I usually just automate the cutoff on pads, never really mess with envelopes, LFo's and all that but now i'm looking to achieve calm and moving (chillout) pads, you can listen to this track as an example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThWDgF7wEiI

Could someone give me directions on what to automate? i'm using omnisphere and i'm amazed (and terrified) at the amount of things you can modulate so i'm kinda lost, i often try to edit presets that have a lot of modulation sources, that doesn't end up well most of the time lol.

I tried a couple things but it doesn't sound like the one in the song, do people use autopan to make it move around the way it does or is it something else?

Heres a sample.

http://www11.zippyshare.com/v/15290909/file.html

Last edited by wequendi on Jan-09-2015 at 02:49

Subtle modulations for these types of sounds are usually best. My main advice would be to keep the depth of the modulation sources down, go for slow gradual changes in your LFO and envelope patterns. Having both an LFO and envelope modulating a parameter can work great as well. LFO/Env sync is your friend here too so the evolution of your pad matches your song tempo.

Here is a few ideas of things to modulate:

Lowpass Cuttoff
Allpass Cuttoff - Don't forget to turn the resonance/feedback up a bit, gives sounds with unison an almost phaser like sound
Mix of a secondary reverb

Of course you can also use effects to achieve your goal as well such as a slower phaser or chorus.

Last but not least don't forget that you can have the bread and butter of the sound in part A of Omnisphere and put a more dynamic part in B with more crazy modulations but mixed to a lower volume so it doesn't overpower your main piece.

Thanks!, I appreciate your help.

Here's one LFO tip: try modulating the depth of an LFO using a little bit of envelope modulation, so that when you play a note, the depth of the destination changes slightly over time.

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One of the main targets for modulation would be pitch. If you create a pad with 2-3 layers try putting a separate (slow) LFO on each layers pitch just a little bit. It's also worth using an LFO to create a tremelo effect on one or some of the layers. Altering chorus or phaser parameters works well also. If the synth you're using allows you to route filters in parallel you can always add a second bandpass filter to your main lowpass and have the frequency and resonance evolve over time, and if possible mix that signal lower than the main one.

Layering is the key really, having multiple subtle changes add up to one massive sound.

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Kinda depends on the synth as to what you can modulate - the Q is excellent for this as not only do you have 3 LFOs and 2 free assignable envelopes but you also have a wide variety of mod destinations i.e. things you can fuck around with

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Sweet tips, thanks everyone

mess around with filter envelopes, and lfos, lfo depth, lush chilled sounds are all about the filter envelope