Drones and Pads

Recently the topic of drones came up in another thread. Sam Hinton used both the blow G note and the draw G (blow 3 and draw 2) on a Richter diatonic, along with tongue blocking splits, to maintain a drone. Sam influenced George Winston, a piano player who also performed and recorded on harmonica. George also used drones in blow and draw, often on custom tuned harmonicas that he designed himself for that purpose. I saw Wailin Wood use a balloon to play a drone. He would often do this during a live show but it was usually received as a comedy bit even though the music was fine. In the Gospel Harmonica Facebook group, which some in our forum also belong to, there was some discussion of "pads", also known as ambient pads or worship pads. These are background sounds that come in keys and are designed to make a small group (or a harmonica player) have a fuller sound. Google those terms to learn more. As a guitar player, I tend to hear chord changes in my head and therefore don't use pads or drones, even though it is a perfectly legitimate way to get a fuller sound.