MULTITRACKS
WHY AMBIENT PADS ? // CORESOUND ’ S MIKE GRAFF
by Jesse Schaefer
[ Jesse Schaefer ] Staying in the moment and having the freedom to go where you need to in worship services is vital . An awkward transition or a sudden pause of unexpected silence can break the moment and cause disconnects and distractions for everyone in the room . This month at MultiTracks . com we unveiled Pad Player in Playback , which allows pads to play continuously underneath tracks , during your transitions , and changes pad keys and sounds based on your setlist and preferences . We built Pad Player because as worship leaders ourselves , we know the importance of keeping your head and heart in the right place with no sonic or technical distractions .
If you ’ ve never used ambient pads , we ’ d love for you to hear firsthand from Mike Graff , chief creative at Coresound , specializing in ambient pads and other worship resources . Coresound is among the top sound designers in the industry today , and his story and expertise have lead him to a variety create sonically rich ambient pads that improve the worship experience practically , sonically , and spiritually . Mike , tells us about it ?
[ Mike Graff ] Over the years , I ’ ve had
countless times as a worship leader where it felt like our team ’ s sound just felt small . Hollow . Like something was missing . It felt that way with a full band and it really felt that way when there were only a couple people on the team ( or just me going solo ).
At that point , I hadn ’ t jumped into the world of pad creation quite yet . It felt a little beyond my current reach at the time . But when I discovered ambient pads - a pad drone that stays in a song ' s root key , designed to float in the background and add instant atmosphere - I was hooked . No matter what tempo or song arrangement , I now had pads that filled in our sound , killed that awkward dead-space between songs , and gave me the opportunity to focus even more on leading worship .
After a little while with these ambient pads , though , I began noticing a few common “ offenses ” a lot of them had . Many pads felt like they made my lead instrument ( guitar , piano , etc ) sound muddy because they took up the same frequencies . Some pads had distinct melodies that drew too much attention to themselves . And some pads were , well … too boring . So , without knowing any better , I set out to make some pad of my own and from there Coresound was born .
Maybe your story is different than mine , though . Maybe you ’ re still asking , “ Why use ambient pads at all ?” Well , I can promise you there really are a multitude of reasons why ambient pads are a great resource ( and , dare I say , foundational ) for your worship ministry . It really boils down to how pads help you practically , sonically , and spiritually .
Practically , pads do an incredible job of killing the dead-space between song , so you don ’ t have to rush from one worship service element to the next . Pads serve as a “ musical safety net ” of sorts so you can stay in the moment , no matter what . And they mean you don ’ t have to try to play as many notes as possible on your instrument just to fill space – you can play a