I was wondering (i dunno why..) how many people are like me. Padphiles (not to be confused with kids amateurs...)
Everytime, i put my hands on a fresh soundbank, i go directly to the Pads section. Before moving to something else like Arps or Leads
Two choices allowed in the poll...

 

Always pads first, then arps followed by Fx Plucks Basses and leads.

 

Arps And Basses
Arps give me the patch sound which covers leads and plucks kinda..
Always looking for good bass ..

 

if its 80s style im working on then its the drums and bass then pads/then chord/guitars/last thing FX
and its if its trance then yeah i agree with you guys going pad/arp/drums/bassline/leads/plucks then fx and additional percs
but then again sometimes i like certain arp /bassline sound and i build things around it
and here where creativity kicks in

 

i look at the leads last generally. most of them are really the same. the only thing slightly different are atmospheres and keys. also arps (but most of them are boring without effects).

 

i dont use any presets ..never...

 

I always like fucking with arps and atmospheres when I'm whoring on presets. I feel like they inspire me the most when I'm trying to get my feels going.

 

If I have a gun in my head and I have no time and I'm forced to use a preset... I probably go to atmospheres or sophisticates sfx… Pads, Arps, Sequences, Bassline, Keys, Plucks, are pretty easy to get the sound you want. The important things is finish the work then modify if needs to. That's why using analog stuff is better.

 

Chords!!! Being lazy, I'm always happy to see that category amongst presets. Detroit stabs etc, 5ths and 7ths, whatever that means.

 

808s!

Nah I'm joking, I always go for the basses, I love bass sound design done right.