OCTOBER Patreon Musical Challenge: PADS (Patreon)

This month's challenge is to make PADS the focus of a track. What are pads?

Think of them as long, languid notes and chords that provide a cushion for your production. They are most often played on a keyboard. They have a slow attack (aka fades in) and a slow release (fades out slowly once you release the key). They are soft, billowy, and atmospheric, can be comforting and tender, or foreboding in the low ranges. Because of how slowly they begin and end, it's hard to make "fast" sounding music with them and they force you to slow down to some degree. Ambient music wouldn't exist without pads, methinks.

Examples of pads:

Aphex Twin "#3"

Bibio "CAPEL CELYN"

ixi "Big Womb"

(Feel free to comment with more examples down below)

FAQ:

"Can I have other things in my track besides pads?" Yeah for sure! Just try to make the pads really important and central to the track. Lean on them.

"But ixi, I don't have/like synth, wut do?" You can create pads with your voice, like Trent Reznor in The Frail. You can record your guitar through soooooooo much reverb and effects that it sounds like the ocean.

"How do I make a pad with a synth"? Great question, I actually don't know, but all synths and VST synths have pad presets so I use those, then tweak to my liking. You can turn something into a pad if you mess with the Attack (A) and Release (R) knobs enough.

HOW TO SUBMIT:

Please try to keep your track to 5 minutes if possible (not a hard and fast rule though) and submit an mp3 using THIS FORM before 11:59pm CST on October 31st!

If you'd like constructive feedback, please indicate that in the Notes section of the form!