
If you’re looking for a starting synth, then this one will get the job done. It has 25 keys, which means it’s a lot smaller than the top pick and has a more limited use than the Roland JUNO-DS 61 Synthesizer. This is also a more portable option, in addition to being more affordable, and has a good well-rounded base for you to work with. My budget pick is the Korg MONOLOGUEBK Synthesizer 25. View Price at Sweetwater View Price at Amazon Most modern synths will be able to produce some sort of pad sounds, but the following are particulary good options. What Does a Synth Pad Sound Like?Ī synth pad is usually a sustained, lush, harmonious sound played softly in the background, which can give a track a more filled-out sound. A true “leading” factor of any musical piece. It’s what makes the song catchy and memorable to most people. LeadĪ lead is a sound that grabs the forefront of any song. It aids in the creation of harmonies by providing additional depth to a musical piece. PadĪ pad is a background sound that is used to add atmosphere to the song. As mentioned before, a synth pad is more of a background sound that fills up a musical piece, whereas a synth lead is considered a foreground to the musical piece. To get a more accurate answer, we first have to establish the difference between a synth pad and a synth lead. The Difference Between a Synth Pad and a Synth Lead To understand this more clearly, I’m going to take you through more in-depth details. It’s not a leading melody because then it would be the lead and no longer a pad. It serves the purpose of filling out the track with background sound. Pad refers to ‘padding (spreading) out’ the sound to fill out the musical piece.ĭepending on the context, a pad could be anything from a soft background sound to a normal chord progression. The term persisted to be used in synthesizers.Ī synth pad is a sustained sound generated from a synthesizer, usually used as background sound or harmony to fill out the piece of music.

Sections of the orchestra would play sustained harmonies behind the main melody lines to add greater depth and to pad out the arrangement. The word pad in the term synth pad stems from an old orchestral arrangement concept.
