second session. all about kicks.

MSE showed how to build one from scratch in serum 2 — sine wave, pitch drop via LFO in envelope mode, layered with a few more LFOs at different speeds to shape the attack. one for the body, one for the punch, one for the sharp click on top. also learned why phase matters: random phase off, phase at zero — so every hit starts the same and the speaker pushes forward from the first sample.

then the FX chain: EQ to shape the tone, distortion to add harmonics, compressor to tighten the body without killing the transient, saturation to thicken.

the workflow after that — render 30-40 raw kicks, process them one by one on a dedicated channel, and level-match everything by peak and LUFS. not by ear, not by fader position. by numbers. so when you switch kicks in the live set, the volume doesn’t jump.

spent the whole session on just that.