How to Use Deadmau5’s VST Plug-In Serum for Songs Like “I Remember”

Serum is a soft synth (software synthesizer), which is a virtual instrument that uses wavetable synthesis to create electronic music (Korg synths are some of the most common soft synths available). Steve Duda, founder of Xfer Records, developed Serum, and was an early collaborator with deadmau5 under various DJ monikers such as WTF and BSOD. Because of his close working relationship with Steve Duda, deadmau5’s distinctive sound—particularly the signature deadmau5 “pluck”—is often associated with Serum.

Serum is one of the best synth tools out there, with several standout features and benefits that set it apart from other wavetable synthesizers.

1. 1. Serum is also a sampler. With Serum, you can not only create new and unique electronic sounds with Serum, but also use samples from vocals or instruments and modify them with a wavetable editor to create new sounds.
2. 2. Serum produces excellent audio quality. Digital waveforms like those produced by a synth are actually advanced algorithmic predictions of what the sonic waveform will be. This prediction is known as aliasing. Older, slower synths have less predictable waveforms that can therefore sound muddy. Serum has the ability to alias those waveforms faster, creating high-quality sound that’s smooth and clear.
3. 3. Serum can manipulate waveforms in real time. In addition to cycling through wavetables, you can use Serum to manipulate waveforms in real time during playback.
4. 4. Serum has an intuitive interface. Unlike other VST synth plugins that sacrifice user-friendliness, Serum stands out for its intuitive and appealing graphical interface with easy drag and drop functionality.
5. 5. Serum offers free updates. Creator Steve Duda is still actively involved in updating Serum, and all updates to the software are free to customers for life.
6. 6. Serum can be added to your program of choice. Serum is easy to add to popular electronic dance music production programs like Ableton Live or Logic Pro. There are also many free sample packs and Serum presets, which can give you the ability to fully customize your sound design, adding in vocals, guitar, or a dubstep bass sound without having to create them yourself.

Some common terminology to understand when using Serum and other VST plugins to create EDM music include:

• Oscillators produce the basic waveforms of sine, square, and sawtooth, each with its own distinctive sound. These waveforms can have different frequencies, usually from zero to 20,000Hz (Hz = oscillations per second). Serum users can employ a single oscillator, or have two or more wavetable oscillators playing waveforms on top of each other using “additive synthesis.” Serum also includes a sub-oscillator module, which allows users to easily stack a sub-bass voice under the main signal.
• Unison is a kind of additive synthesis in which the synth generates multiples of the same waveform, all slightly out of tune with each other. These unison voices create a broader, richer sound.
• Filters modify a sound by taking away certain frequencies and adding emphasis to others. A low pass filter (LPF) takes out certain high frequencies (the low freqs “pass” through), while a high pass filter (HPF) removes certain low frequencies. A band pass cuts out low and high frequencies around a certain middle band. The “cutoff” of a filter determines the frequency where the modification begins. The “resonance” affects the sharpness of the modification.
• Envelopes shape sounds over time. They usually control either the volume of a sound or the amount it is affected by the filter, from the time a note starts to the time it stops. The basic parameters of an envelope are attack, decay, and release. If the envelope is effecting volume, attack determines how long it takes for the sound to reach full volume; decay determines how long it takes for the volume to start fading down; and release determines how long it take for the sound to go silent once the note is no longer being played. Those parameters together are often referred to as ADR. Sometimes an envelope will also have a sustain parameter (this is an ADSR envelope). Sustain determines how long a sound holds at a given volume after it has decayed.
• LFO (low frequency modulation) and Cross Modulation occurs when one waveform alters a parameter of another — usually either the pitch, the volume, or the action of the filter. This can produce tremolo-type effects (waveforms altering volume), vibrato (altering pitch), or sweeping sounds (altering the filter). If the modulation is happening at a rate of about 20hz or lower, it’s considered LFO.

The Serum VST plugin is available for Macs with Mac OS X 10 or later and PCs with Windows XP or later. Serum works with 64-bit VST, AU or AAX compatible host software.

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