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Sound libraries represent a universe of creative potential for music producers, but most creators barely scratch the surface of what's possible. This episode dives deep into practical techniques for transforming basic sounds into captivating musical experiences through thoughtful arrangement and layering.

The secret to creating memorable music lies in dynamic arrangement—knowing when to introduce elements and when to pull them back. Starting with a full arrangement in your intro establishes your sonic palette, but strategically dropping instruments during verses creates breathing room for vocals while setting up powerful emotional payoffs when these elements return in the chorus. This push-and-pull relationship between musical elements creates the emotional journey that keeps listeners engaged throughout your song.

Layering represents another dimension of creative possibility often overlooked by producers. By combining complementary sounds—whether percussion, keyboards, or other instruments—you can craft unique textures that stand out from tracks relying on stock presets. Experiment with different rhythmic divisions (quarter notes, eighth notes, sixteenth notes) across instruments to create groove, and consider strategic dropouts like removing bass entirely from the first verse for maximum impact when it enters during the chorus. While understanding genre expectations provides a helpful foundation, don't be afraid to thoughtfully blend elements across musical traditions to create something fresh and exciting.

Ready to elevate your production skills? Dive into your sound libraries with renewed creative purpose, experiment with layering and arrangement techniques, and use resources like YouTube tutorials to accelerate your learning. The possibilities are endless when you approach sound design with intention and creativity. Subscribe now and join our community of music creators pushing the boundaries of what's possible!



YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/@thetonikingexperience7645


Rare Keys Production- https://rarekeysproduction.com


Toni King link: http://www.linktr.ee/toni.king


The Sonic Kingship Art: https://www.rhuffmusic.com/post/it-s-a-big-music-industry-so-where-do-i-fit-in


The Toni King Experience

Speaker 1:

All right, welcome back everyone. I'm excited to dive back into sound libraries and using all that creativity. But before we do that, man, let's get into that great theme music family. All right, all right, welcome back everyone. I I'm excited to dive back into this subject sound libraries but I'm just going to really talk about different ways you can use them and different ways that I have used my sound libraries. Man, there's just so much you can do and I really want you to take time to uh, really dive into what you have, whether that's whether that's in your doll itself or like logic and um other dolls, or you have acquired vsts. I really want you to take the time to manipulate and and to um, really use these sounds in different ways and to layer, because you, you know, it's really about excitement, it's really about creating a great experience for your listeners, and so I just want to go through a couple of ways that I personally use these VSTs and how I just make it an exciting experience, because you know, throughout a song, you want to have those surprises, and so one of the ways I'll just give you what I do up front if it's more of an acoustic type of set, meaning just I'm using, you know, regular drums, not any electric, but I mean it's, of course it's still. Just I'm using, you know, regular, you know, drums, not not any electric, but I mean it's, of course it's still all BSTs, but I use, I use a easy drummer and um for my drums, and so I'll use that. I'll use, you know, piano. I'll use some guitar. You know really not a whole lot of electric stuff, right? Uh, well, that is electric, but not a whole lot of uh. So I'll use acoustic guitar sounds and I'll use, you know, distorted, you know, electric guitar stuff, like, stuff like that.

Speaker 1:

And so what I'll do in the beginning of a song like that, I'll usually have all my instruments in on the intro, um, and making that cohesive, making sure everything is where it needs to be, and then, when the verse comes, and i'll'll have certain instruments drop out, of course, to make room for the vocal, but also to give your ear a rest from all that it just heard, and so that when the chorus comes in, I'll have the chance to bring those elements back in which gives the song even more excitement. And and so, um, one of the things I'll do as far as drums is concerned, um, if there's something if I want to make, like the snare for instance, more exciting um, we're talking about a reckless then not anything that's uh, uh, not from an electric standpoint, but from an acoustic standpoint. You know, there's some things. I'll either will use the EQ to to dial in some things, but if there's something more that I want to add to it and I'll just pull up something, a percussion instrument, that will play along with that, of course not as loud, just to add a touch to that. Now, when you get to the electric side of using those different types of snares and all that and all those different sounds, I sometimes will layer those snare sounds. There'll be different things that are happening to make it very exciting.

Speaker 1:

And these are just some of the ways that I just take the listening experience to the next level and, of course, you know, be careful with that, know what you're doing. Definitely have an engineer that's mixing your stuff, that knows how to layer that stuff to where nothing's really getting in the way but it's enhancing. Does that make sense? So you know. So that's one of the ways that I'll use those vsts. I would have a big intro and then take stuff out, you know, to make room, have certain, of course, to have the main things in the bass drums, uh, keys, um, maybe some guitar, acoustic guitar or electric guitar and obviously vocals, you know, and then again, so I'm bringing in some other things when the chorus comes in. So that's a key that I want to give you.

Speaker 1:

You know, utilize the technique of bringing in sounds and having sounds to drop out on certain sections of the song, all right, but we're talking about VSTs, we're talking about sounds. So I want you to think about layering your sounds. You know what I mean, whether that's percussion, whether that's keys, whether you're doing electric keys or piano sound, or strings or some type of weird type of out there sounds. There's so many possibilities, and so that's the really the first thing I want to bring out. Don't be afraid to layer, all right. And so that's why I want you to take the time to dive into those sounds, see what they sound like and see what you like. And I want to tell you this there's a feature in Logic where you can basically have a set list it's called something else, I'm just I'm not remembering at this moment but basically a set list of the sounds that you like and you could put those to the side so you don't have to go searching for it every single time. So find out what that is in your particular DAW. But, yeah, so don't be afraid to layer your sounds.

Speaker 1:

Um, and and that can especially get um really complicated and amazing when it comes to percussion. There's so many things that you can do, and when it comes to percussion, it's really about rhythms for me, you know, and just think about how you can take advantage of quarter notes, eighth notes, 16th notes, all right, and how you can fit things at different, different places and to where it all makes sense. And so again, um, when it comes to, uh, keys, you know, there's so many sounds, so many electric keys sounds, so many things you can do to layer. Um, you can actually put sounds together, create a, a, some, I think, some photo I think it's what it's called Um in logic where you can put sounds together and you can manipulate or control how much volume each sound is getting, so that it is a cohesive sound, all right, and it's giving you what you want. And so, um, you know what it's. Just, it's it's so many, so many things, that many things that you can do with all of these sounds that are available, and I haven't really gotten into manipulating, manipulating them with, with compression and definitely EQ. I haven't even gotten into that because I don't want to give you too much at one point. But I do want you to go in and that's your homework, you know go in and manipulate these sounds, layer the sounds. Uh, think about timing when you want something to come in.

Speaker 1:

One of the things that I do with some of my songs, as far as bass is concerned, is that I'll have the bass in for the intro. For the intro, of course, big bang, depending on what the song is, and you know, and having that big sound, but sometimes for the verse, the very first verse, I'll have the bass drop out. I won't have any bass at all for the verse, and that depends on what the song is, you know, just to create that space so that when the chorus comes in and the beat drops right, it has this effect, and so that's what you want to happen throughout your song and throughout the listening experience. All right, and that's just one thing that I do. I do the same thing as far as, say, I have, um, several keys, several keys I have. Maybe I have a piano sound. I have some type of electric key sound and some type of flowy type of sound. So maybe I'll have certain things in um, though on the verse I'll have the keys and and maybe some, maybe some electric keys in under it just to support it. Um, but then I'll have maybe something else, and when the chorus comes in, you know things of that nature.

Speaker 1:

So it's really orchestration is really what I'm getting at. This is really about music, orchestration and and you know how you want things to come in, and I think there's something to be said for um, very unique sounds, but unique sounds that make sense in your particular song. All right, there is, in my opinion I could be wrong about this, but in my opinion there is a such thing as a sound that just doesn't fit the genre that you are creating your song in. Right, so you want to be careful about what sounds you are picking for what genre. All right, and don't get me wrong. I mean, there is no limit to this thing. If you want to mix and match, you know, and you're going for that mix and match type of sound, absolutely go for it. But if you're trying to stick true to, let's just say, if you're doing a country song, you're trying to stick to that genre and you're not really trying to reinvent the wheel, then you know acoustic is where you want to go.

Speaker 1:

Of course, when you get into pop, you know there's just absolutely no limit to different types of sounds and things that you can do and you know different types of feel. As far as you know, there's cut time, I mean, there's so much you can go into and you guys, let me know. If there's anything I'm saying that you want me to expand upon, I'll be happy to do that. But I want you to take from this episode I want you to to go and dive in.

Speaker 1:

If you haven't already purchased um, any sound libraries, go and purchase and and just really get uh acquainted with those sounds and uh begin to manipulate those sounds and go and watch videos, or something I need to tell you.

Speaker 1:

Go and watch videos of how people are using uh, the sounds themselves, right, so you don't have to uh feel like you have to do this thing by yourself.

Speaker 1:

Go and find out how other people are using them so great resource YouTube is for you, it's your great resource and find out how people are using um, using these sounds themselves, how they're manipulating, how they're using them, and just copy, copy that until you get comfortable yourself, and until you get comfortable where you want to start doing some new things and things that make you happy.

Speaker 1:

As far as your production process is concerned, now, if you are not the producer, it's probably a good idea to be with them during the process, as they are creating and producing the song. You guys go through sounds and just pick what you want to do, all right, so so this the sound libraries open up a whole new thing, you know, a whole new universe to you. All right, and I want you to have fun with that, because that's what it's really about at the end of the day. All right, I want to thank you so much for checking this out. I hope you're having a wonderful day. If you're not having a wonderful day, you can change that by your mindset. Thanks so much.