I think of a lush pad as a held chord with some modulation or movement.
I feel like this a classic example, and it is probably just a Juno with its built in chorus.
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I was definitely curious at why people describe the A4/AK pads the way they do.
It’s making more sense now for sure.
The A4/AK has such a unique character, kind of smokey
Nice example.
If this was my own music I would think the “pad” is getting in the way or would feel like I was just trying to make it more interesting and it wasn’t working out.
Lush to me is just a synonym of ‘very good’ or ‘luxury’, at least colloquially that’s what it means in England. I suspect traditionally when applied to music it’s more the dictionary definition, but that’s not all that far removed. I think some folks over analyse (or more specifically criticise) adjectives in general - they won’t be satisfied until we stop describing things entirely.
In terms what’s a pad - they tend to be longer, drawn out chords with slow release and lots of movement, less stabby and direct than a lead, something to sit in the background and fill some space and create atmosphere in a track - can be a bit like a drone except often organised into a chord progression.
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A much better use of the word
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Very Good is so subjective. That would make it even harder to understand.
Luxury almost makes more sense.
I guess one could say the original Roland Jupiter or a CS80 makes luxurious pads.
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I think it is subjective though tbh - at least to some extent, one might find qualities of a pad particularly pleasing and luscious, others might hate it, and those people are unlikely to describe it that way.
At least that’s my take.
Luxury is probably the better synonym though I agree. But in my parts you could just as frequently hear a kebab described as lush and the primary influence may be how many beers you’ve had.
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That makes very good sense
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That makes lush sense. FTFY
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I suppose I usually settle for cromulent pads.
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And Welsh! Maybe not used with gert as often as in Bristol, but “lush” is widely used in South Wales
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10 points for a much more interesting adjective for timbre than “lush” and “warm”
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Brb going to craft me a ripe pad
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I work in advertising. I think elevated is the term du jour atm 
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Perhaps establishing it’s antonym would aid our understanding.
I will suggest ‘foul’.
A foul stab feels like the opposite of a lush pad.
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Great album name, “Foul Stabs & Lush Pads”
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a condo I cannot afford
“Pads” in general fill space, so they can help with the track flow and dynamics, I see it this way-
- If you’re looking to have something going on with lower excitement (melodic fluff to plink along but clear out during times of greater excitement)
or
- You can increase excitement by using pads to arrange a “wall” of sound when added alongside the other instrumentation
It’s not a binary thing, but those are two uses I might have for a pad offhand beyond just genre tropery (looking at you, Trance.)
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And yet foul mudammas can be, dare I say it, lush?
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A pad is a sound which lays a gluey carpet onto a track, in particular in the low to mid range. AFAIU a lush pad is a “warm pad with grass on top”:
- rich timbre/harmonics: e.g detuned sawtooths or otherwise thickened oscillators with grass potential;
- brittle, crispy or bright low pass filter settings with some bass presence (not too much resonance), i.e. not so closed that it would already sound dark or mellow, there should still be some sizzle (the “grass”);
- slow to smeared envelope response: attack not too fast, release not too short;
- chorus, reverb or delay can further thicken, warm up or slow down such a sound.
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