Lovely Pads?

I've just trawled through all of the Factory sounds and the two Acoustic Packs looking for sounds. I didn't really find many lovely sounding pads, sweeps etc. for ambient stuff. Any suggestions?

Comments

  • edited January 2019

    maybe some intereseting pads and atmospheres are here ?
    (first part of this demo) - but that's more dark territory of those subgenres, probably not much sweet mellow pads

    i'm admitting that chillout / ambient area isn't much deeply covered, @StevePAL maybe inspiration for next IAP pack ? :)

  • I think if you want something unique, you have to get your hands dirty and make your own. This can be initially daunting, especially with a synth as complex as Obsidian, but the tools to make huge evolving pads are all there within Obsidian. The trick is to use multi-layering with an emphasis on using the built-in FX. A good example of this is to look back at some of the earlier pioneers of electronic music who were creating atmospheres way before they had access to synthesisers, such as the BBC's Delia Derbyshire. Although 'dark', the following piece was created using nothing more than a metal lampshade as the sound source. Derbyshire then used magnetic audio tape to 'sample' it then slowed it down, layered it and eq'd it heavily, while adding artificial reverberation by that of a 'plate reverb', an algorithm that is used in NS2's reverb plugins.

  • @dendy said:
    maybe some intereseting pads and atmospheres are here ?
    (first part of this demo) - but that's more dark territory of those subgenres, probably not much sweet mellow pads

    i'm admitting that chillout / ambient area isn't much deeply covered, @StevePAL maybe inspiration for next IAP pack ? :)

    Thanks so much. Perhaps I'll invest in this!

  • @tom_tm said:
    I think if you want something unique, you have to get your hands dirty and make your own. This can be initially daunting, especially with a synth as complex as Obsidian, but the tools to make huge evolving pads are all there within Obsidian. The trick is to use multi-layering with an emphasis on using the built-in FX. A good example of this is to look back at some of the earlier pioneers of electronic music who were creating atmospheres way before they had access to synthesisers, such as the BBC's Delia Derbyshire. Although 'dark', the following piece was created using nothing more than a metal lampshade as the sound source. Derbyshire then used magnetic audio tape to 'sample' it then slowed it down, layered it and eq'd it heavily, while adding artificial reverberation by that of a 'plate reverb', an algorithm that is used in NS2's reverb plugins.

    Yes, I'm sure you're right. I'll give it a go!

  • @LesT

    Eventually if you put here few examples (youtube, soundcloud) what exactly kind of sound you are searching, i can check IAPs more deeply for you, if there is really something useable for you

    Also some references would be helpfull for future developement of more chillout/ambient packs

  • The trick @LesT is to play with the envelopes and LFO's setting them to both cyclic as well as very slow modes.

  • I've actually come with a couple of decent pads this afternoon. Is there anywhere on here where we can share patches?

  • @dendy said:
    @LesT

    Eventually if you put here few examples (youtube, soundcloud) what exactly kind of sound you are searching, i can check IAPs more deeply for you, if there is really something useable for you

    Also some references would be helpfull for future developement of more chillout/ambient packs

    Thank you, that's very kind of you. It's the usual Camel, Genesis, Floyd stuff I'm after.

  • edited January 2019

    @LesT

    Shame on me :#, but i never listened those bands so probably 2-3 youtube links on tracks/songs which should be used as best example, like reference for that kind of sounds, would be ideal, thanks :)

  • Ok. I'll have a look and post some stuff. Did you see my earlier comment about sharing patches with other NS2 users? There's probably a really easy way to do this and I'm being a bit dense!!

  • Did you see my earlier comment about sharing patches with other NS2 users? There's probably a really easy way to do this and I'm being a bit dense!!

    Oh yes, no i didn't, now see.. Yeah there is thread exactly for this, looking forward to you creations :)
    https://www.blipinteractive.co.uk/community/index.php?p=/discussion/57/obsidian-user-patches-megathread#latest

  • @LesT I’ve made a patch for you this afternoon. Let me know if it’s your kind of thing
    https://www.dropbox.com/s/9adu5zf5qtyxbcr/Cinematica.zip?dl=0

    Cheers

  • I'm fairly up on my prog. Camel. There's a name I haven't heard in a while (good cigarettes too- as long as they're American soft packet!) Moonmadness was a good Camel recording if my memory serves me right. As for Genesis, their best was The Lamb lies down on Broadway. Although respect due where respect due etc... The Lamb was really a Peter Gabriel LP, not Genesis. AND Eno guested on it too. In fact some tracks off that LP could have been written by Boards of Canada. And the Lamb has moments of Krautrock too- particularly Cluster/Harmonia.

    As for Pink Floyd, my uncle was in an early version of the Floyd, taught Syd Barrett how to play guitar. And my mum was at art school with both Barrett and Gilmour, back in her Cambridge days. Now there's a claim to fame?!

  • To get simple prog-style stuff, you only really need to replicate Analogue, which is pretty easy. Genesis' main synth was the Arp Pro-Soloist. Same with Camel I believe. Pink Floyd were really into their EMS VCS3's and later Minimoog. Bands like Yes, Gong etc used guitars to create their spacey effects- in particular using a technique known as 'Glissando guitar'. In fact Pink Floyd also used the same effect on 'Echoes', using a bass guitar.

    So it's FX you need. Loads of them. And NS2 is really good with custom FX chains. I suppose what you need is to try and emulate the sound of a guitar string using synthesisers? This is easy if you're using distortion and feedback, but not so easy if you want lush sounding stuff- without sounding really synthetic.

  • Here. Instant Flying Saucer Attack!

  • Synthmaster One has some nice ones. :trollface:

  • Or Hillage's 'Rainbow Dome Musick'?

  • On the other hand, Tangerine Dream's Edgar Froese used a similar technique (he also used glissando guitar) on his LP 'Aqua', where a Farfisa organ (also used by Pink Floyd) was heavily processed using a chain of phasers and echo machines to create this mesmerising sound that comes in at around 3.40mins into the track. So this gives us a basis on how something as simple as an organ can be processed to create an evolving pad on a synthesiser.

  • @LeeB said:
    @LesT I’ve made a patch for you this afternoon. Let me know if it’s your kind of thing
    https://www.dropbox.com/s/9adu5zf5qtyxbcr/Cinematica.zip?dl=0

    Cheers

    Thank you Lee - that's just the ticket!! Very kind of you!!

  • https://www.dropbox.com/sh/q0mtstigajpojuf/AACu5BpcqnDX5GSYKE6eBhMYa?dl=0
    Here are three pads I concocted this afternoon
    I've put these in the patch thread as well.

    All the best

    Les

  • Thanks to everyone for your invaluable advice and input. This is the friendliest forum I'm on with my music. I really appreciate all the help.
    Kind Regards

    Les

  • @LesT said:

    @LeeB said:
    @LesT I’ve made a patch for you this afternoon. Let me know if it’s your kind of thing
    https://www.dropbox.com/s/9adu5zf5qtyxbcr/Cinematica.zip?dl=0

    Cheers

    Thank you Lee - that's just the ticket!! Very kind of you!!

    Glad you like it. I must get round to adding some more 👍🏼

  • edited January 2019

    @dendy said:
    @LesT

    Shame on me :#, but i never listened those bands so probably 2-3 youtube links on tracks/songs which should be used as best example, like reference for that kind of sounds, would be ideal, thanks :)

    Time to lock @dendy in a room with Trick of the Tail and Animals, and he can’t come out until that bottle of Absinthe is empty :o

    PS: I used to play Dance on a Volcano in a “power trio” on a CZ-1000; no lie - you really have to work those 4 notes of polyphony but what a great lesson it it was

  • Listening to some of those vids posted by @tom_tm, my suggestion to get a similar sound would be to use resampling:

    1. Make a 2-3s sample (eg. by recording from those videos, or using a mixdown to resample a note or chord from an existing Obsidian patch)
    2. Load that sample back into an Obsidian oscillator and set the sample to use the spectral loop mode (rather than the traditional time loop mode)
    3. Set the synth filters to Stereo to get some width
    4. Use the other two oscillators to add some interesting modulated stuff over the top
    5. Use lots of reverb and delay in the synth's patch

    Also, if you put the resampled loop on oscillator 1 then you can use Obsidian's filter routing page to make oscillator 1 bypass the filter, so that the filter's just applied to oscillators 2 and 3.

    Another trick is to use a second sample oscillator to play some sparse atmospheric percussive sounds (the Fake Plastic Rain factory patch does something like this). Pitching it down will make it more sparse and unearthly.

  • Thanks for those tips Matt!
    Copy/Paste into my Obsidian notes.

  • edited January 2019

    @Blip Interactive Added link to your tip into "Tips & Tricks" thread ;)

    If anybody wants to try Matt's suggestions, i sampled few short snippets from those videos, so be my quest :)

    Those samples, just played in "spectral loop" mode through filter in "stereo" mode sounds actually totally mind blowing even without any other need of edit something ! Just add some filtered stereo delay and long plate reverb on top of it and .. aaa fucking delightful !

    Spectral loop mode never stops amaze me, just incredible !

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/1ot25sot6scc02m/pad-base.zip?dl=0

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