Here's a video tutorial on how to create a Pop/EDM Pluck sound in Serum. The video tutorial is accompanied by a step by step guide so it's easy for you to follow along and create it yourself.
Step by step guide:
1. Open a new instance of Serum
2. Go to oscillator A and from the analog wavetables list choose de-ess saw end triangle.
3. Switch on the filter and open it all the way out. Now before you tweak the envelope, increase the unison to seven voices and reduce the detune amount a little bit so that it sounds in key.
4. Now, it sounds wide and rich, but there are few tweaks that have to be made; one on the global envelope which is the envelope of the overall sound i.e, envelope one and the other on a separate envelope which will be mapped to the filter to give the characteristic 'pluck' sound.
5. So, on the global envelope dial in an attack time of 10-15ms.
6. Set the decay time to 300-350ms, leave the sustain the way it is and change the release time to 300-400ms.
7. Now, on envelope 2 dial in an attack time of 4 or 5 ms and a very fast decay of 300-350ms but this time change the sustain to 0. This way the sound immediately cuts off.
8. Map this sound to the filter.
9. By turning the knob up the filter starts acting on the envelope.
10. Now, go to the matrix tab and in the matrix you can see the envelope mapped to the filter cutoff.
12. Next, create a separate envelope for the mod wheel and map it to thee filter cutoff.
13. By moving the mod wheel up the sound becomes brighter. Automation could be used to change the brightness of the sound as you go from verse to chorus.
14. Now, in the same matrix create a new one from the same envelope and map it again to filter cutoff, this is with the mod wheel all he way turned up and down.
15. To fine tweak this further on we go to the effects tab add delay unit with 1/4th and maybe 1/8th filter that out and keep the low end and absolute highs out of it.
16. Then let's add reverb and turn on the mixer little bit, EQ out the low end and then have another EQ specifically just for a little bit of top end sheen just a touch of it.
17. You can always experiment with other wavetables. For example, in the same wavetable you can choose another position and may sound different.
Thanks for watching. If you liked this tutorial click here to watch more sound design tutorials for Xfer Serum.