Brostep Sound Design in Serum: Multi-Sound Drop Tutorial

What Is Brostep?

Brostep is the subgenre that brought dubstep to the mainstream. Pioneered by Skrillex, Excision, and Datsik in the early 2010s, brostep took the half-time structure of dubstep and filled it with aggressive, complex sound design. It is characterised by rapid-fire bass changes, robotic vocal-like basses, and high-energy drops designed for festival sound systems.

While the term started as somewhat derogatory (from fans of the original UK dubstep scene), brostep has become its own respected genre with a massive global following. The sound design techniques used in brostep are some of the most technically demanding in electronic music.

Sound Design Approach

The Multi-Sound Drop

What defines brostep is the rapid switching between different bass sounds within a single drop. Where riddim might use one bass sound per drop, brostep might use 5-10 different sounds. Each one gets 1-2 bars before switching to the next. This creates a constant sense of surprise and energy.

Design each bass sound independently in Serum. Create 5-8 different patches, each with a distinct character: a growl, a screech, a talking bass, a wobble, a stab, a metallic texture, a filtered sweep. Then arrange them sequentially in your drop.

The Growl Bass

Start with Oscillator A using a complex wavetable. Assign an LFO to the wavetable position at a medium rate. Add heavy distortion (stack Tube + Hard Clip in Serum). Use a band-pass filter with moderate resonance, LFO-modulated for that rhythmic growling movement. Process with OTT at 40-50%.

The Screech

Screech basses use high-resonance filters swept rapidly. In Serum, use a high-pass or band-pass filter with resonance at 60-80%. Assign a fast LFO to the cutoff for rapid filter sweeps. Add distortion before and after the filter for maximum aggression. The screech should cut through the mix at 2-6kHz.

The Talking Bass

Create vocal-like basses using Serum formant filters. Stack two filters in series, both set to vowel-type modes (French LP, German LP). Assign different LFOs to each filter for complex, speech-like movement. Add moderate distortion and OTT to bring out the formant character.

The Metallic Stab

Use FM synthesis in Serum for metallic textures. Enable FM modulation from Oscillator B to Oscillator A. Use a short envelope on the amplitude for a stabby character. Add ring modulation or frequency shifting for inharmonic, metallic overtones. Process with chorus and distortion.

Arrangement

The Build

Brostep builds are designed for maximum tension. Use ascending risers, snare rolls increasing in speed, filter sweeps opening up, and white noise building in volume. The last 4 bars should create almost unbearable tension before the drop.

Many brostep tracks use a vocal hook or sample in the build that gets repeated and pitched up as the energy rises. This gives the audience something to sing along to before the drop destroys them.

The Drop Structure

A typical brostep drop: bars 1-2 (bass sound A), bars 3-4 (bass sound B), bar 5 (fill/transition), bars 6-8 (bass sound C), bar 9 (breakdown moment), bars 10-12 (bass sound D), bars 13-16 (return to bass A or new sound E, building to the end).

Use silence strategically between bass sounds. A beat of silence before a new bass sound makes the transition more impactful. The contrast between silence and maximum bass is what gives brostep its explosive energy.

Resampling Workflow

Resampling is essential in brostep. Design a bass sound, record the output as audio, then chop and rearrange the audio. This lets you create impossible transitions and patterns that you could not achieve playing the synth live.

Layer resampled audio with live synth. Play a bassline on Serum while triggering chopped resampled hits on top. This combination of live and processed elements creates the complex, layered drops that define professional brostep.

Get the Foundation Right

Building a library of base patches to resample from saves massive time. Our Dirty DnB and Dirty Bass House Serum presets include aggressive bass sounds that work perfectly as starting points for brostep sound design. Load a preset, twist the macros, record, resample, and create something entirely new.

Need the full toolkit? The Dirty Bass Master Bundle gives you every preset pack and one-shot sample in one discounted bundle.

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Related Guides

• Riddim Bass in Serum
• Tearout Bass in Serum
• Deathstep Bass Guide
• Best Dubstep Presets
• OTT Compression