Creating dirty, effect-drenched pad sounds in Ableton Live

PROBLEM: How can I make my chords and pads sound less ‘clean’ and ‘dry’?

Sometimes when working with synth pads, the mix might sound too clean and dry. A reverb would be the obvious solution, but might not always be enough to keep the sound interesting over time.

Sending your track through a reverb, and modulating the pitch and the filter of its tail can create a layer that has an unstable and detuned sound typical of a vintage synth. In the below example, a synth is sent to a Convolution Reverb that is fed in into a Delay. The delay that is in Repitch mode has the time and the filter modulated by a slow LFO so that is pitching and filtering the tail of the reverb, giving a nice detuned texture to the synth. A gently modulated Channel EQ gives the last touch of an ever-moving sound.

About The Author

Cristiano Nicolini, produces music, designs live shows and consults on performance planning, production workflows and studio setups. He makes music as MATTOKÌND, Bleak House and Plastik Joy. Learn more at crinico.com

01 Add Convolution Reverb In a return track add Convolution Reverb from the Max for Live section, pick an IR (Impulse Response) that is not too dark or short; here, a BM7 Old Plate works well. Increase the decay and size, adjust the EQ section to boost the mid/high section and roll off some bass.

03 Modulate Mid EQ Add a Channel EQ and gently boost the midrange frequencies. With the LFO device, map the Mid frequency to modulate it. Use a slow rate, as it’s all about gentle movements!

02 Add Delay and modulate Add a Delay, select the Repitch mode and adjust the delay time to taste, in this case, quarter notes. Increase the percentage of the modulation of the filter and the time, and dial in a slow rate. Keep the dry/wet to 50% so only half of the reverb signal is affected.

04 Effect Rack and dial to taste Group all the devices into an Effect Rack and map the delay modulation rate and the feedback to two macros. Adjust the min and max values to avoid too long feedback or fast rates. Dial the send until you can hear a nice layer modulating behind the synth sound.