This Simple Trick Makes Chords Sound Massive!

Want to know the secret to making your pad sound huge and wide? It all comes down to the "mono stack method."  In this video, we dive deep into a simple yet powerful sound design technique that uses a mono synth to create incredible stereo width, turning small sounds into massive, space-filling pads.12

What You'll Learn in This Tutorial:

- Setting up the Mono Stack in Ableton Live: Learn how to duplicate your track by the number of notes in your chord (the speaker uses three notes, so they duplicate the track two more times) and isolate a single note on each track (e.g., taking away the top two notes on the first track, the bass and the top on the second, and the bottom two notes on the third).

- Adding Width with Panning: Discover how simply panning these individual voices, e.g., panning one slightly to the left, another to the right, and a third a bit more to the left, and a fourth a bit more to the right, instantly creates a wide, rich stereo sound. The speaker also adds an extra voice by duplicating the last note and moving it up an octave.

- Introducing Subtle Variations: Learn to make subtle adjustments, like tweaking the DCO modulation on each synthesiser voice, to achieve an organic, "vocal stack" feel.

- Easy Multi-Clip Editing: We'll show you a game-changing trick in Ableton Live for editing all your stacked notes simultaneously using multi-clip editing (after grouping the tracks with Command G or Control G on Windows).

- Mastering Macro Control: See how to use the Max for Live device "Map 8" (part of the essentials pack) to map multiple synthesiser parameters (like five different filter dials) to a single macro dial for easy automation.

This technique is essential for electronic music producers looking to add stereo width and organic movement to their tracks.11

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???? Who Am I?
I’m Craig, a musician, Ableton specialist, and music tech lecturer with over 10 years of teaching experience at top universities like ACM, BIMM, ICMP, and WaterBear. I’ve taught thousands of producers how to master Ableton Live and Push 3, helping them go from feeling overwhelmed to actually finishing tracks.

Beyond teaching, I’ve worked as an Ableton playback tech on primetime FOX TV shows like Name That Tune and Don’t Forget the Lyrics and as an Ableton tech for artists like Years & Years, Melanie C (Spice Girls), and Sam Fender. I’ve also played at legendary venues like Brixton Academy and Madison Square Garden.

I created Push Patterns to offer structured, no-nonsense courses for producers who want to stop guessing and start making music.

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Got a question? Drop a comment on this video, and I’ll reply!

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