Official Serum thread!

[Teksonik]

Serum can make wavetables from text. Type "hey serum" inside the "formula" input and you'll be set. I'm surprised that people doesn't know about this feature. Serum have a lot of "hidden" sound design features.

Ok thanks I see that works to make a WT but what is needed to scan the table to make it "speak" the text? All I can get is a jumbled noise as the WT Position is moved. There must be some other modulation that needs to be applied.

With Vital it uses an online service to create Text to Wavetable with languages from Arabic to Vietnamese:

Vital 111621-1.png

Then by scanning the WT you can get Vital to speak the words and using the Vocode function adds to the effect. You can even get some pseudo singing by modulating the Osc's pitch and using Transpose Snap.

I like adding vocal stings to my music so I find the TTWT function very useful.

[vertibration]

In terms of showcasing , Serum's presets are hands down miles ahead of Vital (Pro version)'s

I was really disappointed with the selection in the Vital Pro version.

Serums , on the other hand, are first class.

Really, I find Serum's presets to be unusable. They are so thin and weak sounding that I almost can't stand to listen to them. Lot's of people rave about Serum and I cannot for the life of me understand why. If I could get my money back on my Serum purchase, I would in a heartbeat.

u-he's Hive just crushes Serum.

You should learn to make your own presets.

[kobal]

Serums Wavetable editor is also amazing. How's the one in Vital?

Not as good. As a matter of fact, there isn't any wavetable editor that can compare with Serum in intuitiveness and power features, IMO. I use Serum as much as a wavetable editor as I use it as a synth. Vital can't compare in that chapter.

Forgetting the wavetable editor, where, in your opinion, does Vital fall short of serum as a Synth?

it s a lot inspired from serum, feel almost like a copy , some stuff are not as good , some stuff are better, it s great cause overall these lead to different sounds and have different caractere , serum tend to be more cuting in the mix and agressive maybe while vital "softer " , hard to tell with words.. but one dosen t replace the other in term of overall timbre both great.. serum cractere might be more prononced and vital more bread and better / versatile maybe.. not sure but it s how i feel .

i m a lot more used to serum and what i like is that it s very precise when programing it.. everyhting feel tight and precise, when adjusting a knob the result feel tight and precise like sweet spot are easy to find, vital is less precise for me, i turn more the knobs to see if i can get better sound like when tweaking envelop and a bit everyhting.. maybe it s cause i m more used to serum but not sure cause serum is one of the best synth i know for this.. i mean it s quick to edit and get the result after, it feel like knobs mouvement and sound expected by it behave in the right way for me

do you know rapid and Msoundfactory these are also really good wavetable synths

[Gadget Fiend]

Really, I find Serum's presets to be unusable. They are so thin and weak sounding that I almost can't stand to listen to them. Lot's of people rave about Serum and I cannot for the life of me understand why. If I could get my money back on my Serum purchase, I would in a heartbeat.

u-he's Hive just crushes Serum.

You should learn to make your own presets.

I finally found a set of patches for Serum that don't totally suck!

https://swanaudio.co.uk/vintage-waves/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrvUdKXZjzE&t=1s

[Biome_Digital]

Really, I find Serum's presets to be unusable. They are so thin and weak sounding that I almost can't stand to listen to them. Lot's of people rave about Serum and I cannot for the life of me understand why. If I could get my money back on my Serum purchase, I would in a heartbeat.

u-he's Hive just crushes Serum.

You should learn to make your own presets.

I finally found a set of patches for Serum that don't totally suck!

https://swanaudio.co.uk/vintage-waves/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrvUdKXZjzE&t=1s

Well, I'd like to think my presets don't suck.

[kobal]

Really, I find Serum's presets to be unusable. They are so thin and weak sounding that I almost can't stand to listen to them. Lot's of people rave about Serum and I cannot for the life of me understand why. If I could get my money back on my Serum purchase, I would in a heartbeat.

u-he's Hive just crushes Serum.

You should learn to make your own presets.

I finally found a set of patches for Serum that don't totally suck!

https://swanaudio.co.uk/vintage-waves/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrvUdKXZjzE&t=1s

for me some of these patchs beg for digital artifacts pre filter ! would add a less vanilla sound and more oldschool digital caractere, i could see some of the patchs sounding really good with more a gritty caractre that would be easy to add

[MegaPixel]

A utility for all you Serum users out there...
Serum Shait Preset Remover

As you know, Serum's preset manager, while being one of the best of many VSTs out there, it's still lacking in basic features such as delete. Save on spot without full database re-scan and etc etc.

However over time I've been given so many presets for serum via signups to newsletters or those that come with sample packs etc that I've got more SHAIT presets than good ones, not to mention those annoying duplicates with just different names. So I wrote a little tool to get rid of all the shit.

https://github.com/DarceyLloyd/serum-preset-collector

The instructions are on the page on how to use it, just make backups before you start making all your changes of noises, wavetables, presets and the serumdatabase.dat file (sqlite database file).

I would have wrote something to organise the noise and wavetable folders also but I can't be arsed to decode the fxp file format that serum uses to do that... Maybe in the future... Real shame Serum can't scan the noise and wavetable folders for each preset with missing noise & wavetable files and allow a bulk re-save on this.


PS. If you want to do a preset duplication scan and removal, there is a free tool out there called "dupeGuru", set it to scan type "contents", click on more options and untick ignore files under 10kb. Then do a scan. This is a CRC scan, so it can be 99% trusted to pickup a duplicate. But again, always make a backup before you do a deletion just encase. AND ONLY run it on the presets folder not the noises or wavetables folders or your going to have presets crying for their missing files... More info on this on github... Possible future tool coming for this also...

[kobal]

serum is a bit like a blank canva i will give some idea for a warmer sound :
in global menu :
choosing the right unisson mode for the patch, some are more in front and harsh , random can be more analog sounding with the way the voices interacts toghther.

reducing the width parameter and get back more stereo information in traditional way by creating difference between the 2 channels using the warp and wt postion unisson features for example , panning the oscs, boosting side ect..all this beeing carefull to not introduce harshness.

smoothing spikey wavetables with the editor options , for example some analog saw wave are half rounded saw and other half almost a sine, by using spikey wavetable you have more chance the sound to be balanced too much in the medium highs and give a sort of glassy sound or overly bright , if it s the case rounding the edge / peaks of the table to balance the harmonics to taste and it s prior any processing like fm syncro making them softer if needed

using the right filters , the multi can give a lot more control on the harmonics balance comapred to the usual lp hp bp.

reducing the level in the filter section (with the mix/ level toggle) and getting it back with the drive can also help sometimes

[Luftrum]

With the OP's permission, I will shamelessly promote this new Serum soundset collab between 14 established sound designers, just to demonstrate a variety of the tasty pads we created for Serum.

It comes with 240 Serum presets, 150 wavetables + new dark Serum skin.

https://www.luftrum.com/heypads/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EawLuhqkFcE

Brand new 100% free skin too, in dark grey colors and with black keys



And 150 new wavetables, based on pads.

https://youtu.be/hd6jPliaGuM

[billcarroll]

With the OP's permission, I will shamelessly promote this new Serum soundset collab between 14 established sound designers, just to demonstrate a variety of the tasty pads we created for Serum.

It comes with 240 Serum presets, 150 wavetables + new dark Serum skin.

...

These pads are stunning. Beautiful work.

[expermental]

Very usable pads, awesome work. Hope that v2 is coming this year.

[kobal]

many thanks for the free skin

[seismicfm]

Those are some fantastic pads. But it's a bit pricey for presets. I wish there was an intro price.

[aMUSEd]

Those are some fantastic pads. But it's a bit pricey for presets. I wish there was an intro price.

There is for newsletter subscribers

[billcarroll]

Those are some fantastic pads. But it's a bit pricey for presets. I wish there was an intro price.

you get 20% off if you sign up for their newsletter