Ambient/Pad Synth

kuroichi · Post by **kuroichi** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 9:15 am

I want something to make nice ambient sounds, pads and such.

I thought that Id probably be best with something digital, maybe a JD800 for example or even a yamaha, as this would mostly give me what I want, and since they're quite overlooked price-wise, would be quite cheap.

But can anyone recommend anything else new, old, analog or otherwise.
My budget is between £500 to £800 (about $1000 to $1600).

Ive had my eye on a MEK for nothing but pure lust really, but dont know what to expect ambient wise from it...

Soundwave · Post by **Soundwave** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 9:44 am

http://www.spectrasonics.net/instrument ... phere.html

Hardware wise an XT or even a DX7 are good.

Altitude · Post by **Altitude** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 2:15 pm

SR Wavestation. $200-25o tops

redchapterjubilee · Post by **redchapterjubilee** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 2:27 pm

Spectrasonic's Atmosphere, Wavestation (hardware or software), Fizmo, Microwave XT...I guess what it appears we're all saying is a good wave-sequencing hardware or software synth will get you there. Or anything with lots of modulation sources/routes, such as the Oberheim Matrix series. Me, I like to affect my Matrix-1000 to the nth degree for fun pads. Huge reverbs, delay, slow phasing, etc.

Post by **Psy_Free** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 2:49 pm

Any (or all) of the following :

Korg Wavestation (in it's varying guises)
Ensoniq Fizmo
Waldorf Microwave XT(k)

JJQ · Post by **JJQ** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 2:59 pm

I'd recomend the Oberheim Xpander . . . so ambient it hurts.

And you can propably find one in your pricerange with a bit of patience.

The Roland JX-8p has very nice pads & strings.

maindeglorie · Post by **maindeglorie** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 3:35 pm

You can get great ambient pads out of anything, all you need is some reverbs and delays in the mix. Lately, I've been getting killer pads out of my Nord Lead 3.

Soundwave · Post by **Soundwave** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 3:37 pm

Ooh I forgot the AN1X!
The abilty to cut the higher waveform fequenceis or 'edge' to the point of a sine wave together with FM/ringmod and the symphonic chorus FX can give you soft pads by the bucketloads.

stalla · Post by **stalla** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 3:45 pm

Kawai K5000S

http://www.youtube.com/user/JMPSynth · Post by **JMP** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 6:20 pm

Soundwave wrote:even a DX7 are good.

Not sure about that recommendation as a pad synth.

From personal experience, best I've found so far for pads and ambient sounds within your budget are the Roland XP/JV/XV synths, V Synth and Yamaha CS6X/R.

Yoozer · Post by **Yoozer** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 6:38 pm

JMP wrote:
Soundwave wrote:even a DX7 are good.
Not sure about that recommendation as a pad synth.

Time that I am going to build some nice demos for you then

. I hope you don't mind that I'll throw a few effects over it and analog-ish resonant pads are obviously out of the question, but pads - the DX7 can do.

synthetic88 · Post by **synthetic88** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 6:44 pm

The Wavestation used to be my main ambient pad synth, but now sounds dated to me. Maybe because I abused it through the 90s. Now I get pads through Andromeda or software (GigaStudio, Absynth, Atmosphere, etc.).

I wouldn't choose an FM synth for pad sounds, but tastes vary.

http://www.youtube.com/user/JMPSynth · Post by **JMP** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 6:53 pm

Yoozer wrote:
JMP wrote:
Soundwave wrote:even a DX7 are good.
Not sure about that recommendation as a pad synth.
Time that I am going to build some nice demos for you then . I hope you don't mind that I'll throw a few effects over it and analog-ish resonant pads are obviously out of the question, but pads - the DX7 can do.

Course, fire away. I'm sure with a fair bit of work the DX's can give you some pads like virtually every other polysynth, but after my DX7II FD and DX27 experiences, I wouldn't 'recommend' them when you look at what else is out there, particularly if you're going to need outboard effects to get good results. A synth recommendation determined by providing many a good pad sound by the synth itself would seem a far better recommendation to me.

Entropy Farmer · Post by **Entropy Farmer** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 6:55 pm

I recommend a Matrix 1000 (and not just because I am selling one!)

ThinkTanx · Post by **ThinkTanx** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 7:14 pm

Surprised no one has mentioned a Prophet VS (unless I overlooked it somewhere). Brian Eno swore by one for years and years. That pretty much tells you all you need to know.