Serum · Harmonics & movement · Recreation

How to Make a Foghorn Bass Like Skantia & Annix’s “Clapper” in Serum

To make a foghorn bass like the ones in Skantia & Annix’s “Clapper” in Serum, build the sound from a sub and two single harmonics, then move the level of each harmonic over the whole riff with long LFOs. Distortion, an automated reverb and a multiband drive do the rest. Below is our own recreation, presented by Paulo from DNB Academy, with the settings from the screen and audio of the patch at each stage.

By DNB Academy · Updated 28 October 2026 · 9 min read · Serum + Ableton Live, intermediate

This is a learning recreation inspired by the basses in “Clapper”, not the original sound or preset. The point is the workflow: combining harmonics and shaping their amplitudes by hand. For every bass type in one place, see our drum and bass bass guide.

The full walkthrough with Paulo from DNB Academy: a foghorn bass inspired by “Clapper”, built from an initialised Serum patch and processed in Ableton Live, followed by a run of variations. Each step below links to its moment in the video.

1.Write the notes and the pitch bend

The riff is two long notes, an A and then an E, and each one starts with a pitch bend. The bend is part of the foghorn character, so program it before you touch any knobs.

In the session (watch at 0:55) the clip plays an A and then an E. The pitch-bend automation bends into the start of each note: on the first note it comes back to centre within the note, and on the second it ramps back more slowly and settles at a bar line. In Serum, the pitch-bend range at the bottom left reads 1 up and −2 down at this stage.

2.Build the sound from a sub and two harmonics

The key to this sound is the combination of a few harmonics plus distortion, and the movement you add to the level of each harmonic. Start with clean sines and reduce each oscillator to one harmonic.

Turn on the sub and oscillator B, and load sine waves on oscillators A and B (watch at 1:44). At first that’s just a very big sine. Now set the harmonics in Serum’s wavetable editor: on oscillator A use bin 3, and on oscillator B use the octave of bin 3, which is bin 6. The oscillator displays now show three and six cycles of a sine.

Then bring the random (Rand) knob on the oscillators all the way down so every note sounds the same, and set the phase so each waveform starts at the beginning. That gives you a constant, repeatable starting point for the movement later on.

3.Add a filter, distortion and an automated reverb

A filter before the distortion adds a bit of texture, the distortion combines the harmonics, and a reverb that rises over the riff gives you a whole phrase of variation from one patch.

In the FX tab (watch at 2:30), add a Filter before the Distortion, then a Reverb. On screen the filter type is Serum’s Reverb filter, the distortion is Tube and the reverb is set to Hall. Boost the distortion’s drive.

Now automate the reverb. Set LFO 2 to 8 bars, because the sound is a whole riff, and map it to the reverb’s mix. Draw a rising shape and leave the last point where the riff ends. As the phrase plays, the reverb grows, so one patch already gives you several variations of the sound.

4.Understand how the harmonic levels shape the sound

Before adding more modulation, it helps to hear what each harmonic does. Changing the amplitude of each one changes the whole character of the bass.

To illustrate it (watch at 3:31), Paulo brings the sub and oscillator A down, so oscillator B’s harmonic becomes far more prominent. Automate that harmonic’s level and you get a really cool movement. Leave it constant (around 40% in the video) and automate oscillator A instead, and you get the mids. The sub can be boosted too, but it gets overwhelming quickly.

You can also change the interval: pitch an oscillator up an octave, or move it a few semitones to make other intervals such as a fifth. All the movements and combinations of these three layers and their harmonics are the key to this type of sound, at least in this workflow of modulating the amplitudes by hand.

5.Move the oscillator levels with 8-bar LFOs

Now set the balance: a quiet sub, a lower oscillator A and oscillator B as the star of the show. Two long LFOs then hand the sound from one harmonic to the other across the riff.

Reset oscillator B, bring the sub down to around 7% and lower oscillator A (watch at 5:03). Map LFO 1 to oscillator B’s level, set the rate to 8 bars (the length of the riff) and the mode to trigger. Draw a shape that jumps up at the start and then falls, but don’t let it fade completely: as the phrase goes on, this harmonic combines with the reverb and creates another cool texture. To place points on the grid, double-click to add a point and hold Alt to snap it.

Next, make oscillator A fade out as oscillator B becomes more prominent (watch at 6:16). Use another LFO (LFO 3 on screen), again at 8 bars in trigger mode, and draw a rising shape. Map it to oscillator A’s level with the modulation going downwards (a negative amount), so as the LFO goes up, oscillator A goes down. As the riff progresses it removes amplitude from oscillator A, and the sound becomes cleaner because oscillator B is more present.

6.Drive each band with Trash 2 in multiband mode

A multiband distortion lets you shape each harmonic on its own, because each band ends up holding one layer of the sound.

After Serum, add iZotope Trash 2 and set it to Multiband mode (watch at 6:56). Set the low band to around 200 Hz and the next crossover to around 800 Hz (the readouts show 230 Hz and 736 Hz). Now each band contains a specific harmonic: the low band is the sub, the middle band is oscillator A and the top band is oscillator B.

Then drive each band. On the low band, choose Crunchy Grunge from the Drive types and add a bit of drive (3.1 on screen). Use the same type on the middle band and boost it a little (1.9 on screen), then the same again on the top band, pushed harder. The point is to drive and shape each harmonic separately rather than distorting the whole sound at once.

7.Push the reverb filter, then EQ and reverb

This is the stage to experiment. Paulo goes back into Serum, doubles down on the Reverb filter, then finishes the tone with an EQ boost and more reverb.

He recommends trying all the different distortions and settings in Trash, and not only using Trash (watch at 8:15). Back in Serum, he boosts the Reverb filter’s drive a lot, adds even more reverb and experiments with the filter cutoff. This type of sound and workflow gives you a lot of room to go your own way.

Then leave Serum’s effects and add a regular EQ (EQ Eight in the video): a boost around 1 kHz and a bit of a boost in the highs. Finally, add a bit more reverb with a reverb plug-in after it. That’s the finished tone; the last step adds rhythm.

8.Add movement with Auto Pan

Auto Pan turns into an amplitude modulator when you set its phase to zero, which gives the end of the riff a fast, rhythmic pulse.

Add Ableton’s Auto Pan (watch at 9:27). Set the amount to 100% and the phase all the way down to 0: both channels now move together, so it works as an amplitude modulator, like another LFO. Set the rate to 1/16 notes and the offset to 180° so the shape starts at the very beginning, at zero. Then automate the amount so the pulse comes in where you want it, for example towards the end of the phrase.

9.Make your own variations

Once the patch works, change the harmonics, intervals and movements and you get a new bass with the same technique. The second half of the video is a run of these experiments.

Ideas from the video (watch at 10:36):

• Other harmonics. On oscillator B, use bin 4 instead of 6, or its octave, bin 8. On oscillator A, try bin 2 instead of 3, or bin 8. Something extreme like bin 24 is too much.
• Other intervals. Pitch an oscillator up seven semitones for a fifth; in the video that gave a really nice variation.
• More brightness. Add some noise.
• A different riff. Play only the E, or bend the pitch up instead of down with the bend range raised to 2.
• Different LFO shapes. Redraw the level LFOs, move or delete points, and push the Auto Pan amount further.
• Unison. Add unison voices to oscillator B (16 on screen) and play with the detune. Changing the detune changes the speed of the movement; Paulo also tries it with oscillator A switched off.

That’s how a recreation turns into a sound of your own: you learn how it was made, then apply the concept your way. For other horn-like basses, see our foghorn bass like IMANU & Buunshin’s “Nagow” and the foghorn bass in Vital. For where this style of bass sits, read the jump up section of our subgenres guide.

Common mistakes with harmonic foghorn basses

• Too much sub. The sub is a layer, not the star. Keep it low (around 7% in the video) and let oscillator B’s harmonic carry the sound.
• Letting a harmonic fade to silence. The level LFO on oscillator B shouldn’t drop to zero; the leftover harmonic mixing with the reverb is part of the texture.
• LFOs that don’t match the riff. Set the LFOs to the length of the phrase (8 bars here) and use trigger mode so every play starts from the same point.
• Distorting everything at once. Split the sound into bands that match your harmonics and drive each one on its own.
• Random phase left on. With Rand up, each note starts differently. Turn it down so the movement is consistent.
• Copying instead of learning. Treat the bins, intervals and shapes as a starting point and change them.

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• Serum · RecreationHow to Make a Foghorn Bass Like IMANU & Buunshin’s “Nagow” in Serum8 min read · Video + guide
• Vital · Bass designHow to Make a Foghorn Bass in Vital6 min read · Video + guide
• Serum · RecreationHow to Make Basses Like Bou’s “Poison” in Serum7 min read · Video + guide
• Guide · Jump upHow to Make Jump Up Drum and Bass: Basslines, Wobbles and Formants19 min read · Video + guide

FAQ: making a foghorn bass like “Clapper”

Next steps

Start with the core: a quiet sub, bins 3 and 6, a Tube distortion and two 8-bar LFOs on the levels. Once that moves the way you want, add the multiband drive and the Auto Pan pulse. For another harmonics-and-distortion recreation, try our basses like Bou’s “Poison” in Serum; for more bass types and when to use them, read our drum and bass bass guide.

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