Pad

A category of synthesizer patches which produce a soft, pleasing sound. The pad sound is difficult to describe as it is unlike anything produced by any traditional instrument, but an approximation would be massed string instruments, played very softly so that most of the high-frequency content is eliminated. Usually the pad patch is set up with a slow attack and slow release, which along with the basic timbre produces an ethereal effect when block chords are played. Pad sounds can become an obsession, to the point where performers sometimes do little of anything else.