The Weeknd "Out Of Time" Breakdown: Synths in Serum

"Out of Time" is The Weeknd's third single from his fifth studio album, Dawn FM, and in our opinion the best song on it. In this tutorial we cover it in detail. The song shows The Weeknd moving away from the synthwave and pop we were used to and diving into 80s R&B and soul. It also helps that the sample used throughout the whole song, "Midnight Pretenders" by Tomoko Aran, is just amazing, so let's give it a listen.

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The Bass

This bass is the life of the track: it brings groove and rhythm the second it starts playing. To make this patch, we sampled a Fender bass and dropped it into the noise oscillator (always sample a sustained "C" note). Then enable One Shot mode and pitch tracking in the noise oscillator and pitch it 12 semitones up. Then add a sine wave in each oscillator and use envelope 2, with a decay of 750 ms and a release of 15 ms, to modulate the filter cutoff.

The Guitar

This instrument was also sampled, but this time we didn't use the noise oscillator. We created our own wavetables from a one-shot of a Fender Telecaster we have at the studio. Grab your one-shot, import it into the wavetable editor and choose the Constant Framesize (Pitch Avg) option. Then use LFO 1 to move the wavetable position (as seen in the image below). For the final touch, envelope 2 is modulating the filter cutoff with a decay of 250 ms, which makes the patch sound plucky and closer to a muted guitar. Then add a quarter-note delay and that's it.

The Keys

To make these keys sound as close as possible to the ones in the track, we needed two layers: the first one gives a lot of high frequencies, while the second gives a lot of body and warmth.

Layer 1

To program this Rhodes-style patch in Serum, use a Harmonic Subtle in oscillator "A" and a Basic Mini in oscillator "B". Modulate the filter cutoff with envelope 2 and set the resonance at 10%. The important part of this layer is that LFO 1 is modulating the Amp; you set this up in the Matrix tab. This modulation creates the vibrato effect.

Layer 2

Since the first layer provides all the brightness, this layer complements it perfectly by giving the sound all its warmth and body. To make it, we started with two sine waves, one in each oscillator, with 5 to 6 voices and a little detune. To get the same vibrato effect as in the first layer, use LFO 1 to modulate the volume of the oscillators and the Amp (the rate should be the same as in the first layer).

The Brass Lead

The "Out Of Time" lead has a characteristic brass sound, and it seems to run through some distortion. To start, use an ICanHasKick in oscillator "A" with four slightly detuned voices. In oscillator "B" use a Basic Shape in its second position, with some frequency modulation coming from oscillator "A" (around 30% is fine). Then, for the characteristic brass sound, you need envelope 1 to have an attack between 50 and 80 ms, routed to the filter cutoff.

The Synth

This synth is a third layer for the keys, playing the same chord progression. To make this preset we need an ICanHasKick in oscillator "A" with seven voices and an SQR_SAW_Wrd in oscillator "B" with a sync warp at 2%. Envelope 1, which is modulating the filter cutoff, has an attack of around 70 ms. To make it sound wider, use a chorus and a Hyper Dimension in the FX tab.

The Flute

We almost didn't make this tutorial because of this preset: for some reason, it took us a while to get the right sound. First you need an ICanHasKick in oscillator "A" with nine voices and a SAW_SQR_Wrd in oscillator "B". The trick to this sound is envelope 2: route it to the levels of the oscillators and to the filter cutoff. This envelope should have an attack of around 110 to 130 ms to get this flute-like sound.

In the FX tab, add some Hyper Dimension, some chorus and reverb, but the most important part is to have an EQ cutting everything below 600 Hz and everything above 2 kHz.

The Cascading Arp

We left the best part for the end. This amazing sound is actually quite common in this genre. Use a sine wave in oscillator "A" with some frequency modulation coming from oscillator "B", and in oscillator "B" use a WahWah wavetable with some sync at around 1.50%. Use one LFO to modulate the Amp (you do this in the Matrix tab) for a vibrato effect, and be sure not to activate Mono or Legato, because you need the notes to overlap to get this cascading sound.

Make your own Out Of Time-style track.

You've heard how the bass, the guitar and the keys are built. The Indie Pop Pack has them ready to load in Serum, along with the rest of its presets. Use code SP01 at checkout for 20% off

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