KOOROW
In psytrance the space behind the track cannot be a slow, dark atmosphere. That would add no groove and make the track static. Psytrance uses textures instead: rhythmic, often lead-like sounds that sit behind the leads and stitch their call-and-response together. In this lesson KOOROW builds a rhythmic FM texture in Serum, with a “Groove” macro that reshapes its rhythm, a noise layer and convolution reverb on Serum’s FX bus.
The video is in Persian. This article walks through every step in English.
What a texture is for
A texture has rhythm and sits behind your leads. When two leads talk to each other in call and response, the texture ties them together. It is like a tablecloth that every other sound is served on.
Don’t confuse it with a “grid”-type sound: a repeating pattern of notes with its own rhythm and melody. That adds even more movement, and gets its own video.
Step 1: FM from oscillator B
- Write one long legato note.
- Earlier videos took FM from LFO 1. This time it comes from oscillator B: switch B on and close its volume fully.
- Bring B down two octaves and turn the FM amount up.
- Close the random phase on both oscillators.
Step 2: Draw the rhythm with LFO 1
Close the oscillator’s volume and let LFO 1 drive it, with a suitable amount. The rhythm of the texture is drawn in the LFO graph. This part is about taste: spend time experimenting with the shape until you find what you want. KOOROW raises the grid to 16 for finer steps and sets the rate to 1 bar.
Step 3: Filter with sample & hold
Add a 12 dB filter. Send LFO 2 to the cutoff with a smaller amount, and set it to sample & hold at 1/8, so the cutoff jumps to a random value every eighth note. Raise the resonance. From here on it gets exciting.
Step 4: One knob that changes the groove
KOOROW wants a single knob that changes the rhythm. Right-click a node on LFO 1’s curve, choose to modulate it, and assign it to Macro 1 on the X axis, so the node moves sideways. Turning the macro reshapes the LFO pattern itself. He names it Groove: the groove with the macro closed and the groove with it open are completely different.
For one more layer of movement, the same random LFO 2 also goes to the Sync warp amount, kept small.
Step 5: A noise layer for atmosphere
Pick a noise and use it as a background layer, the space behind the texture. Give it its own rhythm with LFO 3 on the noise level, at 1 bar, and modulate the noise pitch with the sample & hold too, so it hits at a different pitch every eighth note. Bring its level down a little.
Step 6: Convolution reverb on the FX bus
Serum’s mixer has sends and returns, just like Ableton. Send the noise to Bus 1, about 50%, and on Bus 1 load Convolve.
A convolution reverb is different from a normal reverb. Its makers sample real spaces, such as churches, halls and concert venues, and load those recordings into the effect. Any sound you feed it gets the reverb of that real space. KOOROW picks one from the factory “Long” folder and sets the mix to 100%, because it is a return: the source stays untouched and the effect runs in parallel.
Before the reverb on the bus he adds a delay: 1/8 on one side, 1/4 dotted on the other, high feedback, dry/wet 50, and only the high frequencies going into it. The reverb size was exaggerated, so he reduced it.
Step 7: Main FX
- Distortion, and never forget that the tube mode is great.
- A modulation effect at a rate of 4 bars, two of its parameters at 65 and 75, mix at 60.
- A delay at 1/1 dotted on both sides, with a low dry/wet.
Step 8: Fine control
- The Groove macro is also mapped, with smaller amounts, to two parameters the sample & hold is already moving. It is automatic, but turning the knob on top causes cool things to happen. An LFO goes to the pan as well.
- Sync and cutoff on the same macro made the sound scream when opened. The fix: invert the cutoff amounts in the matrix. Now opening the macro raises the sync for a screamier FM while the filter closes.
- Two compressors: one on the main chain to reduce dynamics so the sound is mixable, and one after the convolution reverb on the bus. Compressing the reverb and raising it is not the same as simply sending more.
In the track
Played with the leads from earlier videos, the texture sits further back. The lead shows itself, and the texture supports everything placed in front of it. Serum hit its limit at this point, and he would need another instance to keep adding. You could build many other kinds of texture, but this is a solid start.
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