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<h1><strong>Introduction</strong></h1>
<p>Hello everyone and fellow Steemians! </p>
<p>@laritheghost here! (your favorite Ghost Producer đź‘»)</p>
<p>I want to introduce to you my new "Digital Sound Design" series, where I will be making in-depth tutorials and guides to help you get started on your journey to becoming a digital sound wizard!</p>
<p>In this multi-part series, I will guide you through some of the most important features that you need to know within Serum, so that you can familiarize yourself with its functionality and discover some ways that you can use it in your own work.</p>
<p><em>In Part 1 We will be going over what Serum is and the Pros and the Cons that you should be aware of when utilizing this powerful digital synthesizer. </em></p>
<h3>Table of Contents</h3>
<ol>
<li>Introduction</li>
<li><a href="https://steemit.com/musicproduction/@laritheghost/digital-sound-design-xfer-serum-part-2-oscillators">Oscillators</a></li>
<li>Noise & Sub (Coming Soon)</li>
</ol>
<h1><strong>What is Serum? </strong></h1>
<p><img src="https://d84g6yundlaof.cloudfront.net/assets/serum/serumall-b4e3f2c19f47e68cff7b1767eb7af20d629844ba1dfae517ed57ee796bc0b8d9.gif" width="902" height="730"/></p>
<p>If you're familiar with music production (primarily in EDM genre) chances are you have heard of Serum and for a good reason. </p>
<p>Serum is a digital wavetable synthesizer VST [Virtual Studio Technology] Plug-in created by Xfer Records. Ever since it's release (September 17th 2014) it has become a "go-to" synthesizer for many professional and aspiring producers. </p>
<p>Known for it's ability to produce high quality sounds, coupled with highly interactive, visual and creative workflow. Giving you a unique experience to manipulate sound in real-time. There is no other synth more widely used, reviewed, and supported by professionals on the market.<br>
</p>
<h1><strong>Pros</strong></h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Depth and Control</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Serum is more than just presets that comes with your synth. Your ability to control and create sound is second to none, here are some of the features. </p>
<ol>
<li>Ability to import custom noises, wavetables and LFOs</li>
<li>Dual Wavetable Oscillators </li>
<li>10 unique sound effects</li>
<li>Limitless modulation options</li>
<li>“Drag and drop” routing and parameter assignment giving you a greater control of your sound.</li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li><strong>Visuals </strong></li>
</ul>
<p>One of the biggest selling point and what makes Serum so special is its highly interactive and visual workflow. The visual aide of seeing the envelope traced by a ball and a line scanning over the LFO's is incredibly helpful especially for beginners. </p>
<p>The whole serum synth is alive with animated visualization that make it easy to see exactly what you are doing. This is an incredibly undervalued aspect of digital synths. While many other synths have a variety of obscure functions, Serum lets you know exactly what is going on with the sound you are generating at all times.</p>
<p>Often times the lack of visual aid on other synthesizers makes for an incredibly dull sound design experience and it can often feel like you're watching the paint dry. </p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Price</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>The price of Serum is highly affordable and competitive when you consider the prices of hardware synths out on the market (which can easily cost you thousands of dollars) and other comparable VST synths out there (such as Massive and Sylenth1)</p>
<p>There are two main ways of purchasing Serum. [Non Affiliate Links]</p>
<p>You can make a one time payment of $189 (<a href="https://xferrecords.com/products/serum">click here!)</a></p>
<p>Or you can "Rent-to-own" Serum by paying a monthly subscription of only $10 (<a href="https://splice.com/plugins/15493-serum-au-vst-by-xfer-records">click here!)</a> </p>
<p>One thing I want to quickly address before moving on is the issue of Software Piracy. </p>
<p>While it's certainly a tempting option for many of us starting out, I strongly urge you that you show your support for the industry by purchasing the product.</p>
<p><img src="https://usatftw.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/deadmau5.jpg?w=1000" width="501" height="830"/></p>
<p><em>(Here's a tweet by a famous EDM Producer Deadmau5 calling out Kanye West for attempting to illegally download Serum.) </em></p>
<p>You can always try Serum before buying it! To download the demo version of the Serum VST plugin (<a href="https://xferrecords.com/products/serum">click here</a>!)</p>
<h1><strong>CONS</strong></h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Heavy CPU Usage</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Despite near-universal praise for Serum’s sound, many producers mention CPU efficiency issues. One synth patch can often cause up to 20% CPU usage, causing a lot of strain on your computer. This can be worked around by simply adjusting the voice count or the oversampling function. I will make a separate guide on how to fully optimize serum for maximum efficiency in the near future. </p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Limited to only Two Oscillators</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><img src="https://cymatics.fm/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/oscs_1024x461-1024x461.jpg" width="1024" height="461"/></p>
<p>This is not a huge concern for most people, considering the wide range of sounds you can make already, but having 4 oscillators can really take this synth to the next level. </p>
<ul>
<li><strong>No Onboard Arpeggiator </strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Again, I am really nitpicking here since this is not a huge issue for most producers and the DAW [Digital Audio Workstation] you're working in most likely already comes with a MIDI arpeggiator effect, but having a native onboard arpeggiator will really make Serum a complete, one stop solution for all your digital sound needs.</p>
<h2>Why Serum Is The Right Synth For You?</h2>
<p><br></p>
<p>Serum was designed with every producer in mind. </p>
<p>Whether you’re a seasoned veteran of sound design or somebody just looking to use presets, you will absolutely love this synth. </p>
<p>The workflow was designed to make the life of every producer easier. With the visual workflow of this synth, it’s easy to see exactly what you are doing. While many other synths have a variety of obscure functions, Serum lets you know exactly what is going on with the sound you are generating at all times.</p>
<p>The benefits of owning Serum far outweigh the drawbacks of the synth. Because of that, it should be pretty clear that the Serum VST plugin should be the next synth to add to your collection!</p>
<p>Stay tuned for Part 2 where I will be breaking down Oscillators in-depth. </p>
<p>Follow me @laritheghost on Instagram/Twitter</p>
<p><br></p>
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