On Authoring Presets for u-He Diva
Posted on November 11, 2023
I know this is screaming into the void, and of interest to maybe a handful of people on Earth, but:
I’ve purchased a number of commercial preset packs for u-he Diva. And every single one of them is full of great, useful presets, but seems to make the same mistakes:
- The output levels are wrong, because the output level control isn’t set correctly. Your presets don’t sound great when they’re clipping.
- The metadata are wrong or missing. (Metadata refers to the “Description,” “Usage,” “Categories,” “Features,” and “Character” of the preset. They are used when searching and are so, so, so very helpful when you’re searching for the perfect sound amongst thousands of presets … if they’re set at all!)
- The presets are drowning in effects. I understand you want your presets to sound great, but how about having a “Dry” folder for those of us who actually want to hear the core tone?
- The naming uses a completely ideosyncratic prefixing scheme shared by no other Diva preset. (E.g. “SQ” for “Presets which are good for sequences.”) This is an annoyance, mostly because you’re trying to solve with weird naming what would be better solved with metadata. For the “SQ” example, how about adding “Categories -> Seq+Arp -> <pick one of the options there>”?)
- Nice to have: If your demo automates the filter cutoff or something, maybe mention that in the Usage?
Here is a checklist you can use before releasing your Diva presets:
- Have I normalized the output level so that all the presets sound at an appropriate perceived loudness? (Hint: Your DAW probably has a LUFS meter which will help)
- Have I set appropriate metadata on each preset?
- Have I made any suggestions for how the presets might be used in Usage? (E.g., “Mod wheel controls filter cutoff” or “Try changing Env2 attack” or whatever.)
- Have I added a “Dry” folder which has the same presets without effects?