Ambient pad
Jean Michel Jarre’s Oxygene was a groundbreaking work full of evolving layers and futuristic atmospheres
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>The basic ‘pad’ sound has been a feature of music for hundreds of years – ensembles of string players were creating evolving atmospheres since long before electricity, and many factory preset pads show classical leanings today. But pads really became interesting with the invention of synths.
Jean Michel Jarre’s Oxygene (1976) may well be the perfect example of the modern electronic pad’s genesis. The philosophy was spacey, futuristic, evolving layers of swooshing synth soundscapes that fizzed and hummed across the entire range of frequencies. These techniques and sounds weren’t just intended for isolation, though, as musicians looking to fill out sparse or uninteresting mixes chose to add similar layers in order to ‘pad it out’. From then to now, that ‘pad’ became a staple of music production.