Since designed and released in 2014 by Steve Duda, who is a software engineer and owner of Xfer Records, Serum has been all over the music production world for all kinds of genres.īeing one of the most used synth plugins out there, Xfer's Serum is often a go-to choice for a lot of music producers. The plugin provides a variety of diverse tools, anywhere from creating unique sounding leads, sick pads, to wobbly, dubstep sounding bass, which makes it one of the most versatile VST plugins for modern style music production. Serum is a wavetable synth software made by Xfer Records, that offers an immense range of high-quality creative capabilities. This post will share a perspective on why Serum is worth it but also reasons why it may not be.īut first, let's talk about what Serum actually is in the first place. Just like with everything else in this world.If you’re thinking about buying a new synth because a lot of music producers use it, wait. Some people like it, some people hate it. But it's not the second coming of the Messiah. I'll use it along with the other 300 synths in my arsenal. I think I have my first Moog downstairs, not that I'll ever play it again. If you think those days were "fun" you have a very warped view of what fun is. As much as I loved the sound of the old monsters, I didn't enjoy the weight, the going out of tune and the constant need of repair. I don't think it exists or can ever exist. I've yet to find, in 35 years, the "perfect" synth. I wish I could combine the two synths.Īnd that's just it. Sound wise, I think I like Zebra a little better but Serum's wavetables are so much more flexible. It has a lot of potential if you're willing to spend the time with it. I will take into account that it's Beta and hopefully in time it will get better. In that respect, this is the most frustrating synth I've ever worked with. This thing is buggy as hell in some DAWs. Some of the other FX that don't fall under the category of "great" are good to okay. But then again, nothing is that comes out of a PC. The Unison/Detune help a lot but this is no analog beast of the 70s or 80s. This is not a "fat" synth and there is no way to sugar coat it and say it is. Some things can't be modulated that I was hoping could be but for the most part, I'm pleased. I'll get to the filters later.Īlso like the modulation routings. You don't even have to run these through a filter to get a good sound as long as you have a good source to begin with. There are essentially 3 keys to getting good and/or interesting sounds out of the wavetablesġ) Editing the wavetables by hand and experimenting with various editing options. You can manipulate this thing like crazy. Took me about 2 hours to get the whole thing down Everything is pretty much right in front of you and very intuitive. Generally, if you're familiar with synths, programming is very easy. If you want to get the most out of it, you need to do some programming. This isn't an "open up the box and play" synth. Yes, you really have to dive in and get your hands dirty. What you get out of this synth is limited only by your imagination. But for the most part, understanding that digital is digital, there are a number of synths today that I do like. Zebra is also pretty close though not quite there. NI's Monarch is pretty close as far as filters. You just had to own an Oberheim to truly appreciate this. But sound wise, that warmth of an analog filter is gone. Soft synths can do things that we could only dream of doing back in 1979. I hope this will change soon but only time will tell. In general, we have a frustrating problem with the industry right now as far as soft synths go. Had to take a crash course on soft synths, spending close to 10 grand to get "everything of importance." Last year finally got into PC based recording and chucked all my hardware. Had enough with the lack of creativity both in manufacture and use. Gave up on the whole synth craze after the "me too" era started. Spent a college tuition on hardware that is now long gone. Lived through that, Oberheim, ARP, Yamaha and Sequential Circuits. I love all the bickering between the two camps (love it/hate it) so I'm going to try to bring some honest perspective to this conversation.įirst, some background as to my "credibility".īeen using synths since 1979 when I got my first Moog.
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