Bruno Mars "That's What I Like" Serum Tutorial & Breakdown

"That's What I Like" by Bruno Mars dominated the airwaves in 2017. It mixes R&B, funk and pop, and every element, from the smooth bassline to the playful synths, plays a crucial role in its vibe. In this breakdown we remake all the synths in Serum step by step: the bass, the main synth, the bridge sub bass, the bridge synth, the keys and the lead, with audio and settings for each. Let's give it a listen.

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The Bass

Let's talk about the bass, because it's seriously one of the most important instruments here: a catchy line that repeats throughout the song and drives the groove of the whole track. To recreate it, we used a Basic MG in oscillator "A" and a Basic_Wrd in oscillator "B", both with 4 voices. For a little extra brightness, we added some frequency modulation to oscillator "B", and to shape the sound we used envelope 2 to modulate the cutoff of the filter. The final touch is the filter resonance at around 65%.

The Main Synth

The other main element in the verse and chorus, next to the bassline, is this dry, stabby synth. We used an SQR_Saw_Wrd in oscillator "A" and a SawRounded in oscillator "B", both with seven voices to make it wider. Use envelope 2 to modulate the cutoff of the filter. Something not shown in the image below: envelope 1 should have a very short release so the sound has no tail.

The Bridge Bass

When we reach the bridge, a really cool subby bass comes in. If you're reading this on your phone you might have trouble hearing it, but trust us, it's there. You'll need PWM Maths in oscillator "A" and a Basic Shape in oscillator "B", both one octave down, and a Saw wavetable two octaves down in the sub oscillator. Use envelope 2 to modulate the levels of both oscillators, set the filter to cut everything above 200 Hz, and crank the Drive and Fat knobs for warmth.

The Bridge Synth

This synth brings the high frequencies that fill out the spectrum in the bridge, and it's one of the three elements that make this section stand out. We started with a saw wavetable in oscillator "A" and an ICanHasKick wavetable in oscillator "B", then used envelope 2 to modulate the cutoff of the filter. Here's the secret sauce for that brassy sound: the envelope attack should be between about 40 ms and 80 ms. In this case, we set it right in the middle.

The Keys

The last element in the bridge is a really cool Rhodes-type keys sound, playing the same chord progression as the synth but on every quarter note. We started with an FFT_Add_2nds in oscillator "A" and an Analog_BD_Sin in oscillator "B" one octave up, which adds brightness and helps the keys stand out. Then we added a Sine in the sub oscillator for warmth and depth. To finish, we used envelope 1 to modulate the cutoff of the filter just slightly, which gives the sound a bit of movement throughout the bridge.

The Lead

We saved the best for last: the lead! This patch was really fun to make because it uses a lot of modulation. We used a Basic_Wrd in oscillator "A" and an ICanHasKick in oscillator "B", both with ten voices.

To give this patch its funky character, we need two things. First, use a Formant-I filter and modulate its parameters with LFO 2 for a unique texture. Second, use an LFO to modulate the fine-tuning at a 1/16 note rate for a bit of movement.

The final touch is a slow modulation of the fine-tuning. It's easy: go to the Matrix tab and use envelope 2 as an Aux source.

Make your own That's What I Like-style track.

You've heard how the bass, synths, keys and lead are built. The French House Pack has sounds like these ready to load in Serum.

Want the whole palette? The Disco Bundle brings together all 8 of our disco and funk packs, including French House, Nu Disco, Future Funk and G Funk, for $49.90.