I found an instrument called SERENITY by Quiet Music that layers beautiful pad sounds with field-recorded ambience.
At the time this article was written, it was free and available in VST and AU formats for both Windows and Mac, making it compatible with most setups.
Quiet Music SERENITY
The easiest way to understand this instrument is to hear it, so here is the video first.
Even casual playing produces an evocative result. The sound would work well under footage of beautiful scenery, as background music for working, or in a film score.
The following sections explain each parameter with screenshots.
SERENITY Parameters
This is the SERENITY interface.
Pad Sound Section
The four controls at the top are oscillators. Adjust their levels to shape the pad. To my ears, the far-left and far-right controls add width, the second from the left adds body, and the second from the right adds brightness.
The pad on the far right has a choir-like quality that becomes especially effective at higher pitches.
According to the developer, these pad sounds were created with a DeepMind analog synthesizer.
LFO Section
The center section contains the LFO parameters. Its central control lets you choose an LFO waveform and assign the LFO to pitch, volume, or pan.
You can see and hear the sound change as you experiment, so no specialized knowledge is required.
Ambient Sound Section
The final section controls the ambient recordings.
Each sound can be turned on or off by clicking its icon, with simple volume and pan controls.
From left to right, the sounds are insects, birds, light rain, heavy rain, ocean waves, and a flowing river.
The included sounds were field-recorded at 24-bit/96 kHz and are impressively clear.
How to Get SERENITY
SERENITY is available from the Quiet Music website.
It was free at the time this article was written, so feel free to try it.
