I think New Years’ Resolutions suck.
Stick with me for a second. I think New Years’ Resolutions that serve a solely self-fulfilling purpose are awful. People don’t keep up with them for longer than 3 weeks most of the time, so why would you make a resolution you don’t follow just because you can? If you’re going to make one, why not make it about uplifting others instead of yourself? That way, you can help other people and feel good about yourself in the process. It’s easier to keep with when there are two parties that benefit. (Do you see what I’m getting at here?)
Now that that long-winded intro is out of the way, I’ve made a bit of a New Years’ Resolution this year that I don’t think sucks: highlight (and continue to highlight) as many undiscovered music production companies as humanly possible. There are so many undiscovered developers and creators out there that deserve their moment in the spotlight – just like the subject of today’s review.
I recently came across Just Make Music on Instagram Reels, of all places. It’s a plugin and sample company ran by one guy – MacKeNZIe. I was impressed with what I heard on his ads, checked his website out, and was equally impressed by the quality of everything he touched – from the website’s actual build to the samples and presets themselves. Do you know that feeling when you think you’ve uncovered somebody or something on the verge of a massive explosion of popularity? That’s how I felt when looking more and more into Just Make Music.
Of course, I got my hands on a copy of his latest melodic house pack, Moments In Time for Serum 2. Featuring 55 presets (paired with 55 MIDI clips), this pack promises to use all of the best things Serum 2 has the offer and to instantly get your music sounding like what’s coming out of the top artists and labels in melodic house.
That’s a pretty bold statement. Let’s see if it holds true.
Warmth, Beauty, and Customization
There’s a lot to unpack here, so I’ll breeze through what’s available: arps, basses, leads, plucks, pads, and keys that all heavily use Serum 2’s reworked FX and Macro system. The sounds range from purely digital plucks to sampled & analog inspired leads, all clearly made with a passion for melodic house.
It’s not often that I can truly feel a creator’s love for a genre while working with presets, but in this pack, you can tell that MacKeNZIe is a genuine melodic house fan. There’s a lot of attention paid to warmth, subtle movement, and inherently beautiful sounds – all three things that any melodic house producer would find extremely important.
Warmth couldn’t be any more present than in the basses. This pack features some of the warmest, most rich basses I’ve ever used. The one above, Confidence, is a personal favorite – but you’re bound to find one that you love in the pack. Also note that every single macro is used on this bass – you can shape the sound exactly to your liking by simply turning those dials. Obviously, you can mess with specific details on any other aspect of the sound if you’d like, but MacKeNZIe has made it easy for those who just want to plug and play.
As you can see here, the sampler gets a lot of use in this pack, as well. Note that he’s added a vinyl sample to this key, which sounds like an acoustic piano drop (and it’s one of my favorite sounds in the pack).
Even the super simple sounds in this pack are exceptional. Take a look at this pluck, which features no macros, only one oscillator, and not much else. You’d think it would sound thin or lacking, but the result is a highly effective, highly beautiful lead pluck – showing that, in many cases, less is more.
There’s a ton to discover and a ton to enjoy. Now, let’s get into my experience with using them.
Results
When I use a preset, I want to be instantly inspired with it. I want to play a handful of notes and have an entire song pop up in my head. With really good presets, that happens. Guess what happened here.
I made the following demo track in around 15 minutes, featuring only presets from the pack. There’s an atmosphere here that’s from another of MacKeNZIe’s packs on the site, and all the drums are from Output’s Co-Producer. As usual, you are hearing a rough, rough draft (yes, I know the mixing sucks). But, this is just to show you how easy it is to make some really beautiful stuff.
These sounds are about as warm as it gets. Also note that I didn’t use any of the MIDIs from the pack as I prefer to write melodies and chords myself, but those are there for you as well if you’d like to use them.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
Professional, warm, and beautiful sounds.
You’re getting really, really great presets here. I know there are a ton of packs on the market, but I’ve yet to find a pack that feels as warm as this one. If you’re making melodic house, warmth is absolutely essential. (I’m a melodic house producer by the way – so, not to be that guy, but I’d like to think I know what I’m talking about.)
Reasonably priced!
You can get this pack for 30 bucks, or bundle it with a few other packs to save a bunch of cash. Plus, you’re supporting an individual creator here, not a mega-corporation. I’d say the money shouldn’t dissuade you from a purchase.
Cons:
Turn your I/O buffer up.
Less a con and more a warning – you might get some annoying clicks in each preset if your I/O buffer size isn’t high enough. This happened to me (I had it on 32 for some reason), so make sure you increase it before using these sounds.
They can be a bit unwieldy!
Some of the sounds in this pack have a ton going on, and as a result, some resonant frequencies may appear while using. This happened a few times, especially with the piano drop key I spoke about above. Prepare to have a resonance suppressor at the ready (soothe2, Smooth Operator Pro) to quell any annoying frequencies that may come by.
Conclusion: Should you get it?
The bottom line of all of is that, hands down, this is one of the most faithful-to-the-core-of-the-genre melodic house preset packs I’ve ever used. If you’re looking to produce melodic house and want some sounds made by someone who seems to truly “get” the genre, look no further.
Buy “Moments In Time” here.
The post Moments In Time for Serum 2 by Just Make Music Review: Warm Melodic House Beauty, Instantly appeared first on Magnetic Magazine.