 Making pads from scratch |
fogga
Steppa
Registration Date: 23-10-2005
Posts: 85
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Has anyone been able to make nice warm fluffy pads from scratch? The type I seem to make are dark moody ones.
You?
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26-10-2005 23:22 |
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Darkside 
Old-School Rolla
Registration Date: 02-01-2005
Posts: 620
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get z3ta. it's so easy.
you don't have to do that much. standard pad sound. prettier chords. try to get a couple melodic patterns going at the same time when creating a melody, one in the high notes, one in mids, and one in low, to kinda balance out the sound. if the note sounds better played hi, do it in hi. if it sounds good in low, play it low. u get it.
and the key in any pad is kinda to have things moving. try an arp going over the pad and have it in a high pass filter sweep. try using the "noise octave" waveform in z3ta. or an airport sample, something like that. pwm automation, maybe. all synth sounds are really effin easy, you just got to know what to do. a phaser adds warmth, and don't add too much hi end--also add very subtly to the mids, for the oldskool sound from back when more of these kinds of pads were being created.
i'm glad that someone's doing it from scratch, so many people these days just grab a sample, thats lazy ass shit, i hate it, and they shouldn't be credited. unless they do a lot of crap to the sample and not jus leave it basically dry.
hope all this helps.
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27-10-2005 02:18 |
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Invent
Cool Producer
Registration Date: 03-09-2005
Posts: 179
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yeah z3ta is really good.. althought i think that FM7 can also make you some phat pads... by changing a bit of the lfo .. a little distortion on the sample... and u also have the option of changing the harmonic and i like that effect... also layering a few more sounds on there using equalization can make the pad a bit fuller... if neccessary a reverb can also create a nice authentic touch to the sound.
but i like darksides idea... i might try this method with z3ta sometime
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27-10-2005 03:08 |
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Darkside
Old-School Rolla
Registration Date: 02-01-2005
Posts: 620
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fm7's pads are more classical in sound, because fm7's setup is analog-oriented. so if you're going for that look no further. fm7 rocks for virtual analog.
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27-10-2005 03:53 |
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TechDiff
Hetty Jakes Pretentious Cheese Wog
Registration Date: 14-06-2005
Posts: 1,028
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It depends on what kinda sound your after, whether you want nice full, warm sounding. eerie ambience, or evolving sounds. I think Absynth is great for pads and has a great overal sound, the only problem is that you can piss away time fiddling with it and it can be quite confusing. Also, it can be very easy to overcook things and end up with a pad that doesnt work in the context of the tune.
I like taking a sample of something very resonant (Gongs are great) and creating loop points with alternating playback (Forwards and Backwards). Then using various LFOs and whatever, create your pad sound from there. Reaktor is great for this sort of thng. I think my favourite has got to be string parts though. They arent evolving or doing anything fancy, but they add a nice "Real" sound to a tune, they have such emotive qualities. They work in almost any context, on there own or in a mix.
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27-10-2005 13:38 |
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fogga
Steppa
Registration Date: 23-10-2005
Posts: 85
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Cheers for the advice, I cannot really afford any of the NI synths and what not at the moment. I think I just need to keep playing around in the software I have got because I am unable to any make decent sounds, plus me and rythems don't mix, just need to learn more.
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27-10-2005 15:20 |
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TechDiff
Hetty Jakes Pretentious Cheese Wog
Registration Date: 14-06-2005
Posts: 1,028
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Yeah, O know what you meen about the MI synths. I started saving for Reaktor 4 when it came out, by the time I had the money Version 5 was out!
What software are you using at the moment?
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27-10-2005 15:42 |
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fogga
Steppa
Registration Date: 23-10-2005
Posts: 85
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FL Studio 5, Synapse Audio, V-Station, CM 505, Reason 1.01 and Z3ta demo at the moment.
tbh be quite honest, I think I need to learn the very basics of music because I chucked my self in at the deep end really by buying software and not really having a clue about music its self. I guess that will tech me.
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27-10-2005 17:13 |
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TechDiff
Hetty Jakes Pretentious Cheese Wog
Registration Date: 14-06-2005
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I dont think it reall matters that much. If anything it means that youll have an individual approach to everything which isnt a bad thing at all. The synths in FL arent great unless you really play around with them but you should be able to get some cool sounds out of the Z3ta. Just have a look at how some of the patches work which should give you an idea about how to program your own.
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27-10-2005 17:33 |
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@1$-)
unregistered
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absynth......mix it with some samples
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27-10-2005 18:10 |
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Muad'Dib
Andrejnalin
Registration Date: 02-12-2003
Posts: 4,197
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I make pads by using the simple 3xosc I have in FLStudio, and sometimes Sytrus.
You can make a nice, warmy pad if you take a simple sine oscilator, add a little distortion on it (but just a little), add a reverb (with prolonged decay) and cut the original source a bit... that will make a great pad!
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27-10-2005 19:08 |
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thechronic
admin
Registration Date: 01-11-2002
Posts: 5,293
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If you see Hidden Identity coming online, ask him, he's got plenty of experience with it.
I have made lots of nice pads in the past using my trusty old JV-1080, but I guess that's not the way to go anymore these days 
Anyway the basic idea is applicable to every type of software or hardware:
- start with layering a few smooth sounding sustained sounds like choirs, strings and analog style synths, space them out in octaves and fifths
- put them at different positions in the stereo field, bassier sounds more in the center, airier sounds more spread out
- use slow attack and release settings, use different settings for each layer
- put different evolving effects on each layer: filters, flangers, phasers, autowahs, autopanners etc. Use slow LFO's to modulate them
- finish with a smooth sounding long hall reverb
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27-10-2005 19:20 |
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Hidden identity
Wicked Producer
Registration Date: 17-02-2005
Posts: 441
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thanks chronic! u remember me...
i have advice on methods right here.
many ways to make many sounds, will list a few.
take a simple old assed, high pitch analog sample,
then play it way lower or use granualizer to make the sound last even longer, and add drastic phaser before the reverb.
in FL you can take acustic string samples then add EQ and reverb and automate a filter to make a type of pad.
these people list of verious synths by name, yet i find that its not so much the synths as the effects that you use on your samples or your synthesizers.
when you hear pads also the people who make the samples sometimes play more then one note at a time, chords like c5+f5+c6 or somthing...
cant remember, but keep your chords in mind to.
low pass filter on a saw pluss reverb and chords is more light and fluffy,
or you could layer flute samples and add effects.
i suggest experimentation, not synths by name.
hope i helped, thanks for reading.
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I'm trying to unfuck my sig.
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03-11-2005 23:46 |
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Halph-Price
Zombie Algorithm
Registration Date: 22-12-2004
Posts: 6,160
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| quote: |
Originally posted by thechronic
If you see Hidden Identity coming online, ask him, he's got plenty of experience with it.
I have made lots of nice pads in the past using my trusty old JV-1080, but I guess that's not the way to go anymore these days
Anyway the basic idea is applicable to every type of software or hardware:
- start with layering a few smooth sounding sustained sounds like choirs, strings and analog style synths, space them out in octaves and fifths
- put them at different positions in the stereo field, bassier sounds more in the center, airier sounds more spread out
- use slow attack and release settings, use different settings for each layer
- put different evolving effects on each layer: filters, flangers, phasers, autowahs, autopanners etc. Use slow LFO's to modulate them
- finish with a smooth sounding long hall reverb
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JV-1080's are great for anyone that can pic one up, lots of sounds in one small box. a great outboard synth to use.
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This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by Halph-Price: 06-02-2006 00:32.
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06-02-2006 00:32 |
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J. Wells
Cool Tourist
Registration Date: 10-02-2006
Posts: 45
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This is all old-skool and weird, but the way I do it is to chain together an FX chain, usually with shitloads of delay and reverb, running out of my mixer, then run it back in, then *gently* turn the knobs up. With careful hands, you can keep the feedback from topping out and going EEEEEEERRRRRRRRGHHHHHH
The result are weird, weird, random sounds. I hit 'record,' tweak the knobs on my fx boxes for three or so minutes, then go back and cut up/edit what I've recorded. Re-sequence it into patterns, re-sample, and put it through a light 'verb, compressor/expander, maybe pitch-shift to make it fit properly, and pow-- suddenly everyone's asking what that trippy-as-fuck synth pad was. That way, it's 100% unique, 100% ANALOGUE, and I don't have to fuck with a billion synth parameters, or worse, cop out and use software. 
I got this idea back in the day, after hearing about the method used to compose the theme for the tv show Doctor Who. 
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I only post here when I'm drunk.
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10-02-2006 04:52 |
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cynik
Cp6uja
Registration Date: 15-03-2005
Posts: 5,646
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hardware does have that one advantage - the inperfection of it. you can make it glitch often which is the start of an original sound. software synths are so damn precise and you really gotta fiddle around to make 'em burst something unexpected
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https://soundcloud.com/tsai-vidro-voves
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10-02-2006 09:16 |
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fogga
Steppa
Registration Date: 23-10-2005
Posts: 85
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Man I still cannot make anything decent sounding. I think I will look for a sample pack of ambient sounds.
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10-02-2006 14:59 |
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TechDiff
Hetty Jakes Pretentious Cheese Wog
Registration Date: 14-06-2005
Posts: 1,028
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| quote: |
Originally posted by fogga
Man I still cannot make anything decent sounding. I think I will look for a sample pack of ambient sounds. |
No! Bad! Its much more satisfying to make your own. Ever tune Ive made using a preset or sampled Bass/Pad etc Ive been unsatisfied with because its not all my work. You honestly can get some great results using just the 3osc synth in fruity with a couple of effects. Something I find works quite well is to take a small section of a vocal or something youve sampled, and to load it up as a wavefrom into the 3osc, then use the other 2 oscilators for sine or something else. Then you can set LFOs for different paramenters in one of the menu tabs for the synth. You can set LFO's to pitch, filter cutoff, filter resonance, panning etc. It works well to set these LFO's to different speeds, some quite fast and others very slowly, this gives the pad an evolving sound. If you start to layer the synth you can get some really nice pads. Alternitively you could load up a preset you like on a synth and start fiddling with the parameters till you get something different. Its fine toi use a preset as a starting block, but as I said before theres always a sense of disapointment that comes with using a preset, not to mention the fact that a lot of people will recognise that preset imediately.
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10-02-2006 16:32 |
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fogga
Steppa
Registration Date: 23-10-2005
Posts: 85
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When I add a vocal sample the 3osc just plays it as noise?
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10-02-2006 17:08 |
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TechDiff
Hetty Jakes Pretentious Cheese Wog
Registration Date: 14-06-2005
Posts: 1,028
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Maybe try using a smaller setion, You need to think about how its working, I you imagine that the oscilator, say a sine wave, is producing an oscilation, its the same peak and trough patteren over and over, the pitch is defined by the speed it repeats this oscilation. If your gonna use a vocal sample, you need to trim a very small chunk out of it, one peak and one trough, begining and ending at the zero point. If you use a longer wave file, the synth is going to be playing it rediculously fast, so alternitively you could try using very low notes on the keyboard.
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14-02-2006 14:00 |
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