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Synths
- Thread starter GamezBond
- Start date
Well pretty much the name says it all.
Lead=a patch that is designed to cut through the mix (for Soloing). Some common ones would be your traditional Saw or Square leads (i.e. the wave form used to make them). More often, a lead will have a very fast attack to it and a fairly quick release, thus giving it a "Stabbing" effect when played staccatto (Hence the Term "Stab Lead"). Of course that's just one example.
Pads=Slower, More ambient patches (Usually with lots of different "Sonic Textures" That evolve over a period of time). Your traditional synth-style string/choir type patches also usually fall into this category. For an example of this effect listen to most any Horror movie. Really just any patch that lends to a soft, behind the music feel.
Sequences/Arps=Often very similar to the evolving Pad mentioned above, but unlike the Pad (Whose modulation is controlled via LFO's), these patches are under the control of a sequencer (Usually a step-sequencer set to loop a series of pre-programmed patterns), or often under control of an arpeggiator. The actual sound being triggered can be from any of the categories listed here.
Keys/Organs-These are the attempts at emulating everything from Electric Piano sounds (Your typical "Wurly/Rhodes" is in this category), to Grinding Hammond B3 Organ emulatiions, to a Cathedral Organ.
Basses=Pretty Self-Explainatory
Mallets/Percussion=Your Xylophone/Marimba patches are gonna be here, as well as all various kinds of short percussive sounds, from emulations of drums to blurps, blips, beeps, and zaps, which are often borderline FX, which brings us to...
FX=Anything that isn't gonna fit in any other category.
Of course these are just the basic categories. You can further define categories by more specific means, and add sub-categories to those (i.e. Guitars--->Acoustic Guitars / Electric Guitars).
Some sounds may fit different categories, So when you listen to a 3rd party patch you may say to yourself, "This isn't a lead as it is labeled, but is a Pad instead". Chances are the designer was using it as a Lead (Because it worked as a Lead in his composition, which might have been a softer piece for example), so a patch will assume the title of what it was intially created as, But you can obviously use a patch from one category as, a patch for another (And usually with a little tweaking to do so, you'll breed your own "Hybrid Patch"). The possibilities are endless GamezBond. I'd say just listen to a patch and classify it as what you interpret it to be. Then there will be absolutely no question in your mind as to what it is.
Lead=a patch that is designed to cut through the mix (for Soloing). Some common ones would be your traditional Saw or Square leads (i.e. the wave form used to make them). More often, a lead will have a very fast attack to it and a fairly quick release, thus giving it a "Stabbing" effect when played staccatto (Hence the Term "Stab Lead"). Of course that's just one example.
Pads=Slower, More ambient patches (Usually with lots of different "Sonic Textures" That evolve over a period of time). Your traditional synth-style string/choir type patches also usually fall into this category. For an example of this effect listen to most any Horror movie. Really just any patch that lends to a soft, behind the music feel.
Sequences/Arps=Often very similar to the evolving Pad mentioned above, but unlike the Pad (Whose modulation is controlled via LFO's), these patches are under the control of a sequencer (Usually a step-sequencer set to loop a series of pre-programmed patterns), or often under control of an arpeggiator. The actual sound being triggered can be from any of the categories listed here.
Keys/Organs-These are the attempts at emulating everything from Electric Piano sounds (Your typical "Wurly/Rhodes" is in this category), to Grinding Hammond B3 Organ emulatiions, to a Cathedral Organ.
Basses=Pretty Self-Explainatory
Mallets/Percussion=Your Xylophone/Marimba patches are gonna be here, as well as all various kinds of short percussive sounds, from emulations of drums to blurps, blips, beeps, and zaps, which are often borderline FX, which brings us to...
FX=Anything that isn't gonna fit in any other category.
Of course these are just the basic categories. You can further define categories by more specific means, and add sub-categories to those (i.e. Guitars--->Acoustic Guitars / Electric Guitars).
Some sounds may fit different categories, So when you listen to a 3rd party patch you may say to yourself, "This isn't a lead as it is labeled, but is a Pad instead". Chances are the designer was using it as a Lead (Because it worked as a Lead in his composition, which might have been a softer piece for example), so a patch will assume the title of what it was intially created as, But you can obviously use a patch from one category as, a patch for another (And usually with a little tweaking to do so, you'll breed your own "Hybrid Patch"). The possibilities are endless GamezBond. I'd say just listen to a patch and classify it as what you interpret it to be. Then there will be absolutely no question in your mind as to what it is.