KEYS
WHAT MAKES A PAD SOUND WARM ? | David Pfaltzgraff
What do hot cocoa , a kind smile , and the greatest worship pad of all time have in common ?
They would all likely be described with a single word : warm .
If you ’ ve been playing on a worship team for any length of time you ’ ve surely heard this term thrown out to describe any number of things . Guitar tone , a smooth vocal , the overall band mix , and maybe most often , the endless pad sounds emanating from the keys rig .
But why would a sound be described as having a specific temperature ? How do you ‘ warm up ’ a pad ? Is it possible to heat up a pad too much ?
Let ’ s dig in and find out .
TEMPERATURE = CLIMATE To start , let ’ s talk about the temperature analogy . What ’ s the first thing you notice when you walk into a room ? Maybe who ’ s in it or how well lit the room is ? You might notice the color of the walls or how loud the background music is .
Now , what ’ s the first thing you ’ d notice if you walked into a room that was over 90 degrees Fahrenheit ? Probably the temperature , right ?
That ’ s where I think the ‘ warm ’ terminology really came from . Pads can play a huge role in setting the climate of the song ( or the ‘ room ’ in the analogy ). You would likely notice if the pad were absent , maybe the mix would feel empty or sparse . Perhaps we could say that ’ d be too cold . You ’ d also definitely notice if a pad were ear-piercingly loud or overly bright , too hot .
When a pad intended to set the atmosphere of the song is dialed in just-right , then it feels like walking into a room where you take the temperature for granted . Most of the time when the temp is comfortable it ’ s the last thing you notice , but it ’ s definitely important !
WHAT ’ S THE FORMULA ? What ’ s the mathematical formula that converts temperature in Fahrenheit to audio frequency ? Unfortunately , it ’ s not quite that straightforward , but we can use a bit of science to establish some guidelines .
Let ’ s start by thinking about the human ear which is tuned first and foremost for hearing other humans talking . While human speaking voices are actually quite low , with most falling between the 100-300 Hz range , the higher overtones that give voices clarity and definition are the sweet spot our ears are actually most sensitive to . This range falls between 300Hz to about 5000kHz . Many sung vocals will find their clarity towards the upper mid-range of this spectrum .
So , if we ’ re playing music meant to be heard by human ears and the human ear is most sensitive to that range what can that teach us about how a sound might feel to the listener ? That word , feel , is really the key to understanding the entire equation .
When it comes to sound , warm is all about the feeling a sound evokes .
300Hz to 5000kHz is a big range to work with , but we can dig a bit deeper to narrow things down more . Much of the presence and clarity of