Ambient pads are one of the best ways to add texture and atmosphere to an arrangement.
But they’re especially powerful in genres where they can become the main event.
In ambient, new age and experimental music, pads can be as creative as any other element of the song.
But how can you create truly great pads that hold listeners’ interest without fading into the background?
In this article, I’ll break down six techniques that take advantage of a unique form of synthesis called physical modeling to create compelling ambient pads for any genre.
Let’s get started.
What are pads in music production?
Pads are rich sustained chords or drones that provide a sonic backdrop for the other action in the arrangement. They’re a fundamental type of patch in sound design with synthesizers.
“Pads are rich sustained chords or drones that provide a sonic backdrop for the other action in the arrangement. ”
Pad sounds are typically polyphonic, allowing complex chords to fade in and out with the harmonic progression.
They became more common in music with the development of affordable polyphonic synths in the late 70s and 80s.
By now, synth pads are found in almost every genre of music, but they play a special role in ambient styles that call for dense, textural walls of sound.
While any polyphonic synth can produce a pad sound with the right settings, some synthesizer types are known for the strength of their pads.
That said, producers often enhance the ambient qualities of a synth pad by adding stylized reverb, delay and other creative effects.
A great pad sound is usually the result of a well programmed synth patch enhanced by tasteful effects and good arranging.
How to build a pad sound on any synth
The basics of creating pads with a typical synthesizer are straightforward. Turn your VCA envelope attack time up for a long, slow fade in.
Then turn up the release time so the notes gradually fade away when you take your hands off the keys.
Aside from those basic qualities, sound design for pads is limited only by your imagination.
But as any experienced ambient producer knows, stopping there will leave you with a flat, uninteresting sound that can obscure other elements in the mix.
The most engaging pads contain subtle movement and evolving details that unfold over time and react to your playing in musical ways.
Ambient pads: 6 creative tips
With the background out of the way, I’ll outline a few tips to help create pads that do more than just fill space.
But first, it’s worth noting that you need to choose the right type of synth for the job.
Your choice of synthesis style plays a big role in the end result as you build your patches.
For example, analog-style synths can create breathtaking ambient textures. But the pads built with these synths often have a vintage character reminiscent of the early polysynth era.
If you’re after this flavor, consider an 80s-style synth like BA-1. It models well-known analog hardware from the 80s and adds capabilities like polyphony to turn it into a great platform for pads.
But if you want to push the envelope into modern sound design territory, there’s much more to explore than recreations of vintage classics.
In fact, some of the most exciting ambient pads are being made with physical modeling. In contrast with analog synthesis, physical modeling relies on mathematical approximations of real world instruments.
That means they can create organic, hybrid textures that blur the line between synthesis and reality. It’s the reason why our physical modeling synth, Atoms’, has been popular among ambient producers.
On to the creative tips.
1. Go wild with LFOs
LFOs are one of the principal ways to create change over time in synthesis.
They’re repeating periodic waveforms that modulate synth parameters at slower-than-audible speeds.
Simple LFOs can add motion to core aspects of your synth sound, but using them creatively can unlock more than just filter sweeps or choppy tremolo.
To create truly evolving soundscapes, try experimenting with multiple LFO waves controlling different parameters at different rates.
It’s especially effective to contrast slow evolving motion with faster periodic cycles between parameters.
Use a wide variety of waveforms and invert the direction of some waves relative to the others to see how they interact with each other.
You can even modulate LFOs with other LFOs to create change in the rate of change!
If all that sounds like a lot to manage, you’re not wrong. Many advanced synths use a system called a modulation matrix to manage sources and destinations in a list.
It’s a convenient system once you wrap your head around it, but it takes some getting used to if you haven’t tried it before.
That’s why we created a simplified LFO system to make it easy to set your sound in motion with Atoms.
Atoms’ intuitive motion controls makes it easy to orchestrate all 6 of its LFO-controllable parameters with multiple waveforms, rates and behaviors.
2. Add noise
Noise is often a good thing when it comes to sound design.
After all, many acoustic instruments create sound by exciting a resonator with a noisy source.
Atoms works in much the same way, exciting its network of interconnected masses and springs with a virtual bow.
While noise can be overwhelming when heard on its own, a little bit can animate the action of LFOs and add density to frequencies affected by filters.
Of course, noise is also a great parameter to modulate to create an ambient wash that ebbs and flows.
Try adding some low level noise to your pads to add texture and bring out resonances during filter sweeps.
With Atoms, you can increase the noisy qualities of the sound by turning up the Force and Overtones parameters.
These increase the pressure and stickiness of the virtual bow as it drags across the vibrating strings, creating a unique profile of noisy harmonics.
3. Introduce randomness
While LFOs can create compelling cycles of change, they always follow a repeating pattern.
Randomness is a great way to ensure that your pads develop differently from chord to chord.
A little goes a long way, but a bit of random modulation can ensure you get unique variations with every new note.
Atoms’ random LFO settings are based on another physical model that drifts back and forth through the parameter’s range with unpredictable twists and turns.
Subtle randomness with the Drift mode works great when applied to the overall pitch for warped-vinyl style vibrato.
Speaking of which…
4. Go lo-fi
It’s easy to reach for the glossiest, most futuristic sounds when you’re looking to create an engaging pad.
But it’s worth exploring the other end of the spectrum to create pads that truly stand out.
Sometimes a hazy, warbling lo-fi pad can work magic for an arrangement that lacks organic feel.
Atoms comes equipped with four unique profiles that model different arrangements of its masses and springs.
The lo-fi mode intentionally reduces the number of nodes in the system to create a grainier, earthier sound that produces great lo-fi pads.
If you’re using a different synth, a lo-fi plugin can help add a bit of dusty vintage vibe to your sound.
Here’s an example of how SuperVHS brings a unique lo-fi flavor to any sound in your mix.
5. Extend the ambience with effects
As I mentioned above, pads are a blank canvas for processing with effects plugins.
Time-based effects like delay and reverb can extend the duration of notes and obscure the onset and decay of each chord in a sequence.
When used well, they create a powerful blending effect that makes your pads feel more expansive and enveloping.
But it’s possible to take it too far and create a sludgy mess that lacks definition.
Make sure to consider whether your pad really needs additional ambience before slathering it in reverb.
But if your sound really does call for a rich textural reverb, it helps to match it with the right type of reverb plugin.
Many producers prefer algorithmic reverb for cavernous, larger-than-life reverb since it doesn’t strictly model a real physical space.
Crystalline is an algorithmic reverb that’s capable of epic decay times and lush modulation. Here’s how it sounds adding stylish decay to a synth pad:
Creative launch pads
Ambient pads are used across music genres for a reason.
They provide a perfect textural canvas that immerses listeners in the song’s texture.
Whether you choose physical modeling, virtual analog or any other style of synthesis, the creative tips in this article will help you build better pad sounds.
Now that you have some ideas to inspire you, get back to your DAW and keep designing sounds.