Serum: Steve Duda’s Sound Design Gem

If you know anything about music production, especially EDM production, you’ve probably at least heard of a VST plugin called Serum. If you haven’t, it’s arguably the most popular wavetable synthesizer plugin on the market, and it’s undoubtedly been used to create some of your favorite wubs and growls. Who created this beauty, you may ask? Well, today we’re going to take deep dive into Serum and its creator.

What is Serum?

First, let's explore a little bit more about what Serum actually is. It’s a wavetable synth plugin by Xfer Records, and it’s known for its high quality sound, extensive capabilities, and its user friendly interface. Serum has become a favorite, or maybe even an industry standard, for producing genres like EDM, and often Pop. This is because the flexibility Serum offers, when it comes to wavetable manipulation, is unprecedented.

The plugin is priced at $189.00, and includes features like drag-and-drop modulation, high quality built-in effects, powerful oscillators, and various filter types…and it’s all pretty noobie friendly. It does use up a hefty amount of CPU power, but producers are willing to work around this because of the sheer power and versatility that it offers. You can try Serum for free for three days and then pay $9.99 for 19 months, or pay the whole $189.00 up front.

Steve Duda

Steve Duda is Serum’s creator, and isn’t your typical software developer. Before stepping into plugin development, Duda was an accomplished musician and producer with deep ties to the music industry, including collaborations with deadmau5 and Blue Screen of Death. Steve is also a sound designer and a software developer, and by combining these talents, he was able to bridge the gap between the technical and creative sides of music production, and Serum was born.

The Journey

Serum is the product of years of Steve’s dedication and attention to detail, with his goal being to build a synthesizer that addressed some of the common frustrations producers faced with other synths. Xfer Records, a label he co-founded with deadmau5, allowed Duda to create Nerve and Cthulhu along with Serum, a drum machine and a chord/arpeggiator plugin respectively. The collaborative atmosphere Xfers Records definitely played a role in the success of Serum and some of the other plugins that Steve developed.

The Financial Success of Serum

Serum has been a massive success since its release in 2014, popular among both amateurs and top professionals. We don’t know the exact numbers as to how much Steve has made from Serum, but it’s probably generated millions of dollars. It’s one of the best-selling plugins in modern music production.

What Makes Serum so Special?

It’s not just the features that Serum offers that makes it stand out, but the design and philosophy behind it as well. Steve’s goal, after all, was for Serum to be intuitive yet powerful, so that it could be utilized by both amateurs and professionals. The visual interface, drag-and-drop modulation, and real-time waveform manipulation give users unprecedented control and makes complex sound design a more accessible art form—the sounds that can be created are infinite, and Serum will probably be a music production staple for years to come.

Serum 2

The long-awaited Serum 2 was released on March 17, 2025. It expands from two to three primary oscillators, each now capable of five modes including wavetable, sample, multisample, granular, and spectral, drastically enhancing sound design possibilities. The original wavetable engine is upgraded with dual warp, smooth interpolation, and new warp types like FM and phase distortion. Complementing this are dual filters (with eleven new filter types), a revamped FX rack featuring convolution reverb, frequency shifting, and multi-band routing, plus a clip sequencer and enhanced arpeggiator integrated directly into the synth. Modulation has also been supercharged with up to ten LFOs, four envelopes, new chaos and path modes, and the ability to use any oscillator or filter as a modulation source. The result is a hybrid powerhouse that blends wavetable, sampling, granular, spectral, and sequencing—all within a sleek, improved UI.

Serum 2 Preset Packs

Serum 2 Preset Packs are a rare commodity. Very few platforms and/or producers provide high-quality Serum 2 preset packs. Rocket Powered Sound offers a number of preset packs, and some of them are for free! Check them out here