Serum 2 Tutorial: The Ultimate Guide for Beginners (2025)

The day has come. 11 years after the release of Xfer’s Serum, Serum 2 is finally here.

Upon its release in 2014, Serum was an absolute game-changer in the sound design world. And now Serum 2 has pushed the envelope even further.

So what’s new? What can you do in Serum 2 that you couldn’t do in Serum? And most importantly, is it still one of the best synths out there?

We cover all that and a lot more in this guide 👇

Serum 2 – Pricing

First of all, let’s talk price.

Amazingly, Xfer is offering free lifetime upgrades to all owners of Serum 1 (which is how I’ll call the first version of Serum from now on to avoid confusion).

This means that if you already owned Serum 1, you can upgrade for free to Serum 2. Most importantly, you get to keep your version of Serum 1 too.

Xfer even goes out of its way to make sure that you don’t buy Serum 2 if you already own Serum 1, which is quite nice:

This is also true if you’re on Splice‘s Rent-to-Own program. This means that even if you don’t technically yet fully own Serum 1, you can still upgrade to Serum 2.

If you don’t yet own Serum 1, then Serum 2 will cost you US$189 at the time of this writing.

On June 1st, 2025, the price will rise to US$249, where it will likely remain going forward. Although it might sound like a steep price, you’ve got to remember that Serum 1 (and now Serum 2) is the go-to synth in the industry. Whatever the genre you produce, you’ll likely find producers using Serum. Due to its popularity, this means that there are also hundreds of preset packs (free and paid) available on the Internet.

If that sounds like too big a purchase, Splice Rent-to-Own is also a great option. Finally, we’ve also dedicated extensive guides to Vital and Vital presets, a great free alternative to Serum 2.

Serum 2 – Interface

Before we go into all of the Serum 2 functionalities, let’s get familiar with the interface. For me, this is where the major strength of Serum 2 lies, and what makes it a perfect synth for beginners.

Although it might be a bit overwhelming at first, Serum 2’s interface is actually really well organized.

As you open Vital for the first time, this is the interface you will see:

Straight away, you can see that different section at the top are greyed-out. That is because those functionalities are disabled at the moment.

Let’s break down what’s in front of us before diving into each section in detail:

Serum 2 Components

#1 – The Views

Serum 2 has 5 views you can switch between. The view you pick will then be displayed in the main view (number 2). Without going into too much detail yet, here are those 5 views:

• Osc is the default view that you see on startup. It gives you access to Serum 2’s 3 main oscillators, the sub oscillator (all the way on the left), the noise oscillator, and the 2 filters.

• Mix is a brand new addition to Serum 2. In effect, it allows you to view all your different routings (which oscillator is going into which filter, into which effect etc.). It’s an amazing addition, which we’ll dive into more detail later in this guide.
  
• FX is the effects view, where you get to process your sound with EQ, chorus, distortion and more. There too, some notable additions were made (namely the Bus options – more on those later).

• Matrix lets you quickly visualize all the modulations currently active.

• Global gives you control over some advanced features such as voicing, audio quality, and more.

#2: Main View

The Main view displays what you’ve selected (one of the 5 views described above).

#3: Macros

The Macros section allows you to control several parameters with just one knob. It’s one of the most underutilised workflow hacks in music production, and it’s why we created Superknobs.

#4: Envelopes

The Envelope section allows you to draw custom envelopes and apply them to specific parameters. By default, envelope 1 is assigned to the master volumes. It therefore acts as your basic ADSR envelope.

#5: LFOs

Similarly, the LFO section lets you draw custom LFO curves and apply them to specific parameters. Here, too, several innovations were brought to Serum 2.

Other sections

Other sections I’ve glossed over here include:

• Velocity and Note modulation (bottom-right) let you modulate parameters based on how hard you play a note (Velocity) or the pitch of the note (Note). For example, you could assign Note to the panning of an oscillator: a low note will now be panned left while higher notes will be panned right.
  
• Clip sequencer: Serum 2 now has an integrated piano roll where you can directly play and record sequences (more on that later).
  
• Arpeggiator: generate arpeggios on the fly, directly within Serum 2.

More on all those sections later in this guide 😉

As mentioned above, the five views at your disposal are Osc, Mix, FX, Matrix, and Global. Let’s explore each of these in detail.

Note that this will be quite a comprehensive guide for Serum 2. We therefore won’t go over common sound design terms such as filters, ADSR, and LFOs. Feel free to check those dedicated guides if you need a refresher, or consult our comprehensive glossary!

Serum 2 – Oscillator View

Serum 2, just like Serum 1, remains a wavetable synthesizer (although Xfer now brands it as an advanced hybrid synthesizer). This means it uses morphing oscillators to generate sound:

I won’t go over every single oscillator feature here (you can check our Serum 1 tutorial for that). But let’s highlight some of the major improvements from Serum 1.

Third oscillator

Whereas Serum 1 had 2 oscillators, Serum 2 adds one more oscillator. This is great if you often do FM (frequency modulation) synthesis and use OSC B to modulate OSC A. Often, in this case, you might turn down the level of OSC B to zero, because you just want to use it to modulate OSC A.

In that case, you’re stuck with using just one oscillator. But now, you can use OSC B to modulate OSC A, and then add OSC C to thicken up the sound!

New oscillator engines

One of the major overhauls of Serum 2 is the introduction of new oscillator types. In Serum 1, you had the choices between different wavetables, and that was it.

But in Serum 2, you now have the choice between:

• Wavetable
• Multisample
• Sample
• Granular
• Spectral

Let’s go over these oscillator types and how they differ.

Wavetable oscillator

This is the classic oscillator type you know from Serum 1. You load a wavetable, then scroll through the different frames using the WT POS knob:

You can also use your own custom wavetables (or wavetables you’ve downloaded/bought on the Internet). To do this, create a new folder where all the wavetables are saved (User > Library > Audio > Presets > Xfer Records > Serum 2 Presets > Tables for Mac, surely somewhere similar for Windows).

Now onto the four new oscillator types Serum 2 has introduced… 👇

Multisample oscillator

First up, we have the multisample oscillator:

This allows you to play Serum like a multi-sampled instrument (similar to Kontakt libraries). In fact, you can even load your own sampled instruments using the open-source format .sfz (check out this website for a list of free SFZ libraries).

If this is all going over your head, don’t worry. Think of this oscillator as a collection of samples, with each sample being assigned to a different keyboard note.

This means you can even use Serum as a drum sampler by loading one of the “Drums” libraries!

Sample oscillator

Next up, the sample oscillator lets you load up individual samples and manipulate them:

You can set your start and end points, switch between multiple play modes (one-shot, forward loop, reverse loop etc.).

Serum 2 comes with a ton of factory samples, but you can, of course, load any sample you want.

Granular oscillator

We’ve dedicated multiple guides to granular synthesis, as well as a dedicated video on our YouTube channel:

In a nutshell, granular synthesis works by cutting a sample into various grains, and then playing them back.

You can control the size (i.e., length) of the grains, the space between grains, and a lot more. This allows you to create really cool textures (I find that granular synthesis works especially well with long vocal samples).

In Serum 2, you’ve got a vast amount of control over how the grains are played back (although I somewhat prefer the interface of Phase Plant’s granular engine):

• Density (i.e., number) of grains
• Length of each grain
• Randomization of play direction, pitch, length…
• and more

Spectral oscillator

Finally, the spectral oscillator is by far the most intriguing of the new oscillators:

I’ll be honest, I haven’t experimented much with this one yet. But it looks super exciting. Basically, this engine re-synthesizes the frequency spectrum, with various controls for time and pitch.

The fun part is that you get to import images directly into it (a bit like FL Studio’s Harmor):

I’m sure you can get crazy sounds out of this engine, but I’d need to explore it a bit more.

Serum 2 – Mix View

Next up on our list of innovations is a fully integrated mixer, one of the first times I’ve seen this in a synth:

This is just so cool. With the Mixer view, you get a quick snapshot of everything happening in your Serum 2 patch. You can see:

• Which oscillators are tuned on or off?
• where they are routed to (filter A or B or a blend of the 2, directly to the Out channel, etc.);
• which filters are activated, and on what mode (low-pass, high-pass…)
• The list of effects active in the main channel, Bus 1 or Bus 2 (more on those later).

And of course, you can change any of these routings, turn oscillators on or off, turn their gain up or down directly within the Mixer view.

One tiny nitpick I have is that I would have loved to be able to rearrange the order of effects directly from the Mixer view. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be possible (or I haven’t found how to do it yet).

However, you can deactivate individual effects by clicking on the little “bypass” icon:

All in all, the Mixer view is a great addition to get a bird’s eye view of what is happening in Serum, and experiment with alternative routing.

Serum 2 – FX View

Moving on to the FX view, and again, there have been notable improvements here.

First off, you can now stack up the same effect multiple times, which was impossible before Serum 2:

If you want to copy the same effect, simply hold Option on Mac or Alt on Windows and drag the effect. That will create a copy of the effect with the same parameters.

We’ve also got a range of new effects, including:

• Bode: a new frequency shifter effect;
• Convolve: a new convolution reverb (with some amazing presets);
• Utility: a simple but handy utility effect similar to Ableton Live’s utility plugin;
• As well as new modes on specific effects, such as the Overdrive mode in the Distortion effect.

But where Serum 2 really blows Serum 1 out of the water is with its routing.

You can now create 3 different “lanes” (to steal Phase Plant’s terminology) of effects:

You’ve got MAIN, BUS 1, and BUS 2. Basically, this lets you create completely different chains of effects. You can decide to send OSC 1 to BUS 1, for example, and OSC 2 to BUS 2.

You can even mix and match, and send a certain amount of an oscillator to each BUS. In this example below, I’m sending roughly 24% of OSC C to BUS 1 and 60% to BUS 2:

Pretty cool if you ask me.

Serum 2 – Matrix View

Moving on to the Matrix view, I’ll cover this section rather quickly. This is because there haven’t been that many changes (if any?) to this section versus Serum 1.

The Matrix view is where you can view and fine-tune all your modulations (more on what those are later):

You can, for example, see that:

• Envelope 1 is controlling the panning of OSC A;
• Envelope 2 is controlling the blend of voices of OSC B;
• LFO 1 is controlling the frequency cutoff of Filter 1

I can easily adjust the amount of modulation by moving the sliders left and right, change the source or destination of a given modulation, or even set up new modulation. This view allows you to see everything at once (and can also help you identify any weird effects that are happening in your sound, but you can’t quite locate what the cause is).

You can also bypass a modulation by clicking on the arrow all the way on the right (an option that was also accessible in Serum 1, but not as visually).

Serum 2 – Global View

I’ll also skim over this section, as you’re unlikely to interact with it much:

This section allows you to tweak things like:

• sound quality;
• MPE settings;
• Mod wheel options;
• default waveform view (2D or 3D);
• and more.

One interesting addition is the Voice control section in the middle. This section allows you to make subtle changes to the panning, pitch, filter cutoff, and more for up to 8 notes played consecutively. Let me show you.

I have this simple pattern here:

Here’s what it sounds like:

Now let’s change some of the voice control settings, namely the panning:

Here’s what it sounds like now (I’ve removed the delay and reverb so that we can hear the effect better):

Pretty cool! It’s almost like you’re creating a pattern, but for the panning of each note. You can do the same with “detuning”, which is great to add a little bit of variation to each note.

Modulations Inside Serum 2

Modulation is a huge part of any sound. Without them, everything would sound… flat.

If you’re new to sound design, make sure to check out our guide on envelopes and LFOs, which form the basis of modulation in most synths.

But here’s the TL;DR:

• A modulation is a way to automate a parameter of a synth over time. For example, you might want to control the volume: a slow rise, then a sharp drop.
• In this case, the volume would be the “destination”, and you would use an “envelope” as the source.
• The source of the modulation (or more precisely, the shape you draw) will dictate how the parameter will be modulated:

In this image, the level of OSC A will slowly rise up over a period of 1 second, before slowly fading away.

In Serum 2, there are 2 main ways you can modulate parameters: envelopes and LFOs (we won’t go into the nuances of each; you can check out our dedicated guides if you need).

Envelopes

Serum 2 lets you play with 4 different envelopes. Just like with Serum 1, ENV 1 controls the synth level output (i.e., the ADSR envelope of Serum 2). For the most part, this section is very similar to Serum 1.

One main difference however, is the BPM option.

At the bottom right, you can switch between BPM and MS. Choosing BPM will let you sync your envelope with the BPM of your project. For example, you could have the attack stage rise up for precisely 1 beat, and a sustain phase lasting for exactly 2 beats. No more guesswork with milliseconds!

LFOs

LFOs are the other main way you can modulate parameters in almost any synth.

Here again, Serum 2 introduces some new innovations:

• up to 10 LFOs available;
• “chaos” modes for absolutely wild effects;
• An LFO drawing tool to design custom LFO shapes;
• ability to save presets.

This brings modulation with LFOs to a whole new level.

Serum 2’s Clip Sequencer and Arpeggiator

Finally, let’s cover two other major changes inside Serum 2: the clip sequencer and the arpeggiator.

First off, the clip sequencer (i.e. a piano roll) lets you write in complex melodies and chord progressions directly inside Serum 2:

The amount of control you have here is insane, and it would take an entire guide to cover everything you can do with the clip sequencer. But here’s a quick rundown of some of the coolest features:

• 12 different banks (“slots”) where you can create different sequences;
• Set loop markers within your sequence.
• portamento curve;
• and a lot more.

To trigger a clip, make sure the clip sequencer is turned on (via the on/off button). Then, I would suggest you right-click on the word CLIP > MIDI input trigger octave > select “1”. Now, when you press C1, Serum will play Clip 1. If you press C#1, it will play Clip 2.

You’ve also got the arpeggiator, which lets you instantly generate beautiful arps:

You’ve got everything you would expect from an arpeggiator here, include the type of pattern (upward, downward etc.), the rate of play, the number of octaves over which the arp will be played etc.

There are however, a few notable features here that make Serum 2’s arpeggiator stand out:

• Just like the clip sequencer, you’ve got different ARP slots with different patterns, which you can trigger with your MIDI keyboard;
• A pattern editor lets you create your own arpeggiator patterns

Note that you can combine the Clip Sequencer and the Arpeggiator by turning both on for some really cool patterns 😉

Last Words on Serum 2

That’s it for this guide on Serum 2! We hope you found it useful and will be inspired to create some otherworldly sounds!

If you haven’t yet, make sure to grab our free Next-Gen Serum 2 Preset Pack here:

Anything unclear? Feel free to drop us a line at [email protected]