From Pluck to Lead in Serum 2

To go from a pluck to a lead you basically just move the cutoff. But there comes a point where it doesn't really change much anymore. It's already a lead. So I create a macro on the cutoff and only select the range until that point. You're going to automate this and drive it to 100, and you don't want to be done with the pluck halfway.

Even at 100% it still cuts off your lead, and I don't want that. I just want the normal lead without any filter. So assign macro 1 to the filter mix too. Then in the matrix, find the curve of macro 1 on the filter wet and make it do nothing except at the end. Boom, a very smooth transition. I also change the curve on the cutoff, so it changes into a lead a bit more slowly.

The lead without the filter has more volume than with the filter. I don't want that. So I have the macro affect the drive as well. Take it down a lot, make sure it's up at zero and goes down at the end. In the matrix, have this do nothing until the end. Then find a good balance between the level of the pluck and the lead. You can do this by ear.

A nice effect to add with another macro is the length of your pluck. I put macro 5 on the decay, short at the beginning and longer when I open the macro, until around 1.7 to 2 seconds. It's a cool one to affect with macro 1 too. Down low I don't want a long pluck, but it needs to increase over time.

There's one more thing you have to look out for. Say I make a lead that's a bit more distorted, like a euphoric lead with white noise. Since I added the white noise, make sure you definitely select it in the filter. But listen what happens when I take down the cutoff. It gets very distorted, because the filter generates the pluck and then we're distorting it. I don't like that effect.

So if you know your lead has a lot of distortion, do this setup in the filter in the effects. That way you can change the position of the filter. You distort it first and then you add the filter. Same steps as before, with the MG Low 12, the envelope and the cutoff macro on the cutoff and the mix, and the same curves in the matrix.

I explained a lot of details, but it really does help to set this up once. At that point you can just duplicate the preset and work with it. Use a different wavetable, different detune, add unison or another oscillator. They're all going to be the same pluck, which is exactly what you need.

Then automate the macro. In FL Studio, move macro 1, then Tools, Last tweaked, Create automation clip. For every other Serum instance, move the macro, do Last tweaked, then Link to controller and find the automation clip you've just created. Now all your macros move based on that one clip. It's a small effect, but it makes a very big difference. You don't get stuck trying to replicate the same pluck. You set it up right once and that's that.