Timecop1983 "On The Run" Serum Tutorial & Breakdown

We're back with another tutorial, and this time it's one of the biggest names in synthwave: Timecop1983. Below we show how to make the synths from the classic track "On The Run" in Serum, with audio and settings for each. Let's get started and hear the track.

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RELATED BREAKDOWNS

The Running Bass

For this classic bassline, we know Timecop1983 used the classic Korg Polysix so we recreated that sound in Serum. This preset comes from our Outrun pack, and to make it we used a Basic_CJW wavetable on oscillator "A" and an MB Saw wavetable on oscillator "B". The important part of this patch is envelope one, because it gives this preset its characteristic running bass sound. Envelope 1 has an attack time of .5 ms, a decay time of 480 ms, and a release time of 100 ms, and is routed to the filter cutoff at 5 kHz. Also the patch is being side-chained to the kick of the track.

Sequence 1: Octave Saws

To get this sound we use saw waves in both oscillators but oscillator "B" is one octave higher than oscillator "A", both of them have six voices and are slightly detuned. Envelope 1 has an attack time of .5 ms, a decay time of 780 ms and a release time of 650 ms and is opening the cutoff of the filter and adding a little resonance. This patch is in our Retrowave pack.

Sequence 2: The Plucky Sequence

To achieve this plucky sequence we used a preset from our Synthwave pack, with a SawRounded wavetable in oscillator "A" and a Basic_MDC wavetable in oscillator "B", both with ten voices. The important part of this patch is our envelope 1 which has an attack time of .5 ms, a decay time of 300 ms and a sustain of -27 dB and a release of 355 ms, this envelope is routed to the levels of the oscillators and the cutoff of the filter.

Sequence 3: The Chorus Sequence

The chorus of "On The Run" introduces another sequence and drops the other ones. This patch is from our Outrun pack and uses a saw wave on oscillator "A" and a Jno wavetable with the wavetable position in the second position and a bend around 40% on oscillator "B", this sound is also quite plucky so envelope one is very similar to the others, but an important part of this sound is that it uses a phaser and flanger effect in the FX tab.

The Detuned Lead

Last but not least, this detuned lead sound is created with a saw wave in oscillator "A" and a Basic Shape wavetable in the second position in oscillator "B", LFO 1 is modulating the phase on both oscillators and LFO 2 is modulating the fine-tuning, also it has a flanger and erosion effect from Ableton.