![]() ![]() Next, you might expect the "noise" generator to be stuck with white, pink or blue noise, but there are around 100+ 'noises' that you can use for attacks, effects etc. The end result is something that sounds great and is usable immediately. The sub oscillator has a much more limited range of wave types at 6, but it's clear that these 6 wave types were picked on purpose to BE the SUB, and are extremely popular in genres such as electro-house (among others), and the genius is that there is bypass function that shoots the (clear) sub signal past the filters and directly to the main sound bus meaning that you DON'T have to stack basses on a track any more! With two great oscillators and a punchy sub that can be routed separately means you can do all your bass patch design inside Serum. ![]() Serum has a giant collection of wavetables out of the box, but you can ALSO import wav files and slice them into a wavetable, so the oscillators are virtually unlimited in terms of wave tables. Most importantly, you can have something that sounds amazing in seconds, and it’s fun to experiment with. It sounds really good doing this! Next, the unison controls are right there, so you can take a saw, turn it into a super saw, and then play with the DYNAMICS of the super saw's unison voices. These oscillators can also be run through the filter just like a subtractive synth. The two main oscillators can be set to use a single wave frame (like a saw, or square. You would think that this would seriously limit your creativity, but it's an illusion of simplicity because each of these oscillators has a trick up it's sleeve. So, the instrument has a HUGE range, but at it's heart there are only 2 main oscillators, one noise oscillator and one sub. (Like Sylenth1, DUNE 2 or even Diva good.) You can also get sounds that sound NOTHING like analogue because it is a wavetable synth. ![]() It's not trying to sound like "real" analogue, but you can get really good analogue sounding results with it. Serum has pulled some visual tricks from both Zebra and Razor. It's like someone finally pulled back the curtain and let you see what's going on behind it. You can see the wavetable, and see exactly how the oscillator is cycling through the wavetable's frames as it’s playing in real time. Next, programming Serum is really as easy as I have found anywhere else, and where it concerns the main oscillators or the wavetables themselves, Serum is HUGELY visual. As long as you organize your folders correctly you can get to ANY patch in the synth with 2 mouse clicks: One to open the menu, and a second to pick the preset. If you've worked with Zebra or and of the Rob Papen synths, you'll know what I'm talking about. Adding new patches is as easy as dropping them into that folder, which you can access from the main menu. One click gets you access to all of the sound folders in your presets folder, and they are organized exactly the same way on your hard drive. The browser has a very "Rob Papen" multilevel style to it. Serum doesn't suffer from a lot of shortcomings.įirst, and often overlooked is the patch browser. So first off, almost ALL of the functions in Serum are on 5 screens, and most of the important ones are on 1 screen. It's even more annoying when the preset browser is clunky or badly organized. It's really frustrating to have a great sounding synth that I can't figure out how to program in an easy and straightforward way. I'm a very visual learner which is one of the reasons I like synths like Rob Papen's Blue II (one of my other favorites) and why I like Ableton Live over a lot of other DAWs: Ableton is simple, streamlined, easy to work with etc. Either the sound quality of the oscillator isn't what I expected which throws me off, because then I am trying to figure out how to fix it, or the filter and effects routing is limited, or I can't visualize how things are routed or related, or maybe the interface is just laid out in a clunky way that doesn't do anything to help me fiddle with what's going on with the sound. It's just not that easy for me, and I DO understand the principles of sound design fairly well. I can't hear something in my head and turn a few knobs and get what I want like some people can. I also have to admit that I am NOT a great sound designer. I only point this out so people have a reference point. So, I've had a chance to work with a lot of the big ones out there, and each are different, they are all good in their own right. First off, I own licenses to probably 25 of the "top rated" VST synths on the market, some of which include Massive, FM8, Sylenth1, Rob Papen's (everything), Diva, Zebra and the Korg Legacy Collection (which still kick butt today) and DUNE 2, to name a few. ![]()
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