Tips for Better Atmos/ soft pad sounds

Have you downloaded the 1000 free xv sounds cause there are some great pad sounds in there?

You can use the Hexa Chorus MFX algorithm with a 100% wet balance and mix all it's voices by setting Pan Deviation to 0 and beef it up with Depth Deviation of +10..20. This is my favorite trick for great pad sounds. Modulation Delay is a good one, too.

Tips for great pads which is vital for me as trance producer;

1) Set the pitch on each oscillator slightly apart - say +5 on one and -5 on the other

2) SIDECHAIN COMPRESSION - if you want the music to pump between kicks, ideally you need to use a separate compressor with sidechain, but I've found a way of mimicking this insde the Fantom; Use the LFO to control the VCA (volume). Set to sine, square or that wave that resembles a bridge (?). Set the time to pump up the vol exactly between notes. Minimal fade in.

3) Add a bit of reverb and delay

4) Add some resonance

5) For dance I turn down all velocity settings so that each note sound more or less the same volume - unless some quieter notes are needed

6) If you open the filters during a song I find you must ride the volume and record those moevements otherwise there is too great a difference in volume between open and closed filter parts


TBH, you won't get immense pads using the Fantom unless you use it in patch mode and only that one sound at a time, and even then the pads will not be cutting edge - for those you need something like Omnisphere. Ok for some amateur stuff though.

You might also want to try these things:

- make massive use of the LFOs, modulating filters and amps, in order to add some live to your pads
- set the oscillators to stereo mode and use as many tones as you can; doing so, you can create patches with nice 8 oscillators per key
- if you like it a little spacey, route the output to an MFX and use a nice delay, for example the Mod-Delay. Add some reverb as well, and you're done

... and don't believe people who say that the Fantom can only do some amateur stuff pads

(... no pun intended, Trancehak, I'm not into trance-sounds ...)

I always use the Fantom when I need a really rich and lively pad-sounds, and it easily beats all my other equipment in this genre, and it's also possible to have really fat pads running in sequencer-mode along with lots of other sounds - the 120 voices of the Fantom are really more than enough.

Happy editing!

Gerald

I use my own 8 voice big pads, but you run into polyphony problems (even with just 2 voice) a lot if there is much of a release tail especially on big rising cressendos where there are automation movements on several sliders being recorded (for example to keep the volume in check as the filters open).

I intend to use mine in patch mode as part of a set up for pads with outboard FX such as phasers and warm compressor and the left ear slightly behind the right to give space.

Top trance is the most complex recorded music ever made 9I used to recorded real instruments - far simpler) but a lot of people haven't heard it - they just think its that cheezy radio Europe stuff.

>> I use my own 8 voice big pads, but you run into polyphony problems (even with just 2 voice) a lot if there is much of a release tail especially on big rising cressendos where there are automation movements on several sliders being recorded (for example to keep the volume in check as the filters open). <<

Have you tried to use a delay with lots of feedback instead of using a long release for your pad-sounds? Works like a charm for my purposes. And automating MIDI-controllers like filters, volume, expression etc. shouldn't strain the polyphony-counter at all.

Okay, so I am a novice.....

What is the setting that needs changed if a pad "delays" too much after hitting the key?

There are certain pads I love the sound of, but they swell to late into the note for me to use them on some songs with faster harmonic progressions.....

Thanks....I LOVE THAT I FINALLY FOUND A GOOD RESOURCE FOR FANTOM TALK!!

(As you can tell by my question, I have a lot to learn on the tech side)

Hi Raincrow,

if you want a sound to respond faster, you'll need to reduce the attack of the envelopes, usually the attack of the TVA (amplifier section), sometimes also the attack of the TVF (filter).

But before you start to dig deep into sound-designing, there's a simple way to change the attack ultra-fast on the Fantom. Click the "Patch Edit"-button, open "Pro Edit" (F6) and go to the topmost page "General". In the lower area, you'll find the parameter "Attack Time Offset". Choose a lower, negative value here to reduce the attack time of all envelopes at once - this should do the job for most sounds.

Have fun!

Cheers


Gerald

Adjust the pad's ATTACK ... you can do that with the knobs or at the PATCH EDIT level ...

THANKS a bunch.