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Pads are kinda hard to make for me and i always have a tough time making a pad that is fitting to the song that im working on. I kinda know the basic structure is a slow attack and a long release but i still struggle with making it sound good. Like if i lower the attack it doesnt really help ease into the sound it just makes it so the end of the note and the beginning of a new one doesnt really morph together that well. And i know release should help with that but i just struggle making it sound good. Can anybody help me out here?

Another thing is that the song that im currently working on right now i want to put in a really bright happy sounding pad but i dont want it to be one of those super saw pads. I want it to be airy sounding like something i could just use to fill empty background space with. Is there any certain waveforms in massive that are really good for this kind of pad? And im guessing that a highpass filter would help right? Should i use multiple oscillators? Can anybody just kinda point me in the right direction. Im just really struggling with this.

1) Try using volume automation as an added tool for fading it in without it sounding awkward. I get this problem too a lot, with fading in and fading out.

2) If you don't like saw pads and want something "thinner," try sine/triangles. Experiment. Layer sines at different octaves. One cool thing I sometimes do is take 2 sines (although you can also do it with one), put them at different octaves, and then increase the number of voices and detune one or both of them. This can give a weird effect that sort of sounds like an LFO.

3) Definitely add some sort of saturation, light distortion, or filter drive to increase harmonics if you're using sines, otherwise it will probably sound too thin.

4) You don't necessarily need a HP filter. Just use upper-octave notes and use saturation to make it sound bright. But you could use an HP if you want. You could also use no filter. Like I said, experiment.

Lastly, if I want to make a pad, I would personally rather use sylenth than massive, but to each their own. Good luck meight!

#1 on the sine wave thing, I make this nice airy floaty pad by taking two sine waves, putting them an octave apart and putting reverb and delay on it.

By the way that "weird lfo effect" is called phasing.

Waveshapers are wonderful for the distortion part mentioned above.

dubunked wrote:1) Try using volume automation as an added tool for fading it in without it sounding awkward. I get this problem too a lot, with fading in and fading out.

2) If you don't like saw pads and want something "thinner," try sine/triangles. Experiment. Layer sines at different octaves. One cool thing I sometimes do is take 2 sines (although you can also do it with one), put them at different octaves, and then increase the number of voices and detune one or both of them. This can give a weird effect that sort of sounds like an LFO.

3) Definitely add some sort of saturation, light distortion, or filter drive to increase harmonics if you're using sines, otherwise it will probably sound too thin.

4) You don't necessarily need a HP filter. Just use upper-octave notes and use saturation to make it sound bright. But you could use an HP if you want. You could also use no filter. Like I said, experiment.

Lastly, if I want to make a pad, I would personally rather use sylenth than massive, but to each their own. Good luck meight!

I dont think i could of asked for a more full answer. Ill start experimenting right away but im sure itll take some trial and error especially with the fading in and fading out. I have sylenth too but i never seem to use it because im so used to massive but i should probably break that habit.

Stargazer wrote:I dont think i could of asked for a more full answer. Ill start experimenting right away but im sure itll take some trial and error especially with the fading in and fading out. I have sylenth too but i never seem to use it because im so used to massive but i should probably break that habit.

I'm glad to help m8! Massive can do pretty much everything sylenth can do, but sylenth is a little simpler and more intuitive IMO, and it's definitely my go-to if I want to make a nice pad. I don't really use massive that much these days, but when I do it's mainly for leads or basses.