How to create atmospheric pads for psytrance

Pads are the background of a psytrance track: long, evolving textures that set the mood behind the kick, bass and leads. They rarely take centre stage, but a good pad gives a breakdown its space and makes the whole track sound deeper. Here is how to build one.

Start with the source

Any synth with a good filter will do; Serum and Massive are common choices. Start with two or more oscillators playing saw or square waves and detune them slightly against each other. The small pitch difference creates a natural chorus effect and makes the sound wider and thicker. Noise or a sample of a real instrument layered in at a low level adds warmth and texture.

Then shape the tone with a low-pass filter. Pull the cutoff down until the harsh highs are gone, and add a little resonance just above the cutoff if you want some sparkle. A pad should sit behind the other elements, not compete with them.

Envelopes: let it swell

The amp envelope decides how the pad breathes. Use a slow attack so each chord fades in rather than starting with a hit, a high sustain so it holds, and a long release so the chords blend into each other. Match the release to the tempo and the chord changes: too long and everything smears, too short and the pad sounds chopped. Different release times on different layers can give a nice cascading effect.

For the harmony, sustained chords work well, especially suspended or extended chords, which have a floating, unresolved feel. Doubling a few notes in unison makes the chord fuller.

Layering and movement

Combine layers with different characters: a warm, darker base pad in the centre and a brighter, airy layer on top, panned slightly left and right. Use EQ so the layers don't fight: high-pass the layers that don't need low end, and keep the pad as a whole out of the range of the kick and bass.

A static pad gets boring quickly, so give it movement:

• A slow LFO with a sine or triangle shape on the filter cutoff creates a gentle ebb and flow.
• LFOs on panning or volume make the pad drift and swirl in the stereo field.
• In a wavetable synth, slowly automating the wavetable position changes the tone over many bars.
• Velocity routed to modulation depth makes each chord slightly different.

Keep the rates slow. The pad should evolve over bars, not wobble on every beat.

Effects for depth

Reverb is what turns a synth chord into an atmosphere. A hall or plate with a long decay places the pad in a large space; use pre-delay to keep the attack of the chords clear, and adjust the wet/dry mix until the pad sounds deep without washing over everything else. A tempo-synced delay, for example a quiet ping-pong delay, adds rhythmic movement around the pad.

Chorus, phaser and flanger widen the sound and give it a shimmering quality; a slowly modulated phaser creates a swirling effect. A touch of saturation or mild distortion brings out harmonics and helps several layers glue together. Use it sparingly.

Automation makes the space itself change over the track. Increasing the reverb size or wet level during a build-up makes the pad swell into the next section, and reverse reverb before a melodic entry pulls the listener into it.

Unusual textures

For a pad that sounds like your own, go beyond synth presets. Field recordings, such as rustling leaves or distant water, or vocal chops can be layered quietly under the main pad. Run them through a granular synth or granular effect, which breaks the audio into small grains you can stretch, pitch and reverse, and they turn into evolving textures that ordinary synthesis can't produce.

Subtle noise also helps: filtered white noise or a little vinyl crackle adds grit that contrasts nicely with a smooth pad. As with everything here, a small amount goes a long way. The pad works when you only notice it once it's gone.