depends on how full you want the sound to be. obviously chords are gonna be more rich sounding, but maybe thats not what you want. no rules on that one dude, whatever sounds good to you.

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Thanks but it wasn't a rule that I was searching for just a basic answer. Because I've looked all around and have not found an answer to the question being what exactly is a pad? So with that answer it falls into the "String/Sustained" category. And I know you can have a song with no chords at all or no chord change. I just find it wierd that pads are used to fill the space where no notes are played in order to make the song gel. But is there more to pads other than just this? Can they be used melodically ther than harmoniously? Also is there an example of a melodic form of a pad(Besides being gated)?

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I'm not sure what the definition of a "pad" is, but for sure pad type of instruments, such as the "strings/sustained" type that you mentioned, are used as leads.

For example, avb's remix of seven cities, the string becomes the real lead, as the familiar guitarish riff is not used thorughout the whole song.

as well as the original mix of rank 1 - airwave, the saw pad is the lead melody.

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Think of pads as the string section of an orchestra. Of course, I'm not really sure what a pad is, either -- but that is what I think of when I think of a pad. Oh, I also generally consider it to have a long attack/release.

To answer your questions:

You can have it monophonic or polyphonic. You have have it be harmony or melody. I usually hate answers that are of the form, "There are no rules! Do whatever sounds good!" But in this case, I don't think there is a better answer.

I typically think of a pad as backing sounds. So generally I use them to play chords behind a melody, for example.

That said, sometimes I will take one of the pad voices, shorten up the attack, and have it play a countermelody. Sometimes I will use a deep monophonic pad as a second bass part.

That said, I don't write a lot of trance (though I do occassionally -- I haven't written much of anything, to be honest; I just started producing about 7 months ago). So who knows. Maybe there is a better answer.

I'd be interested in a "real" definition of a pad, if there is one.

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Thanks guys!
I'm not even thinking about applying it in a trance setting... It's just as a DJ you never say listen to that pad. It's always the groove and bassline. But to remeber a song you remeber the melody. Whether the melody is an existing bassline or the lead. I'm just trying out how to craft a song in general. Because as far as music theory goes along there is progression to chords, and chords are left up to the interpretation of the person playing the piece. And using a pad as the instrument of choice for a harmonic piece I guess is as good as say I want this mood conveyed? As far as a melodic choice I guess you would have to tinker with the envelopes since pads are "sustained" instruments unless you gate. I gotta check out those references though. I'm not even thinking about layering...

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I'm a bit of a pad freak. I'm the type that wishes the whole song WAS the breakdown because I love using them so much. Pads add so much to trance music in my opinion, they are one of the things that set it apart. One of the best ways I write songs (or attempt to ), is to create a chord progression with a pad and then walk away from my DAW and hear it all day long in my head, melody start popping up all over the place, so many, I wish I had a laptop so I could enter the midi notes. Anyways, pads give a song emotion, and sometimes they are hard to pinpoint, but an easy way to see what a pad does to a song is to pull up a Fruity song that has a pad and listen to it and then abruptly mute the pad, then you'll see how important they are. Most of my pads are polyphonic, but some pads, like those found on Atmosphere etc. are just too robust for polyphonic play, so you just have to use your judgement.

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I was messing around with a basic C major progression I-IV-V with a few pad and DAMMIT they sounded horrible. What is it do they program some pads so they are already "colored"? At least already placed in intervals that make you use them in a monophoinc progression? So many producers I know start off with the chord progression as the skeleton I justed wanted to see what was all the fuss about but it seems that I would be easier to use a string? Especially if I'm trying to convey an emotion.

BTW I found a nice technique of gating the padd adding delay and then some reverb. It was a very much desirable effect that I heard on many of tracks.

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full detune and unison spread will give you the big trance pad or lead sound.....most soft synths need not apply for this job

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Most people who write their harmonies themselves make their own pads from various synthesizers and samples (strings or woodwinds or whatever). I guess you are talking about prefabricated pads though, so here's my answer.

the pad's function in a song is usually to fill the midrange with a soft backing. there's no real rule as to how it is used, but many pad samples have "conveniently" (ha!) been recorded as chords, those won't really work if you write your own melodies, unless you write your melody AROUND the pads.

sometimes, people take interesting, developing pads and give them the spotlight they usually don't get as background material. there are many ways to compose interesting textures from complex pads, and it's got a beauty of its own. the material usually sounds less "musical" in a classical sense and more ambient as in atmospheric.

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Hi, great thread, i got the Idea of what a Pad is.. but can someone explain me what are
Legato Monophonic patterns and Polyphonic chord patterns??

thanks in Advance

quote:

Originally posted by Havok1200 I was messing around with a basic C major progression I-IV-V with a few pad and DAMMIT they sounded horrible.

Out of curiosity, what pad sound are you using? This chord progression sounds normal to me when I play it with pads (I actually went and checked because I was a little surprised)...

You are playing C-E-G, F-A-C, G-B-D, right?

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-brash