How do you make a song with say a chord that "drones" throughout the song without it

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How do you make a song with say a chord that "drones" throughout the song without it

Getting annoying?

I believe the proper term for the musical application would be called a "pedal point".

It seems like when I do it that it just gets annoying and kind of harsh on the ear.

ls there a secret to mixing that, like maybe it's actually just a subtle delay or something?

When I try to achieve this effect it ends up sounding nothing like a proper song.
 
First is getting the right pitch. From a music theory perspective. There's no right or wrong answer but you have to be aware of what type of sound you want. For example if the track is in C minor and the chords are C, Eb, G... then a pedal at G will sound consonant throughout. A pedal at F won't. Times when it sounds dissonant might be acceptable or not. Up to you.

Second is riding it's gain. It doesn't have to be static. In fact if you listen to pedal drones in a well mixed track it probably isn't uniform. Also if the pedal sounds too dissonant at times you can back it off. You can gradually rise it to form tension (which is the general effect of pedal notes).

Also, relating to consonance/dissonance, in the above example a pedal of G would obviously form a perfect unison with the chords when you're at the G minor chord, so at that time the pedal will disappear into the track and the track will sound kind of hollower. Whereas when the chord is Eb your pedal is at major third above Eb (G) so it'll make the track sound fuller, the pedal is adding the character of the chord.

So you have to be aware of the fact that thought the pedal is fixed it's relationship with everything else isn't. Music theory still applies.
 
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