Stop using pads (do THIS instead) | Sunday Keys App

[@joestover626]

So everyone elses pads suck, go buy yours?? Really??

[@SundaySounds]

As far as we're aware that's neither stated nor implied in this video🙃

[@MarcoMelendres]

I hope you're trolling. If you're not, HOW could you possibly interpret that?🤣

[@calebbrown918]

@@MarcoMelendresI mean that is kind of what he says

[@CappellaKeys]

Joe & caleb definitely pulling things out of the air

[@arguy2021]

@@calebbrown918 Give us a timestamp where you interpret this. I'd love to try to understand your logic here.

[@failingdisciple938]

I am 50 years old and I’m just learning keys. Been leading worship with Guitar for decades. Really dig your content! Thank you!

[@MemphisMike901]

Man takes me back to my days in early 90’s with my korg 01W/pro and the Midi Grand piano layered with strings. I still have that keyboad!

[@Ambientes]

😅😅😅🤣🤣🤣korg n5 lol

[@MemphisMike901]

@@AmbientesThats Old school!

[@ChurchWorshipandvideo]

On a Nord Stage 3 I added a noise generator to my pad and modulated it so it gives an ocean seashore vibe. I’ve found it thickens and add interest without feeling static like a 1 - 5 pad.

[@SundaySounds]

We like this technique, and have sounds that serve this same sort of purpose, to ebb and flow in and out. Nice!

[@GraphicJ]

Proud to know that I was one of the first using PADS way before it got mainstream. I didn't use APPS, I used a third keyboard. I just wish there were non-low sounding apps. You know in a higher pitch tone. It's great for that impactive sound.

[@MemphisMike901]

I remember back in early 90’s with my Korg 01W/Pro i was using pads always for worship music…fast forward to about 15 yrs ago i played for a moderate-large church for a bit. The Music director said…”that sounds so 80’s” LoL. Fast forward to now….PADS are EVERYWHERE in worship music! 😅

[@zzush]

This is pretty creative and closely related to ambience. Thanks for sharing 😊

[@SundaySounds]

Glad you enjoyed watching!

[@MarcoMelendres]

Great video and GREAT timing for me. I've JUST started to learn how to use MainStage and I've been thinking all day about how dated & overused pads are becoming. Gonna try a few different things in my mix. Thanks and God bless!

[@SundaySounds]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!

[@allendunning272]

I think the central concept is to to be aware of how the sound is being used musically. When you where talking about the attack, decay, sustain, and release and drawing the comparison to wind and string instruments and the organ, then you're hitting on one of the common uses of synthesizer sound in CCM, ie long sustained notes - commonly in CCM just root-fifth-root or fifth-root-fifth. When you're layering the synth sound to play the same notes that the piano is playing, which you typically do in your video demonstrations, then you're doubling or paralleling moving muscial lines - ie melody and harmony.(counter point). Your new sound/patch offerings appear to be adding the element of rhythm and dynamics, which as you know are offered in other synthesizer software - eg Omnisphere. Your new patches along with the recent upgrade to allow the use of other VST software will improve the utility for your users to incorporate more of the musical elements used to produce keyboard parts in CCM.

[@SundaySounds]

Thanks for watching, appreciate it!

[@christopheleray7913]

Where do you learn music to be a so good musician ? Really, it's so good !

[@SundaySounds]

My mom gave me piano lessons 😁 -David

[@brucelittle3958]

Love the new pads! Really, when the whole band kicks in, pads get lost in the mix in my experience. Sometimes I prefer the holes in the music rather than filling it up with sounds that often can't be differentiated.

[@SundaySounds]

So many factors to consider here- size of the band, quality and type of sound system, even just the particular setlist or how many bodies will be in the room- all change things!

[@wojciechwieja5134]

I found this kind of evolving sounds in free LABs and also Soundpaint

[@SundaySounds]

Lot of cool ambient stuff from Labs for sure!

[@SundaySounds]

Plus now you can host Labs inside the Sunday Keys App w/ Plugin Hosting

[@mikebarber3801]

I'm appreciative of your original video, and your overall product. Of course it was a means to promote the Sunday Keys App, but who cares? My church is just forming a contemporary band, and we are small and very budget limited! The Key's App was a God send. I was able to secure an 88 weighted Yamaha P70 keyboard for $250 via marketplace , while not a pro-level controller, connecting it to the key's App, I have a decent Key rig all (cables, interfaces etc) for under $500. For beginners, that's not bad, and best of all, it sounds awesome and we are just beginning! Keep producing great content and products! God bless!

[@Justin_collier]

I have always felt like the pass felt like it made the mix too muddy so when I’m on stages i keep the pads down on my board. They use multi tracks and i feel even in multi tracks the pads are over used and some pads sound too airy and old school

[@samcarrasquillo8976]

I don't know if my question pertains to this specific video, but how can we program a pad to continue playing in the background during a song in our setlist?

[@IamCarlFree]

On some songs I feel like the whole band is playing an ambient form of pad 😅😅😂😂 Lead Guitar - Time Line Acoustic Guitar - Big Sky Piano - Blue Sky Aux player- Sunday Keys Pads Bass- Reverb pedal Violinist - with no effects Drums- mic’d w reverb I said all of that to say. Bring strings back to music. I love the sounds you created.

[@gurumonkey]

Chord progression reminds me of Tiny Wings.

[@composercode]

That soundtrack is such a banger

[@geoelectro]

I love pads. I layer pads with my piano or E. Piano BUT have the pads under expression with a pedal. I can bring them in and out as needed. My pads are custom samples from Omnisphere mixed with pads from my keyboard. Kronos. The danger of overusing pads is it reduces musical contrast. It helps to have the expression control so you can have a more dynamic pad. I use drones as well which may be a root fifth or similar. I like the drone sound to evolve over time. Intro drones for example are timed so they stop or fade out when I want. Like when the verse starts. Again, I don’t want to overuse a drone or pad where it takes away from the dynamics of the music. However, they can add atmosphere to a song.

[@CappellaKeys]

I’d love this but only have the standard license which renews in April. 😢 Is there a way to upgrade to the better version without paying the full $200 right now?

[@SundaySounds]

Yes, you can! Head to the “My Purchases” page within your account on our website and select “Upgrade Options”. You’ll receive a discount equal to your unused time on standard, applied toward a new full year of Ultimate :)

[@curious011]

Many Charismatic churches teach their people that the atmosphere people hear with pad sounds and the emotional reaction to them is somehow the Holy Spirit. in fact, once you stop the pad sounds people start looking around and come up out of the emotions. It's not the Spirit that left, they just turned off the pad sound. As long as pads are not used to create some kind of anointing or Spirit, they are fine. once people say pads ARE the Spirit, and they DO sometimes, then we have an issue.

[@SundaySounds]

Could you share an example link to a livestream or anything where a church actively and overtly promotes that pads are actually “the spirit”? Get where you’re coming from in saying that some churches can lean heavily, (and depending on your theological perspective, too much) on ambience, I suppose, but if it’s not pads it’s stained glass, incense, or a full throated Gregorian chant. Point being, humans are emotional, by design. Art we use to participate in worship will naturally include emotional elements, how could they not?

[@curious011]

@@SundaySounds no. it's not literal. when you turn off the atmosphere---pad sounds- they all look around and immediately stop worshipping. turn it back on and give them a minute and there go the hands up in worship and here comes the messages in tongues. they are equating the worship atmosphere to the spirit or the lack thereof. sorry if you don't think that happens but it sure does. and local churches don't always have link to worship services to prove it. it's not the 3 main churches that write most of our worship music saying the spirit is a pad sound, but the little churches are copying those directly. I've been to many and led worship in many of them over the years. if you don't do exactly what they want musically they will say there is no anointing aka ---music style and atmosphere equals the Spirit.

[@barnabasocholla1488]

​@@curious011 It's funny but true😂

[@failingdisciple938]

@@curious011 I’ve had no experience with the church like that, reading your comment is very interesting

[@ejflorezr]

Hahahaha non charismatics brothers and sisters could be really funny sometimes 😅

[@drmatarkin2100]

Music is not manipulative. It’s meant to move the spirit. That’s how God designed it!

[@jim_tennant]

I’ve never understood the “music is manipulative” argument, and yes, some members of my church have made these comments. I think what it actually boils down to is “I don’t like it, so you shouldn’t do it” disguised behind thinly-veiled “righteousness”.

[@SundaySounds]

^no lies detected

[@Samuel-hj9ty]

What are the key degrees of the chord progression you play at 3:10?

[@SundaySounds]

One, minor six, flat six, flat seven.

[@piseth_jpeg]

How to split just pads on Sunday Key app?

[@SundaySounds]

You can adjust the layer range for any Sound in the App via the layer range editor button in the bottom right hand corner.

[@d4rrylexmachina]

i agree that pads are overused.. I love hearing a solo acoustic or rhodes sound. BTW, amazing hand span F# to B???? wow!

[@lorgerdat]

What Ive an issue with is some churches use pads throughout the entire sermon. Turn off the pads and the speaker can’t talk.

[@SundaySounds]

We'd tend to agree, it's good to let there be some dead air throughout the service.

[@failingdisciple938]

The whole sermon? Whoa!! lol!

[@zalez3945]

Please release this for android🙏 I would love to purchase but the app is not compatible with my devices. Probably speaking for alot of people too

[@Sooraj_JOSE]

what app is that

[@SundaySounds]

It's called Sunday Keys! Link in description to learn more about it.

[@michaelekwulugo8659]

Awesome string patches! 👏🏾🔥 I wish you also sold them as sound packs that could be used in DAWs like Logic etc. I think your string patches would become the next big thing in the Worship world. If it was available as a sound pack I would have bought it immediately!

[@BJamin4God]

He said you can use their Mainstage, which means you can open the patch in Logic and use it there too.

[@jakeperl5857]

I think a bit hotter topic (though related) would be the ubiquitous 1-5 pad that drones incessantly throughout the service. Definitely overused and not always musical IMO, but this topic would probably not have been as effective for advertising your new release 😁

[@SundaySounds]

definitely a related topic, we thought about going into that in this video as well but cut for time. Maybe we’ll need to do a follow up!

[@jonasaras]

It’s because the musical level is SO low that they don’t know what else to do. Most new songs don’t even have dominant 7th chords anymore 🤦‍♂️

[@jakeperl5857]

The harmony structures are indeed very simple compared to jazz or gospel (as is most pop music since the 60s) but a lot of skill is sill required to play them WELL. I don't really begrudge this because I can see the need for the simplicity in order to appeal to a mass audience, as well as to enable volunteer musicians, who have little time or desire to improve their skills, to able to handle it somewhat competently. Not mention sell lots of licensing 😁@@jonasaras

[@SimonFenner]

Interesting and informative video. I’ve always tried to use pads sparingly and changed my technique over the years. Even if you’re not an ultimate subscriber then the video should still challenge keys players to experiment more and not just rely on pre-canned patches - make it your own. Would also be good to have options on purchasing these without being an ultimate subscriber which I don’t need to be. Thanks again for the great work you’re doing.

[@SundaySounds]

Thanks for watching! We are going to keep these Ultimate Exclusive releases just that, "exclusive" but we hope that folks will find them compelling enough to consider the value and opt for the Ultimate License. If we were to ever sell them individually the price for four such libraries would be way higher than the $80 difference between Standard and Ultimate :)

[@rubenrosario4564]

si sunday key es muy bueno pero no puedo pagarlo al precio que esta disponible mi iglesia no me da un salario pero algún día lo podré comprar

[@tk.gaines]

I’ll step on that landline: emotion is created by God and is a good and essential part of Christian life and ministry, and yes, worship in the same way that intellect is. To subordinate one to the other-in either direction-is to fundamentally deprive Christian life, ministry, and worship of its wholeness. The lighting, music, and lyrics, the pastor’s tone of voice, and illustrations, the layout and design of the sanctuary all these things that stir the emotions are no different than the well reasoned argument or eloquent teaching that stirs the intellect.

[@curious011]

Do we really need cool lights and pads to manipulate people into worship? That is very new.

[@tk.gaines]

⁠​⁠​⁠No. But with respect, I don’t think it’s a matter of need. The Israelites didn’t need harps and incense, the early church didn’t need hymn singing, the medieval church didn’t need liturgy and so on throughout history right up to the organ and sunlight filtered through stained glass, and now dark rooms and soft pads. The form is different, but the purpose is the same, to direct our hearts and minds away from the mundane and towards God. If that’s manipulation then it’s always been manipulation in all its forms.

[@mchrisblake]

TK wasn't suggesting that. The Church has a well-established tradition of utilizing many forms of art to communicate the Truth of the Gospel in every way possible - think architecture, painting, stained glass, and yes- even the austerity of the Puritans or the LED walls of some contemporary evangelical Churches can serve the spread of the Gospel - what is effective in communicating to the congregation and community depends in part on the culture, and the community. As worship leaders I believe it's one of our responsibilities to be cognizant of the way that our culture communicates so that we can talk about God in a way that more people understand. God doesn't need any of it, but he does ask that we be creative in our worship.@@curious011

[@curious011]

@@tk.gaines theoretically I agree with you. The pastors I’ve served under want a pad or there can be no worship. Aka no spirit and no atmosphere. Can’t imagine how Paul had services without manipulative music to bring the spirit. It’s all a bunch of hype. People can’t separate atmosphere from the spirit. Ask any charismatic.

[@19DoubleG80]

​@Michael-le5ph I think it has its place as it can lend itself to creating an atmosphere - just like music itself can.

[@alfredchigozie3318]

What's the name of your software and can it work on Android tablets ??

[@michaelpuglisi5108]

Sunday keys. Not available on android. Runs well enough on a used iPad (I'd stay in the $150-$200 used range)

[@SundaySounds]

Like Michael said, it’s not available for Android but there are relatively affordable used iPad options out there that can run the Sunday Keys App well!

[@NateLG]

The argument that worship music is manipulative is idiotic. All music invokes an emotional response. Happy, sad, joyful, hyped, peaceful, whatever. That’s what music is. It connects to our soul. It’s the one thing in creation that touches every living person every single day. It’s all around us. Worship is taking that and giving it back to God, in recognition of His goodness. It’s SUPPOSED to invoke an emotional response. There’s nothing manipulative about it.

[@ElijahRock92]

If I may go on a quick soapbox here: Pads aren't the issue, it's the lack of sound designing. This isn't anything new, this has been an issue for decades. Most churches either A) don't have a keyboardist that can or is interested in designing sounds, B) don't allow keyboardist to design sounds, or C) don't have the money to get a keyboard or interface with sound design characteristics. As a result, most church keyboardist just take a piano sound and layer a random synth pad or strings and call it a day (or they just use prepackaged VSTs). Rarely do you find a keyboardist that will dive into the equipment and manipulate and tweak sounds to create something unique and special. My church has a MODX, and I've been given some freedom in experimenting with keyboard sounds. I've layered pianos with other non-piano sounds for unique attacks at certain velocities, I've morphed multiple pads to trigger and employ filters at certain velocities, I've even used the FM-X engine to create a unique pad to free up the polyphony on the waveform engine, and much more. This allows for unique expressive playing that creates a sound that is personal but also usable and palatable. Sure, it requires a level of maturity to play a sound that complex, but why not teach that to your keyboardists? I understand if you're a small church and all you can afford is a used Yamaha MM8, you gotta use what you have; I've been there for many years. But for the A and B churches I mentioned, take the risk. Try diving into the keyboard or DAW that you're using. Morph things. Layer things. Put velocity limits on things. Put filters on things. Set outside the prepackaged sounds and make something. There's crazy possibilities with pads alone when you experiment like filters opening at certain velocities or blending a warm pad and airy pad to create this amazing scooped sound. You'll never know what you'll make until you try. Ok, I'm done with my soapbox.

[@allendunning272]

Excellent points, including the difficulty of incorporating sound design by the typical church keyboardist, myself included. I often think of this when people post the typical bromide that CCM all sounds the same, is musically boring, etc.. I think it is our typical "cover" of CCM that can be uniform, simplistic, and/or too conforming to a "typical sound". I just listened to a new Christmas song offering from Elevation Worship - "Welcome To Our World", which I would argue uses creative sound design quite differently from their other productions. If synthesizers play a dominant role in "EDM", the I'm tempted to think of this as "ECM" - Electronic Christian Music. I was doing a thought experiment wondering how David would try to identify and incorporate the sonic choices in the Sunday Keys App for this song, based on how he dissected Phil Wickham's "Manger Throne".

[@DavidX.]

I agree!

[@curious011]

I also love pads and I dont use them to manipulate but are they overused? oh yes. every song almost sounds the same. you can be playing one song without vocals and it sounds like most other worship songs without vocals. I think we need to shift to something new. I think we've worn pads out.

[@RancidMummy]

Great video as always David! I have been using the pad feature in the Sunday keys app for a while now and have had a question come up a few times. Do you believe it will ever be possible to inject our own WAV files to be used with the pad player?

[@SundaySounds]

Thanks for watching and using the Sunday Keys App! We may bring some new functionality to the Tonic Pad at some point :)

[@4riverschurch]

I definitely agree that synthesized music is basically doing the job of other types of instruments in a different sometimes more interesting way. I will never forget the impact of hearing worship songs being played with full orchestras on Hosanna Integrity albums going all the way back in the 80’s. Every song is its own story, with or without words. Songs should be chosen to serve the congregation, but I think the best style decisions are made to help serve the song.

[@SundaySounds]

Agreed, whatever we do it should serve the song, so the song can encourage our congregations. So do you think pads are overused?

[@4riverschurch]

They definitely can be overused but not necessarily. A lot of songs intro with a pad, but should every song intro with a pad? Again I think you have to pay attention to songs narrative and context.

[@4riverschurch]

I think this video does a great job making a very valuable point! I get a lot of enjoyment thinking of pads in terms of their instrument counterparts… strings, woods, brass and sometimes percussion. When and how do they come in? When and how do they build? Where do they take the song? Does it support and complement the style and the arrangement?

[@b_d_vn9651]

​@@SundaySoundsAs of now, it is okay, it is not overused, especially with the new fresh and interesting textures. But I think popular worship music will become less atmospheric with time.

[@TimMoney]

Distracted by the Bro Hawk

[@SundaySounds]

We should have titled the video "Stop having undercuts"

[@dwsel]

Trendsetters 🤔 I like it 😁👍

[@24x7Sri]

We waitning for Indian tone on Sunday Keys ...

[@TyMayberryWhitelion112]

Add panning pads in there and you'll be golden lol

[@charlescarmichael1124]

ALL sounds are made. Generated. Synthesized. Some are made with physical strings. Some with wood and synthetic plastic stretched over it. (Drums). Most of the time they are synthetically amplified through digital consoles powered by "fossil fuels". Fake guitars (not acoustic) with the occasional brass plate being crashed by a big stick. To say a pad is manipulative is as silly as a candle being manipulative in a romantic situation. It is all produced by PEOPLE and the only thing that makes it good or bad is the heart of the person making it.

[@denniekorpi5264]

Pads are not more or less important than any other instrumentation as long as it fits sonically and practically

[@SundaySounds]

Totally depends on the context, fully agree with you. Do you use pads most of the time?

[@BJamin4God]

I appreciate your comments on “manipulation” and music. Music was created to be emotional, look at David using it to soothe Saul. Not being allowed to be emotional in music because it “manipulates” prevents the musicians from bringing their best to God and doing what music is designed to do. If you think the Holy Spirit can be manipulated by what sounds you use or chords/notes you play you have too low a view of the Holy Spirit.

[@SundaySounds]

I think the argument is commonly that the people in the congregation can be manipulated, not the Holy Spirit. Totally agree that if music *isn't* emotional, there's something lost.

[@Ambientes]

Even Mexican accordion music uses pads now

[@19DoubleG80]

I reckon pads would have originally kicked off in the 80s or late 70s with the rise of synths - so many examples out there. Personally I dont think pads are overused, its a super effective instrument in itself. If you spun that argument around, the same could be said about piano or acoustic guitar? The same could def be said about telecasters+checked shirt+black jeggings 😄

[@SundaySounds]

We can absolutely trace the rise of pads back to the overall revolution that synthesizers were in those early days. And 100% agree, they are effective tools when used skillfully and intentionally.

[@calebbrown918]

Why is this guy talking in circles and calling his own questions bad questions. If you don’t like the question if pads are manipulative then why ask the question and talk about it for half your video?

[@davidslee101]

Pads are getting old. It would be kind of cool to see what bagpipe worship would sound like… with real bagpipes… and possibly a kilt

[@SundaySounds]

Time for us to launch our clothing imprint: Sunday Kilts

[@ameliaharthan1967]

It would be like bleeding ears. Bagpipes inside are overwhelming lol

[@dannysmash275]

Bagpipes also can only play in 1 maybe 2 keys. So no key changes!!

[@joashsantiago6921]

I think all instruments become manipulative if the player isn’t worshiping. The music should first be an expression borne out of heartful worship, then a tool to help us elevate the experience

[@SundaySounds]

This is an interesting piece of the puzzle- the intent, attitude, or posture of the folks presenting/creating the art definitely comes through, and it's important to consider.

[@hacerclic1020]

Clickbait title for 15-minute infomercial. I want my 15 minutes back.

[@trevorsharpham2112]

All music is manipulative - composers (of all genres) are trying to create an emotion out of the listener.

[@hfaux]

STOP USING PADS. PADS BAD. BUY OUR PADS.

[@armucoartworks1732]

Pads where made to replace expensive professional musician with a very cheap technology. Layering piano and strings is oldest technique to glue boring piano parts. Its like using ketshup on every meal. Your demonstration is nothing as having good playing skills against orther who have no skills. But it si still 50 year old piano string mainstream.