Official Serum thread!

[Sampleconstruct]

Great demo Simon... nice way to end my day, thanks. Nice and chilled now

I'm finding it harder and harder to resist buying this synth. Intrigued!

Cheers, try that together with some ice tea! And don't resist it, it's good...

[Satch1]

Great demo Simon... nice way to end my day, thanks. Nice and chilled now

I'm finding it harder and harder to resist buying this synth. Intrigued!

Cheers, try that together with some ice tea! And don't resist it, it's good...

I may just do that... sounds like a winning combo!

I've already got quite a few synths which I've not explored enough yet, but nothing quite like Serum

[martingifford]

I like the interface and simplicity, but I'm finding the sounds a bit too harsh, thin, and digital at this point. Is there a quick and easy way to make it sweeter/warmer/juicier? Maybe some effects like Sausage Fattener, or a good distortion effect, or reverb, or something.

Woops, just went back and read a few pages. I'm not the only one it seems. I suppose I could see it as a unique timbre, but then it would only be useful for a couple of tunes. Also, after listening to Serum, I went back to Sylenth, and suddenly I noticed Sylenths digitality. Serum tuned me ear to notice it. Serum spoilt Sylenth!

Don't get me wrong. I want to love Serum because of the interface, modernness, and simplicity. But the first sound I created seemed good, then when I put it in a tune, I instantly heard an underlying digital grind. I tried EQ and everything, but couldn't get it out.

Seems it might be good only for staccato sounds and bell-like sounds. Longer tones really sound harsh. But knowing it's limitations and working within those limitations might be good enough.

[AmyTree]

A lot of the sound will come with your waveshape, so if you have a harsh wave you will get a harsh sound. I really doubt that EQ'ing is the answer. The build in fx should help you with getting the right sound for the mix, but may take some time to master. If you want a quick fix, I recommend getting a demo of Valhalla Ubermod, and trying one of the chorus presets. It does a great job of making everything warm and great sounding. Play around and see if it gives you the fuzzies

[PatchAdamz]

A lot of the sound will come with your waveshape, so if you have a harsh wave you will get a harsh sound. I really doubt that EQ'ing is the answer. The build in fx should help you with getting the right sound for the mix, but may take some time to master. If you want a quick fix, I recommend getting a demo of Valhalla Ubermod, and trying one of the chorus presets. It does a great job of making everything warm and great sounding. Play around and see if it gives you the fuzzies

The built in filters are a good way to warm up a preset.
I like to go with the , "less is best" philosophy.
As you mentioned, a good external reverb can bring some nice space to a sound.
With the quality already so good in Serum, a couple, few tweaks is all that is generally necessary.

[AmyTree]

The built in filters are a good way to warm up a preset.
I like to go with the , "less is best" philosophy.
As you mentioned, a good external reverb can bring some nice space to a sound.
With the quality already so good in Serum, a couple, few tweaks is all that is generally necessary.

I'm of the opinion when people say that Serum sounds thin, they are experiencing a similar problem you get when you mix on poor monitors or headphones and it sounds really good. Then when you listen on decent monitors, your mix sounds like garbage. I think peoples ears have become so used to listening to coloured sound, its difficult at first to adjust to what Serum is really doing.

You and Mr Sampleconstruct are certainly demonstrating what Serum can do with nothing more than a little know how.

[Sampleconstruct]

Here is some lazy minimal afternoon Serum music, made with two fresh patches, the bell sound using 2 wavetabled singing bowls in the 2 oscs, the pad using a wavetabled Duduk sound, the overtone melodies in the bell patch are created via velocity->dual filter cutoff. The filters are really really good in this thing!

100% Serum:
http://soundcloud.com/sampleconstruct/m ... demo-sonic

[PatchAdamz]

The built in filters are a good way to warm up a preset.
I like to go with the , "less is best" philosophy.
As you mentioned, a good external reverb can bring some nice space to a sound.
With the quality already so good in Serum, a couple, few tweaks is all that is generally necessary.

I'm of the opinion when people say that Serum sounds thin, they are experiencing a similar problem you get when you mix on poor monitors or headphones and it sounds really good. Then when you listen on decent monitors, your mix sounds like garbage. I think peoples ears have become so used to listening to coloured sound, its difficult at first to adjust to what Serum is really doing.

You and Mr Sampleconstruct are certainly demonstrating what Serum can do with nothing more than a little know how.

I think you make a good point.
Having spent considerable time working with Serum, I would say it is capable of a broad range of sounds.
Serum has a wide sonic range so I think what some may hear as thin, is actually an extended frequency range.

Of course it is not necessary to use the complete range all the time on every patch.
The broad frequency range does allows for more tonal variety and therefore more sonic options for preset styles.

I think both Simon and myself have been really enjoying the potential for all kinds of sounds.
Not all synths have so many options.

[Sampleconstruct]

I think both Simon and myself have been really enjoying the potential for all kinds of sounds.

Absolutely!

Something darker:

[serhiy06]

Hey guys, what about LFO phase offset for EACH unison voice?
Wrap & wt pos is good things, but LFO phase offset would be awesome.

PS or add a modulator source i.e. Unison Voice # --> ... like Diva or Dune has.

[aMUSEd]

I think both Simon and myself have been really enjoying the potential for all kinds of sounds.

Absolutely!

Something darker:

When are these out Simon? I don't want to miss the pre order.

[zerocrossing]

I like the interface and simplicity, but I'm finding the sounds a bit too harsh, thin, and digital at this point. Is there a quick and easy way to make it sweeter/warmer/juicier? Maybe some effects like Sausage Fattener, or a good distortion effect, or reverb, or something.

Woops, just went back and read a few pages. I'm not the only one it seems. I suppose I could see it as a unique timbre, but then it would only be useful for a couple of tunes. Also, after listening to Serum, I went back to Sylenth, and suddenly I noticed Sylenths digitality. Serum tuned me ear to notice it. Serum spoilt Sylenth!

Don't get me wrong. I want to love Serum because of the interface, modernness, and simplicity. But the first sound I created seemed good, then when I put it in a tune, I instantly heard an underlying digital grind. I tried EQ and everything, but couldn't get it out.

Seems it might be good only for staccato sounds and bell-like sounds. Longer tones really sound harsh. But knowing it's limitations and working within those limitations might be good enough.

Perhaps Codex is the synth for you. I instantly liked it. To me, it sounded like someone took the oscs out of an old vintage synth like a CS-80 and replaced them with wavetable oscs. For me it's a more instantly likeable kind of sound.

But I like Serum too, but it's a very different sound. The more I dig into it the more I'm finding little tricks that help beef it up and the added flexibility compared to Codex is awesome. Try using a filter as an effect even if you're using one of the main filters. I just did a patch this morning using the French LP on a high cutoff setting and the results were quite nice.

[Sampleconstruct]

I think both Simon and myself have been really enjoying the potential for all kinds of sounds.

Absolutely!

Something darker:

When are these out Simon? I don't want to miss the pre order.

If the flow stays as it is, 2 weeks I'd say.

[fceramic]

There's quite a few people who don't like the sound which is peculiar for such a flexible fully-featured synth. For all I know it might just be that it's too hi-fi for a lot of people including me, and could use some analog driven filters to add warmth and weight to the sound. Serum does not sound good when it's really loud, even the demos from the professional sound designers sound harsh and are fatiguing to listen too. It's hard to describe, but it sounds like it's in a glass box or something, it's not present and alive. As an owner of Serum who love the features and interface, I will the say it's 90% there and will hope for better stability and a way to sweeten the sound pre-filter. I'm not giving up on this!

[jdnz]

I like the interface and simplicity, but I'm finding the sounds a bit too harsh, thin, and digital at this point. Is there a quick and easy way to make it sweeter/warmer/juicier? Maybe some effects like Sausage Fattener, or a good distortion effect, or reverb, or something.

I've been using IK's 73 eq (use the drive as well as actual eq), Klanghelm's SDRR, and definitely try an external reverb (think Steve said the internal is a plate emu - which is a good all-around, but try a decent external room or hall and serum really comes alive - tend to favour valhalla vintage myself)

trouble is you can go too far and end up with it sounding like bad 80s italo disco

https://soundcloud.com/johndavis-10/ser ... italodisco