5 Indie Dance Sounds in Serum 2: Maccabi House and Brunello Style Patches

Two sounds dominate indie dance right now: the psychedelic Maccabi House palette from Adam Ten and Mita Gami, and the hypnotic, minimal wave coming out of Brunello's productions. In this video Niek builds five of those sounds from scratch in Serum 2, explaining the thought process rather than just the steps. If you want the finished versions plus the samples and projects, they are in Fiction, our indie dance producer pack.

1. The Maccabi acid vibrato bass

Start with the Analog Four wavetable on its distinctive square position, pitched down two octaves, through a Low 24 filter. Shape envelope one by pulling the sustain down, bringing the decay back and adding a little release, then use a shorter envelope two on the filter. Push the drive and take the resonance to around 50 percent for the acid character.

Serum 2's direct wavetable distortion is used next: a tube distortion, pushed until the upper harmonics arrive but stopped before it turns bass heavy. Velocity is routed to the cutoff so playing harder opens the filter, and mono legato with a portamento time around 234 gives the glide. Oscillator A is then copied into B, the tube removed, PWM warping added and the pitch dropped only one octave so it acts as a harmonic top layer at roughly 50 to 60 percent level.

The vibrato goes on last: LFO 1 to the fine tune of both oscillators at 1/16, assigned to macro 1. Linking that macro to note pitch means low notes stay clean and high notes shake, and adding velocity into it means a hard low note picks up some vibrato too. Finish with the noise oscillator trick, more tube distortion, a low boost, light multiband compression, a 1/16 slap delay with the lows removed, and a subtle chorus.

2. The Adam Ten style FM bass

Basic Shapes on square for oscillator A, pitched down an octave, with oscillator B on the shape next to square for extra harmonics, plus a square sub two octaves down for grit. Oscillator A then FM modulates B, which introduces a bit-crushed top edge to the sound.

Add noise, shape both envelopes into a stabby form with envelope two's sustain lower, and route envelope two to filter one for oscillator A while filter two handles the noise and oscillator B, kept more open. Give both a little resonance and dial the FM to taste. The harshness gets fixed in the effects: soft clip distortion, then a second filter (an MG Ladder) controlled by velocity, which is what produces the wonky, psychedelic quality as the bit-crushed signal opens and closes. Finish with a utility to pull the width back, a touch of reverb, and the noise-to-filter modulation again.

3. The Maccabi top lead

The simplest of the five, and the most recognisable. Default saw waves, oscillator A down an octave, B at zero, with sync enabled on both to add the top harmonics that separate it from a plain saw. An MG Low 12 filter with envelope one and some filter drive, routed across both oscillators and a white noise layer.

Then the same vibrato move: a harsh LFO at 1/16 on fine tune, through macro 1. That single step is what makes the sound instantly identifiable. From there it is shaping: a splitter with Hyper on the highs to widen the top, a short delay, a hall reverb, and the mod wheel linked to both cutoff and vibrato for performance control.

4. The Brunello style hypnotic pluck

Two Analog BD Sine oscillators, both pitched up an octave and slightly detuned against each other so they phase. Shape a plucky envelope with generous release, add geiger noise, an MG Low 12 filter and some drive.

The effects make this sound. Bit crush first, then a very fast delay, around 1/64, with a lot of feedback, which is what turns it glitchy and spacey. A hall reverb at low size sits on top. The delay is worth automating rather than setting once, and adding chaos to the delay offset gives it a wobbly, unstable feel. The noise oscillator on filter one adds the final crisp.

5. The Brunello chord synth

Simple by design. The Juno wavetable on its squarish position already carries most of the character. Shape it with release, run it through an MG Low 24 filter with envelope one, then copy oscillator A down an octave at a lower level for body, through the same filter. Envelope two into the same filter adds a slight extra transient, which is easy to miss but noticeable when removed.

A chorus is essential here to make it lush. Link release and cutoff to the mod wheel so you can modulate it live, add a short slap delay with a macro on its mix and feedback, some reverb, and velocity to the cutoff. The sound is basic on paper; the modulation is what makes it work.

Frequently asked questions

How do you get the Maccabi house vibrato in Serum 2?

Route LFO 1 to the fine tune of both oscillators at a 1/16 rate, then assign that modulation depth to a macro named vibrato. You can then automate the amount, or link it to note pitch and velocity so higher and harder notes get more vibrato.

What is the noise oscillator trick?

Load a noise, set its level to 0 percent, and use it purely as a modulation source on the filter cutoff. It adds grit that sits inside the sound rather than layering audible noise on top of it.

Which Serum 2 wavetables are used for these sounds?

Analog Four (square) for the acid vibrato bass, Basic Shapes (square) for the FM bass, default saws with sync for the Maccabi lead, Analog BD Sine for the Brunello pluck, and the Juno wavetable for the Brunello chord synth.

How do you make the Brunello style hypnotic pluck?

Two detuned Analog BD Sine oscillators pitched up an octave, a plucky envelope with long release, geiger noise, an MG Low 12 filter with drive, then bit crush, a very fast delay at around 1/64 with heavy feedback, and a small hall reverb. Add chaos to the delay offset for a wobblier result.

Related reading: how Brunello makes indie dance, indie dance like Mita Gami and Adam Ten, and the Fiction indie dance sample pack.

Fiction includes over 100 Serum presets, samples, project files and vocals for indie dance.

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Related: Fiction for indie dance samples and Serum 2 presets, plus our free Quantum all-genre Serum bank. If you do not own Serum, see Is Serum 2 free?