Minor Key Melancholic Pad

Sounds like: A dark, slow, moody pad that suits minor chords.

Sound type: pad · Genre: Trip-Hop, Ambient · Style: moody, downtempo pad voiced for minor-key harmonic content

A moody, subdued pad — a close relative of Warm String Pad, but darker in filtering and slower in attack, meant specifically for minor-key harmonic material.

Open this patch in the interactive Patchpad

Digitone II

Exact match: Dark, slow-attack pad

SYN page 1

• ALGO: 3
• RATIO C: 1.00
• RATIO B: 1.00
• DTUN: 12
• MIX: -64

SYN page 2 · Operators A & B

• LEV (A): 0
• LEV (B): 0

FLTR page 1 · Multi-mode

• FREQ: 48
• RESO: 15
• TYPE: 0 (LP)
• ATK: 89
• ENV: 20

AMP page

• ATK: 76
• DEC: 45
• SUS: 95
• REL: 100
• MODE: ADSR

FX page

• REV: 32

ALGO 3 with LEV (A) and LEV (B) at 0 gives plain carriers; MIX -64 selects C plus B2, and DTUN (which offsets only operators A and B2, and stays a very slight offset below about 64) detunes B2 against C for a slow beat. FLTR page 1's own ATK gives the filter a slow open on top of the slow AMP attack, darkening the very start of each note a little further before it settles.

Syntakt

Exact match: Dark, slow-attack pad

SYN — SY RAW

• TUNE: 0
• DET: 25
• WAV1: Triangle
• WAV2: Sine
• LEV2: 60

FLTR PAGE 1

• FREQ: 48
• RESO: 15
• TYPE: Lowpass
• ENV: 20

AMP PAGE 1

• ATK: 76
• DEC: 45
• SUS: 95
• REL: 100
• REV: 32

AMP PAGE 2

• MODE: ADSR

SY RAW's dark Triangle/Sine waveform pair keeps the harmonic content plain and soft, which suits the minor-key mood better than a brighter machine like SY SWARM — its own DET parameter handles the detuning between the two built-in oscillators directly. AMP PAGE 2's MODE must be ADSR (the default for SY machines, but drum machines default to AHD), or SUS on AMP PAGE 1 is ignored and the pad can't sustain. Melodic tracks (1-8) use Digital machines, not Analog ones.

Novation Summit

Exact match: Dark, slow-attack pad

OSCILLATOR 1

• WAVE: Sawtooth
• RANGE: 8'

OSCILLATOR 2

• WAVE: Sawtooth
• RANGE: 8'
• FINE: +9 cents

FILTER

• SHAPE: LP
• SLOPE: 12dB
• FREQUENCY: 48
• RESONANCE: 15

AMP ENVELOPE

• ATTACK: 70
• DECAY: 45
• SUSTAIN: 95
• RELEASE: 100

EFFECTS

• REVERB TIME: 70
• REVERB LEVEL: 32

FINE on Oscillator 2 at +9 cents is only a few cents sharp of Oscillator 1 — enough for a soft detune beat, not a wide unison. A dark FREQUENCY setting on the FILTER section does most of the mood-setting work here.

Arturia MiniFreak

Exact match: Dark, slow-attack pad

OSCILLATOR · Osc 1

• TYPE: BasicWaves
• WAVE (Morph): 50 (pure sawtooth)
• TIMBRE (Sym): 0
• SHAPE (Sub): 0
• VOLUME: 100

OSCILLATOR · Osc 2

• TYPE: BasicWaves
• WAVE (Morph): 50 (pure sawtooth)
• TIMBRE (Sym): 0
• SHAPE (Sub): 0
• TUNE/OCT: 0, fine-tuned a few cents sharp (click-hold)
• VOLUME: 80

ANALOG FILTER

• TYPE: Low Pass
• CUTOFF: 30
• RESONANCE: 15
• ENV/VELO: 0

ENVELOPE

• ATTACK: 55
• DECAY: 30
• SUSTAIN: 75
• RELEASE: 65

DIGITAL EFFECTS · FX1

• TYPE: Reverb
• TIME (Decay): 50
• INTENSITY (Damping): 30
• AMOUNT (Dry/Wet): 25

Osc 1 and Osc 2 are BasicWaves with Morph at 50 (pure sawtooth): the Morph knob runs from a square (0) through a sawtooth (50) to a double sawtooth an octave up (100), Sym only changes the pulse width below 50, and Sub adds a sine an octave down (0 here). MiniFreak's parameters are on a 0-100 scale, not 0-127. Values are on MiniFreak's native 0-100 scale.

Dreadbox Typhon

Exact match: Dark, slow-attack pad

FRONT PANEL

• WAVE: ~1-2 o'clock (VCO1 saw blended with VCO2 saw, close unison)
• TUNE 2: ~1 o'clock, just past center (a few cents sharp of VCO1)
• CUTOFF: ~9-10 o'clock (dark, mostly closed)
• RESON: ~8 o'clock (low)
• EG LEVEL: ~9 o'clock (low)
• AMP TIME: ~9 o'clock (slow, for the long attack)
• VOLUME: ~12 o'clock

AMP ADSR

• ATTACK: 75
• DECAY: 40
• SUSTAIN: 90
• RELEASE: 85

FX3

• TYPE: Soft Reverb
• PRE: 10
• SIZE: 50
• FEED: 40
• DAMP: 30
• MIX: 25

TUNE 2 is the real dedicated VCO2-against-VCO1 detune control. Front-panel knob values are clock positions, not percentages — Typhon's 8 direct knobs are physically unmarked. Soft Reverb on FX3 gives a modest amount of space without brightening the tone the way Ensemble or a wider reverb type would.

ASM Hydrasynth Desktop

Exact match: Dark, slow-attack pad

OSCILLATOR 1

• MODE: WaveScan
• WAVESCAN: 2.0
• SEMI: 0
• CENTS: 0
• KEYTRACK: 100%

OSCILLATOR 2

• MODE: WaveScan
• WAVESCAN: 2.0
• SEMI: 0
• CENTS: +8
• KEYTRACK: 100%

MIXER

• OSC 1 LEVEL: 100.0
• OSC 2 LEVEL: 80.0

FILTER 1

• TYPE: LP Ldr12
• CUTOFF: 48.0
• RESONANCE: 15.0
• ENV 1 AMOUNT: 0
• KEYTRACK: 0%

AMP

• AMP LEVEL: 100.0

ENVELOPE 2

• DELAY: 0 ms
• ATTACK: 600 ms
• DECAY: 500 ms
• SUSTAIN: 90.0
• RELEASE: 900 ms

REVERB

• TYPE: Hall
• TIME: 3.0 s
• DRY/WET: 30%

WaveScan (not a literal 'Wavetable' oscillator type — that name doesn't exist on Hydrasynth) held at a fixed low position on both oscillators keeps the tone plain and dark rather than sweeping through it. Osc 2's CENTS offset does the detuning against Osc 1.

Compared with other synths: ENVELOPE 2 (pre-wired to Amp) uses real ms/second values on this synth, unlike the raw scales used on most of the other synths in this library.

How the synths compare

This patch is deliberately similar to Warm String Pad and Trip-hop Melancholic Lead — the darker cutoff and slightly longer attack are what shift it toward 'melancholic' rather than simply 'warm'.

Patchpad is a free reference of drum patterns and synth patches written for real hardware: Digitakt II, Digitone II, Syntakt, Novation Summit, Arturia MiniFreak, Dreadbox Typhon and ASM Hydrasynth Desktop.