Serum Sound Design Masterclass

Serum has firmly established itself as one of the best soft synths on the market today, with powerful wavetable synthesis capabilities and a stylish and intuitive user interface. On this course from Senior Tutor Rob Jones, you’ll be guided through every area of the instrument and shown numerous examples of how to design a wide variety of different patches, from basses and leads to pads and FX.

Sample Module

Course Breakdown

Module 1 - Oscillators & Filters

An overview of the 4 sound generators (oscillators A and B/sub/noise sections) and filter section, walking through the main controls and features in each area.

• Lesson 1 - Oscillators - 7.20
• Lesson 2 - Sub - 2.49
• Lesson 3 - Noise - 4.17
• Lesson 4 - Filter Section - 6.34

Module 2 - Modulation & Mod Matrix

A guide to using the modulators on Serum, namely how to assign and edit envelopes and LFOs, both in main GUI and Matrix section.

• Lesson 1 - Envelope Parameters - 3.48
• Lesson 2 - Modulating with Envelopes - 6.08    
• Lesson 3 - LFO Modulation - 7.40
• Lesson 4 - Additional LFO Settings - 3.23
• Lesson 5 - Velocity Modulation - 8.45    
• Lesson 6 - Note Modulation - 2.00

Module 3 - FX

A walkthrough of how to apply effects to sounds in Serum, including a guide to individual effects and demonstration of the way in which they process a patch.

• Lesson 1 - Chorus - 3.21 
• Lesson 2 - Hyper/Dimension - 2.03 
• Lesson 3 - Delay - 2.23
• Lesson 4 - Flanger - 2.19
• Lesson 5 - Phaser - 1.48
• Lesson 6 - Reverb - 2.16
• Lesson 7 - Distortion - 3.01
• Lesson 8 - Filter - 0.28
• Lesson 9 - Compressor - 0.58  
• Lesson 10 - EQ - 1.13

Module 4 - Global Settings

A rundown of the different options in the Global area, including pitching controls, Chaos LFOs, additional Unison voicing settings and preferences.

• Lesson 1 - Oscillator and Chaos Controls - 3.57
• Lesson 2 - Unison Voice Settings and Global Preferences - 4.47

Module 5 - Wavetable Synthesis

A detailed guide to wavetable synthesis and the different ways it’s implemented in Serum, including a guide to wavetable envelope and LFO modulation, as well as how to create wavetables by drawing and importing samples.

• Lesson 1 - Wavetable Synthesis Intro - 8.13
• Lesson 2 - Adding an Extra Wavetable Layer with Osc B - 4.31
• Lesson 3 - Creating a Wavetable by Drawing - 3.10
• Lesson 4 - Creating a Wavetable by Sample Import - 4.40     

Module 6 - Patch Creation I - Acid Bass 

Rob creates a classic acid bass patch, utilising wavetable stacking, filtering, envelope modulation and effects processing techniques.

• Lesson 1 - Setting up Osc A and B - 6.29
• Lesson 2 - Adding Unison Voices and Filtering - 4.40
• Lesson 3 - FX Processing - 4.32

Module 7 - Patch Creation II - Sweeping Lead 

A lengthier lead patch, which gently sweeps through its wavetables is put together, complete with multiple rapid LFO mod assignments, unison interval spreading, an assortment of filtering and FX.

• Lesson 1 - Setting up Osc A and B - 8.47
• Lesson 2 - Filtering and EQ - 6.34
• Lesson 3 - Additional FX Processing - 7.30    

Module 8 - Patch Creation III - Reesey Pluck Lead 

A snappy lead patch is constructed using comb filtered, stacked wavetables, shaped with brief envelopes and expanded with various delays.

• Lesson 1 - Oscillator, Filter and Modulators Setup - 9.41
• Lesson 2 - Adding Effects - 5.02

Module 9 - Patch Creation IV - Evolving FM Pad 

Rob shows how to set up oscillators in FM mode, whilst creating a slower-paced, undulating pad, with numerous spacial effects and modulating dual-notch filtering.

• Lesson 1 - Setting up Osc A and B - 8.17
• Lesson 2 - Filtering and FX - 8.18
• Lesson 3 - Osc A Adjustments - 3.45  

Module 10 - Creating a Neuro Break 

A realtime sound design and arrangement session, using Serum to create all the sounds in a Neuro Break, including a Big Lead, Neuro Bass, FX Impact and Riser. All sounds are designed from scratch, then sequenced and automated across the intro, breakdown and drop sections.

• Lesson 1 - Big Lead Design - 8.30
• Lesson 2 - Sequencing the Intro - 9.46
• Lesson 3 - Neuro Bass Design - 6.45
• Lesson 4 - Sequencing the Bass - 9.09
• Lesson 5 - Bass Automation - 8.58
• Lesson 6 - Impact FX - 11.31
• Lesson 7 - Riser FX - 5.33
• Lesson 8 - Arrangement Tweaks - 5.05

Bonus Module - 6 Effective Sound Design Techniques

6 Bonus Sound Design Techniques, expanding on some areas learned earlier on the course and showing another example of patch design and sequencing in a groove. Techniques include sample importing, creating custom wavetables, wavetable morph, multimode filtering, multiband compression and assigning macros. (14.07)