Kavinsky "Odd Look" (ft. The Weeknd) Breakdown in Serum

If you're a fan of synthwave like all of us here at Synth Ctrl, you're surely a fan of Kavinsky, and if you're a fan of Kavinsky, you surely love his track with The Weeknd, "Odd Look". In this post, we recreated this amazing track in Serum so you can learn some sound design and use it in your own tracks. You need four sounds: a resonant sweeping bass, a plucky arp, a slow orchestral pad and an ascending string line. Below are the settings for each.

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The Odd Look Bass: Resonant Filter Sweep

The first thing to do when you start a preset is to choose your waveforms. For this kind of sound, we assume Kavinsky used some kind of analog gear to make the bassline, so we chose waveforms modeled on vintage analog synths. For the first oscillator we chose a Basic Mini waveform, set the wavetable position to 3 and added some FM coming from oscillator "B". In oscillator "B", use an ICanHasKick with its sync modulated by envelope 2. The important part of this patch is the sweep, which comes from the high resonance of the filter and envelope 2 routed to the filter cutoff.

The Arp

One of the highlights of the track is the arp, and it's a very easy patch to make. First we need a Basic Shape in its second position in oscillator "A" with seven voices, slightly detuned, and a PWM MG in oscillator "B" with its sync at around 1.8%. Then route envelope 2 to the filter cutoff. Envelope 2 should have a decay of around 800 ms, which gives it the plucky sound we're looking for.

The Breakdown Pad

This pad comes in toward the end of the song, in the breakdown section, and it adds a soothing orchestral atmosphere. We need a SawRounded wavetable in oscillator "A", bent all the way, and a Basic Mini in its fourth position in oscillator "B". Envelope 1 should have an attack of around 2 s, and envelope 2 is going to open your filter cutoff very slowly. Set your filter at 1.5 kHz, and for the final touch, add the velocity source to the level of your oscillators so it sounds more natural.

The Ascending Strings

This ascending string melody enters in the breakdown, giving a larger-than-life feeling to the buildup right before the last chorus. To achieve this sound, we need a Basic Shape in its fourth position in oscillator "A", one octave up with its sync at 1.5%, and oscillator "B" uses an ICanHasKick. Both of them are slightly detuned. Once the oscillators are set, envelope 1 needs an attack of around 350 ms, and the filter should cut everything above 4 kHz. Now add some chorus and reverb in the FX tab so it sounds wide and big, and that's it.

Make your own Odd Look-style track.

You've heard how the resonant bass, the arp, the pad and the strings are built. The Darksynth Pack has sounds like these ready to load in Serum, along with the rest of its 130+ presets.

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