Emulating sustained synth pads?

  • I'm meeting some folks this weekend to see about a two guitar / no keyboards thing, and one of the songs they're doing is Loverboy's "Turn me loose." For most of the songs they do it's easy enough to find space for another guitar. However, beyond the single guitar part, this one is largely about sustained synth pads.


    If you're unfamiliar with the song (typical 80s synth rock) here's a YouTube link:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mep0gtkmsuQ


    While I don't expect my guitar to really sound like a DX-7, I was hoping to at least capture the vibe. I fooled around with some of the more elaborate delays but ultimately I still have a kind of pokey guitar strum followed by some "after the fact" effects.


    I'm guessing some of the new Big Sky type modulated reverbs in the upcoming new release might get me closer, but I don't want to show up for the first time meeting someone with a beta operating system (yes, I'm chicken, but hey, the Kemper has a chicken head knob so surely that's not completely out of line, right?).


    I'm well endowed with a wide variety of profiles, most of whom sport a single star, so my basic tones are very good. Just can't figure out how to emulate a sustaining pad. You guys have any ideas, or is this just one of those, "you're trying to do something stupid / you can't get there from here" things?

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • Have you tried crystal church delay?. I use it for my pads and you could probably tinker with the settings to get something like that tune

    A brace of Suhrs, a Charvel, a toaster, an Apollo twin, a Mac, and a DXR10

  • For long, sustaining parts, like in that song, look at the "Freeze" parameter for the Delay. You can use it like an infinite sustain pedal in the verses, and can play the syncopated part on top of the sustained chords.


    And, Pedal Pitch could be used to get that upward pitch sweep at the beginning, but if you play the rest of the song with the pitch shifted up, I don't know if that makes playing the other parts on top of the sustained chords problematic, or not.

  • I've got a few pads for free on RigEx , I often use them, you can add a harmonizer to have a chord / pad generator.


    ATM.JB.PAD me organ

    ATM.JB.PAD me shiny

    ATM.JB.darkpad


    I also use my freq out , ebow and freeze function to make some pads.

  • For long, sustaining parts, like in that song, look at the "Freeze" parameter for the Delay. You can use it like an infinite sustain pedal in the verses, and can play the syncopated part on top of the sustained chords.

    I had completely missed the Freeze param, thanks! As for the glide up, since you can hear it step over each note I find that just sliding up the frets gives a similar effect.

    have you tried the delay preset "DLY Warm Pad"?

    I went through a fair amount of the delays but not all of them. Given that the word "pad" is in it, it sounds like something I should have noticed. I'll give it a go, thanks!

    I also use my freq out , ebow and freeze function to make some pads.

    Appreciate the profile references, I'll give them a look. I don't run any pedals in front of the Kemper but I would imagine you get great results with the freq out as well.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10