Lush pads - several key points here ....Lush means that there needs to be a fair amount of frequencies in it, and also implies a fair amount of movement in the sound. I'll also go through the main features of any patch - oscillators, filters, amps, modulations, FX.
So start with the first of those premises - what oscillators are you going to pick? Sine waves are out - no harmonics, therefore very few frequencies in them. So you need noisy oscillators - white noise and pink noise then? No, don't be so f**king stupid and sit at the back of the class.
Saw waves are a good starting point - lots of harmonics: pulse waves not quite so good, but PWM definitely should be considered for the movement potential. Triangles can be used, but they tend to lack a little in harmonics too. If you have fancy waves like combed saws etc - those will do nicely too, thanks.
One oscillator will do OK, but if you have a 2-osc synth, then use 2. Subtly detune them from each other by a few cents only - just enough to thicken, not to sound discordant.
There's an argument for using oscillators at different octaves - depends on your music content. If you're doing a dance track - if you have 2 octaves on a pad, then it's going to fill an awful lot of space that things like toms or snares or synth lines are going to want to fill. I'd say use the same octave but detune. For more sparse music where you actually want to fill the gaps, then yes, use octaves. Especially for string pads - it can sound more like the real thing. (for genuine realness, then use different string patches for different octaves - even for each different note)
Filters: think what is this sound going to be used for? Pads tend not to be big bright in-yer-face type sounds - they generally are a little duller than leads etc and often fade subtly with slow swells - so your first though tis to go for a LPF (lowpass filter). Bright= bandpass or hipass. Dull=lowpass.
And the main feature of your average pad is the it fades in frequencies usually - if anything fades out frequencies, then you need an LPF.
Think - Do I need powerful in-yer-face filters? Not with a pad - there are going to be no drastic changes in the timbre - just subtle nice ones mostly. So you don't need a powerful filter - 24dB/Oct is overkill, although it can be used. So a 12dB/Oct filter is plenty enough, and even a 6dB/Oct filter could suffice.
How's your filter going to changeover time? With a pad, slowly - so that means possibly a longish attack time, decay time much the same value as the attack, and the sustain may well be lowish (because you don't want to have the pad full of frequencies and too bright). Alot of sounds don't have any filter release, but with a pad, the amp envelope is going have a release so that it tails off - generally you want your filter to fade out as the tail fades too. So you will most likely want a release (not too short so that it isn't smooth).
I'm not giving values as synths give either 0-100 or in seconds, and it aslo depends on the type of pad that you want.
OK if you insist
The most general type of pad, maybe
a=20, d=30, s=50, r=20 (using a 0-100 system)
the attack and decay could be much higher to give longer, slower fade ups.
Modulations - filter env amount - you can use almost any setting, but for the most general type of pad you'd want a not too severe mod amount, so that you don't lose too many frequencies too quickly. You could also have a negative filter modulation - but remember that if you do that - the filter envelope is going to decrease the frequencies as it moves - i.e filter them out. Which means you have to start with your filter cutoff a little higher than the other way around. (you have to have frequencies present to start with to be able to filter them out!)
As part of filter talk - your resonance should not be too high - you don't want squealing filters in pads - they are supposed to be subtle, not nasty.
You might want to consider pitch modulation also. Especially if you're trying to make a vocal type patch, you cannot make a good one without some warble on it - warble=pitch LFO modulation. Think how a voice warbles - usually between notes, not over whole octaves! Therefore your LFO pitch amount needs to be very small; maybe only 1%, generally never more than 5%. Think how a voice warbles - smoothly between notes - i.e use a sinewave, or if you have one, a logarithmic wave. saws, pulses etc will give sharp pitch changes - not voicelike! You can use a triangle if that's all you have.
Warble tends to fadein also - if you have access to it, then use a delay on your LFO (might be called intro) - set it to 1 second or up to several seconds. Some synths have LFO delay AND fade-in - if you have that luxury, then use the fade-in over several seconds also.
LFO time - you aren't going to get a voice warbling at the speed of light, so you need medium slow speed - think 1Hz = 1cycle per second and work from there if your synth tells you Hz. If it doesn't then just set it by ear - 2, 3 or maybe 4 cycles per second is probably what speed most singers warble at, although you could go higher.
Amps - again think about the sound. A pad best suits slow build ups - they don't just cut in - strings play slowly for these sounds. So you need an attack, you probably need a decay to avoid jumps, sustain may as well be at full (amp is not going to affect frequencies here). With most sounds, your sustain can be at full to give you most volume. Release - you need to be careful here. You need a release so that it fades out slowish - but if it's too short it sounds choppy when you let go of the key, if it's too long then it's going to still be playing when your next chord comes in - messy and muddy mix! So it depends on the chord riff you're playing. I usually give pads only between 0.5 - 1 second release and vary it higher only if I've got room in the song between chords to do so.
PWM - use PWM if you can - it gives more movement. You've already got movement with the warble via LFO and the filter sweep. So add movement at a different speed with PWM - use it subtly so that it's only a gentle swirl, not a howling burble. Slowish, but at a different speed to the LFO - that's important.
If you have the facility to add in a 2nd LFO to modulate the filter cutoff, then use that as well - very subtly - again only 1 or 2% and with a fade in if you can. Use a DIFFERENT LFO to the pitch one. Set it at a different speed to the PWM and the pitch LFO - now you have 3 different LFOs affecting 3 different things at 3 different speeds - loads of movement going on there!
FX.
You can use several. Reverb can be OK, but I don't like it with pads - you're not necessarily adding anything but noise here. Most reverbs won't be noticed over a long-sounding pad unless it's set un-naturally high.
Delays - can be good - again, it depends on the type of pad - I'd say use filtered delays, so that you're adding to the thickness of the pad - if you're not adding anything then don't use it. delays too short will cause a jump in volume at the start of the pad, so not always good. Too long, and again your pad is going to sound too long after you let go and interfere with your next chord. So simple filtered delays (either BPF or LPF - the same rules for patching the pad applies to making the FX for it!) use tempo delays of 1/3 beat up to maybe 1 beat. 1/2 is good. For time - delays on pads don't have to be synced though - it's not a rhythmic part of your track. times of upto maybe 1 second and down to 1/3 second to avoid volume jumps.
Mod FX - these are the best for pads usually.
Chorus, phasing or flanging. They give even more swirling, thickening and movement. Use slowish times - slower for flanging and phasing, but choruses can usually run faster. A very slow chorus is what you usually describe as a jet-flanger soundFX (you'd think it'd be a flanger, eh?) But a good chorus set to a very slow time, but high depth is great. Whatever the speed - make the modFX speed different to your LFOs again. And don't tempo sync them - you want some randomness. Same goes for all of the LFOs - no tempo syncing, let them free run (no restarting their cycle at each new note).
EDIT - choruses tend to work best for thickening and movement if you set them at 50% wet, so that you have 1/2 dry sound and 1/2 chorus.
Once you have all of those things done, you can set the timbre of your pads by basically tweaking the filter cutoff knob to make it more stringlike or voicelike etc. Tweak the envelopes to suit the feel of your track too. If the basics are right, cutoff, res and envelopes are the main ingredients to a pad change.
That's it for the moment - I retain the right to edit this bleedin' essay at any time when I read it in the bright light of day.
Cheers,
Krit
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