Lots of us play in churches where we use ambient tones to fill in quiet times of prayer and reflection. Keyboard players have primarily have filled in these spaces with pads and other ambient synth sounds. Guitar players are now emerging in the ambient game making awesome tones filled with reverb, delay, modulation, and even using loops to create layers and fill the space. I’d like to introduce you to Motion Pads, the space were guitars blend with keys.
Abel Mendoza is a sound designer/audio engineer, who’s goal is to empower and inspire the new generation of worship musicians to take their worship sounds to the next level. Till recently he made a library for a popular keyboard platform called MainStage by Apple. Lots of churches and important worship teams have adopted his sounds taking the regular Apple library to new heights. Because not all of us play keyboard, Abel decided to release this audio library so that all of us had a fair chance. Here’s what he had to say about this inspiring library…
Motion Pads were created from layering 5 of my favorite pads from the different Synthsation libraries, the idea started when I got quite a few requests to make my pads available for people who don’t use Logic/MainStage or a computer at all, so with Motion Pads anyone can use the pads that I use when performing from any audio/MP3 device.
-Abel Mendoza
Upon purchasing from his webpage, you receive both .wav and .mp3 audio formats. The files all consist of drone pads that play in all the keys. So its simple, all you have to do is play the file that pertains to the key your song is in and your ready. It’s that simple. So simple that it can be done from any mp3 player, Ableton Live, or even if you have a looper pedal that can take mp3 files.
I myself was excited to try these out. So heres a small demo I played with my usual worship rig. I’ll be using a stereo setup with a Matchless Lightning and a Vintage Silvertone Twin Twelve. Each amp is mic’d with a Shure SM57 and a NOS Panther Ribbon mic. Here’s the list of pedals I’m using:
- EHX Soulfood w/JHS Meat and 3 Mod
- Walrus Audio Voyager
- Strymon Timeline on dBucket Delay
- Eventide Space on the Hall setting
Heres the Audio Clip…
To be honest I spent a good 30 minutes lost in the pads. You can play over them with any chord progression and they never clash or get in the way. I would classify them as inspiring. I can see myself using this in my guitar rig in the future even for touring. The pads are 12 minutes long and should work well for any song you are performing. They can also be used at any tempo. For the modest price of $14.99 it is a winner in my book. Thanks to Abel Mendoza Productions for making products that are great tools for all worships musicians.