1. select the waveform you like
2. envelope: play around, but most of the pads have a long release.
3. lfo: maybe some very tiny but fast modulation on the pitch. amount at ~2-3 % makes it sound a little bit sad, but also try lfo on the filter etc.

quote:

Originally posted by Sonicstyle 1. select the waveform you like 2. envelope: play around, but most of the pads have a long release. 3. lfo: maybe some very tiny but fast modulation on the pitch. amount at ~2-3 % makes it sound a little bit sad, but also try lfo on the filter etc.

thats basically it.


just to add to the envelope bit: if you want to get less of an upfront, a more ethreal feel to your pads, make sure you give it a considerable amount of attack aswell...

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I should add a disclaimer that I'm not an expert on sound design like some people here are (or claim to be), but here's what I've noticed in common with my favourite pads and what works for me create one from scratch:

1. Use a long release on the amplitude envelope (attack can be short or long, but it should be "smooth")
2. Stick mostly to sines and related waveforms for the basic sound (sin^2, sin^3, etc.) with maybe a triangle to give it some punch if you want. Z3ta+ has additional sounds that can be good (Organs, the "voice" waveform, the "additive" waves, etc.)
3. Detune slightly - don't overdo it like a supersaw.
4. Use lots of chorus, delay and reverb.
5. Two ways to make it more interesting: give it a resonance sweep (hook up an LFO to the resonance of one of the filters), or use a saw/distorted waveform with a very long envelope or a very slow amplitude modulation so it bubbles in and out of the sound.
6. Phasers can also make it more interesting, but again, don't overdo it.
7. Definitely transpose one or more waveforms up or down an octave. You can also add a 5th (sounds good but conventional). Some of the pads I use have a 5th, a 7th, and a 9th (try it - it sounds cool).

That's about all I can think of for now. A lot of the better pads use FM/PWM synthesis, but that's a whole essay in and of itself (and I'm still learning how to apply it personally)...

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quote:

Originally posted by DigiNut 2. Stick mostly to sines and related waveforms for the basic sound (sin^2, sin^3, etc.) with maybe a triangle to give it some punch if you want. Z3ta+ has additional sounds that can be good (Organs, the "voice" waveform, the "additive" waves, etc.)

You serious with the sines?
Would "love" to hear what that sounds like

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Yeah, it's mostly a matter of tweaking the envellope. I like to use some basic-sounding saws, add a long attack and release, cut the high freqs with EQ, then add some stereo expansion, lots of delay and some reverb. You can get some great sounding pads just by layering a bunch of simple synths on top of eachother.

quote:

Originally posted by -mk- You serious with the sines? Would "love" to hear what that sounds like

I could post a couple, but you're right, that point was kind of BS and people should ignore that. I looked through a bunch of pads and a lot of them have saws or squares. But they're still usually complemented by the sines and triangles and the other z3ta+ waveforms I mentioned.

But you should know that *every* waveform can be broken down into a set of sine waves. And with FM/PWM synthesis, you can use sines to produce sounds that don't sound anything like pure sines.

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quote:

Originally posted by DigiNut I could post a couple, but you're right, that point was kind of BS and people should ignore that. I looked through a bunch of pads and a lot of them have saws or squares. But they're still usually complemented by the sines and triangles and the other z3ta+ waveforms I mentioned. But you should know that *every* waveform can be broken down into a set of sine waves. And with FM/PWM synthesis, you can use sines to produce sounds that don't sound anything like pure sines.

Pulse Width Modulation(aka PWM) is used on square waves, not sines. Yes you can break down a voice into sines(Fourier Theory), or vise versa you can build up a sound from sines.. its called Additive Synthesis. But thats really not a feature of VA-synths like that z3ta+. Anyways, yes you can add sines and triangles to the sound to make it more fatter(preferably 1+n octaves lower than the fundamental)

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quote:

Originally posted by Aquarian Yeah, it's mostly a matter of tweaking the envellope. I like to use some basic-sounding saws, add a long attack and release, cut the high freqs with EQ, then add some stereo expansion, lots of delay and some reverb. You can get some great sounding pads just by layering a bunch of simple synths on top of eachother.

Hey. I was really confused about the whole sine waves are great for pads until this was posted which did make sense. Hes describing the form of synthesis called additive synthesis. Where most subtractive synths dont have more than two or three oscillators, most addictive synths have more like 128 or so but each one has to be a sin wave. Check out Camel Audio Camelion for a pretty good addsynth. One important feature to get some great pads out of it, is its morphing envelopes. I'm not going to bother going into detail on it but I'd recomend checking into additive synthesis as well for some juicey ethereal pads. Be warned though, additive synthesis takes a while to grasp and understand how to program. Your first patch may sound like shit as well as your next fifty, but keep with it because its well worth it to know .

Cheers,
Zac

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If you'd like a less conventional method, check out Spectral Relativity. Just load the impulses in your convolution engine of choice and anything you send through it will come out sounding ethereal and pad-like. Almost too easy.

quote:

Originally posted by -mk- Pulse Width Modulation(aka PWM) is used on square waves, not sines. Yes you can break down a voice into sines(Fourier Theory), or vise versa you can build up a sound from sines.. its called Additive Synthesis. But thats really not a feature of VA-synths like that z3ta+. Anyways, yes you can add sines and triangles to the sound to make it more fatter(preferably 1+n octaves lower than the fundamental)

In communications engineering, yes, PWM refers specifically to square waves. In synthesis, PWM can be used on any waveform. Since you claim to know a lot about z3ta+, I assume you have it - if it's the new version, look through the first 128 patches, you will see that *a lot* of them use modulate the pulse width of one or more oscs (and those oscs are not square waves).

And you're right, z3ta+ doesn't have enough oscillators to be considered a true "additive" synth - that's why it has the 8 "additive" waveforms.

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quote:

Originally posted by DigiNut In communications engineering, yes, PWM refers specifically to square waves. In synthesis, PWM can be used on any waveform. Since you claim to know a lot about z3ta+, I assume you have it - if it's the new version, look through the first 128 patches, you will see that *a lot* of them use modulate the pulse width of one or more oscs (and those oscs are not square waves). And you're right, z3ta+ doesn't have enough oscillators to be considered a true "additive" synth - that's why it has the 8 "additive" waveforms.

Heh no i dont have z3ta+, or any other softsynth.. i just thought i knew the specs I´ve seen pulse width modulation of triangle waves before, but really not other waves. Kinda cool feature cos you can go from triangle to saw, or sine to saw(right?) smoothly. Tho you can do some similar stuff with filters too.. if the synth has versatile routings(or per osc filters like Novations). Anyways.. This is getting really complicated :P

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