So I'm new to these kinds of music programs (but not new to composing) and have been making small little compositions here and there and making new sounds to use on future songs. However, I'm having trouble creating sounds that would go well as accompaniments (like warm pads or something.) Any advice on how to get started?

To make a pad you should (as a general rule) have reasonably long attack and release, with a slow LFO or 2 changing the sound (in any way, just so that it isn't constant.) As to the actual sound, I find it is often helpful to have pads stretch a couple of octaves.. That's just me though. Really all you can do is open up synths and tweak knobs until you get something you like.

Another note, the phantom synth included with psycle is good for pads. The FM ones should be too, but they are FM synths (and not easy to learn)

~ShadowBane

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the shadow runs form the light, but can never be fully driven back.

watermint: The advantage of Psycle (and related music software) is that you can modify with effects the sound generated by.... wave generators. You can start with a simple chord from a generator machine and add some effects plugins as filters, reverbs, distortion, and so on, to modify the starting sound.

In the following example I'd done some time ago, you can listen how I'd started with a simple chord from Phantom machine and how it is modified with tweaks along the tune up to be a pad sound. I'd started modifying the Phantom amplitude attack, following variations on Arguru Reverb and filter plugin with resonance/Q.

LINK: Pad Test

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Yeah, the interface of psycle makes it work pretty well for modular synth type setups. Not quite as much control as real modular synths, but those get really confusing really quickly anyway.

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the shadow runs form the light, but can never be fully driven back.

I've uploaded a small tutorial about how creating pads based in the pad used in the tune I've posted in my previous reply in this thread. Please follow this link and download the zipped file. There's a txt file where I explain the steps for pad creation.

I hope you will find it useful.

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watermint: The advantage of Psycle (and related music software) is that you can modify with effects the sound generated by.... wave generators. You can start with a simple chord from a generator machine and add some effects plugins as filters, reverbs, distortion, and so on, to modify the starting sound.

To make a pad you should have reasonably long attack and release, with a slow LFO or 2 changing the sound (in any way, just so that it isn't constant.) As to the actual sound, I find it is often helpful to have pads stretch a couple of octaves.. That's just me though. Really all you can do is open up synths and tweak knobs until you get something you like.
Another note, the phantom synth included with psycle is good for pads. The FM ones should be too, but they are FM synths

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Davids