Close voicings (within one octave) are dense and mid-heavy; open voicings (spread across octaves) are spacious with a cleaner low end

A chord’s voicing — how its tones are spaced — changes its character. Close voicing places all tones within a single octave for a dense, mid-heavy sound, good for stabs that want rhythmic attack and presence. Open voicing spreads the tones across multiple octaves for spaciousness and a cleaner low end, good for pads that need to sit behind other elements. The source’s rule of thumb: ‘Pads usually want open voicings; stabs want tight close ones.’ This is a practical mix-aware production decision — open voicing leaves mid-range room for other elements and avoids stacking chord tones down in the low end where they muddy the bass.

Examples

Close Am7: A3-C4-E4-G4 (all within one octave). Open Am7: A2-E3-G3-C4 (spread across two octaves, root low, upper tones apart).

Assessment

You need a pad chord and a stab chord in the same loop. Which voicing type for each, and why? What mix problem does an open voicing help avoid?