While there’s no one-size-fits-all guideline for how to set this filter’s cutoff when mixing pads, you’ll ideally want to stop short of thinning the pad, but still allow important low end elements to come through with clarity. The simple solution is to use a high pass filter to limit the low-frequency extension of a pad and remove much of the problematic low end.

When it comes to mixing pads, you’ll likely need to clean some mud. This low end overlap makes it difficult for the drums and bass to cut through and provide the impact necessary to drive a track forward. But in the context of the mix, you will often encounter clashes with instruments that share similar frequencies (particularly in the low end). When listening to a pad in solo, this fullness will sound great. Like I mentioned, most pads are full frequency range instruments, from low to high. If you know the purpose you want them to fill, you’ll be able to start mixing pads better because you’ll be able to make more intentional mixing decisions. These are generalizations, but you should get the idea. For example, you might want to roll off the highs on a low-key atmospheric pad tucked into a hip-hop track, but emphasize these same frequencies in a cinematic piece. In the latter case, listeners may not even notice the pad as an isolated instrument, but if it were muted, the mix would sound much less exciting.Īll this to say, the approach you take to mixing pads largely depends on the role they take in the song. Pads can serve a musical function in electronic music, but they can just as easily be a non-musical element that provides atmosphere. In hip-hop and R&B, pads typically sit further back in the mix, supporting vocals, plucked instruments, and other melodic elements. In an ambient recording, it might be the lead (or only) instrument, complete with whooshing white noise oscillators, bleeps, and chirps that develop over time. There are a number of scenarios where pads crop up in songs.

Mix pad