Serum · Foghorn bass · Recreation

How to Make a Foghorn Bass Like IMANU & Buunshin’s “Nagow” in Serum

To make a foghorn bass in the style of IMANU & Buunshin’s “Nagow” in Serum, load a spectral wavetable (Creeper) with the Bend − warp mode, layer a sub and white noise, and push all three through tube distortion. A Band 24 filter moved by an LFO envelope adds the growl, then an EQ and a saturator outside Serum decide which harmonics get distorted. This is our own recreation, step by step, with the settings from the screen and audio of the patch as it grows.

By DNB Academy · Updated 26 October 2026 · 8 min read · Serum + Ableton Live, intermediate

This is a recreation for learning, inspired by the main bass in “Nagow”. It’s not the exact sound: it’s our own patch, built from an init preset, to teach the sound design ideas behind it. For a broader map of bass types, see our drum and bass bass guide.

Our recreation of the “Nagow” foghorn bass in Serum, from an init patch to the post-processed sound. Every step below links to the moment in the video.

1.Pick a spectral wavetable and add Bend − warp

An init saw is too plain for a foghorn bass. A wavetable from Serum’s Spectral section, with the wavetable position and a Bend − warp mode dialled in, gives you a more aggressive, crunchy starting point.

Initialise a patch in Serum (watch at 0:26). On oscillator A, load a wavetable from the Spectral section: on screen it’s Creeper [SN]. On its own it sounds even worse at first, but moving the WT POS knob makes it more interesting. Then set the warp mode to BEND − (watch at 1:05) and move the warp knob: the sound becomes more aggressive and crunchy.

2.Layer a sub and noise, then add tube distortion

The foghorn needs weight underneath and grit on top. Serum’s sub oscillator and a white noise layer sit under and over oscillator A, and one tube distortion glues all three together.

Turn on the SUB oscillator and the NOISE oscillator (watch at 1:24), and change the noise sample to BrightWhite. Then, on the FX page, add a Distortion set to Tube to distort the three layers together. The drive reads 29% on screen as it’s being set. You can already hear the potential of this setup.

3.Turn random phase down for a consistent tone

If every note sounds slightly different, that’s oscillator A’s random phase. Turning it down makes the bass start the same way every time, and the phase knob then lets you choose that starting point.

Notice that each time a note plays and the sound resets, the tone changes (watch at 1:55). That’s because oscillator A’s RAND (random phase) is turned all the way up. Bring it down to 0% and you get the same sound on every note. You can then experiment with the PHASE knob to change where the waveform starts.

4.Add a Band 24 filter with an LFO envelope

Filtering oscillator A before the distortion adds movement in the lower harmonics, which the distortion turns into a growl. A band-pass filter swept by a slow LFO in envelope mode shapes that growl over each note.

Turn on the FILTER for oscillator A (watch at 2:28). We want more movement in the lower harmonics before they hit the distortion, which creates that growly type of sound. Pick a band-pass: Band 24 on screen. Moving the cutoff already adds a growly, “bowly” movement. Now put LFO 1 on the cutoff, make it slower (1 bar), switch it to ENV mode, and play with its curve: raise the tension of the curve’s first point and bring the modulation amount a little lower (watch at 2:57).

For more on why filtering before distortion matters, our future DnB noise bass in Vital tutorial, also inspired by IMANU and Buunshin, works with the same pre-distortion idea.

5.Push the distortion with a multiband compressor

A multiband compressor placed before the distortion adds gain going into it, so the distortion works harder and brings up more noise. Rebalance the noise level afterwards.

Go back to the effects and add a Compressor with MULTIBAND on, before the distortion (watch at 3:24). It’s there to add a bit more gain before the distortion. Because that creates more noise, bring the noise oscillator’s level a bit lower.

6.Add a noise rattle and a high-passed chorus

A fast LFO on the noise level makes the top of the bass rattle. A chorus with its high-pass on widens the harmonics while the sub stays mono.

Map a different LFO, LFO 2, to the noise oscillator’s level (watch at 3:48). Increase its rate to create a rattle-type movement, and experiment with the LFO’s shape. We leave the rate at 1/64. Then add a Chorus and click its HPF button so the sub isn’t affected by it. Set the high-pass around 350 Hz (it reads 323 Hz on screen while being set), so the stereo feel is only on the harmonics above the sub, and bring the chorus mix a bit lower.

7.Move an EQ bell inside Serum

One more layer of movement: an EQ bell whose frequency is modulated by the same LFO as the filter, adding motion in the lower harmonics.

Add Serum’s EQ and use its bell (watch at 4:42). Map the same LFO 1 to the bell’s frequency (around 266 Hz on screen while setting it) and fine-tune the amount until the movement sounds right. That’s it inside Serum.

8.Post-process: an EQ into a saturator

The most useful part of this sound happens after Serum. An EQ placed before a saturator decides which harmonics get distorted: cut the sub, then boost a bell in the low mids, around 450 Hz, for an evil, growly tone.

In Ableton, add an EQ Eight followed by a Saturator (watch at 5:24). Crank up the saturator’s drive (14.9 dB with Analog Clip on screen). Now any bell you boost in the EQ decides the tone you get after the distortion. First, get rid of the sub with a low cut: you don’t want to distort the fundamental. Then focus on harmonics in the low mids, which give that evil, growly sound. Around 450 Hz (454 Hz, +10 dB on screen) those growly harmonics get pretty noticeable (watch at 6:20). Playing with this bell gives you a lot of room to experiment.

If you want to see a different Serum bass shaped this way, our heavy DnB bass sound design in Serum tutorial also leans on post-processing.

9.Shelf the noise, then add OTT, reverb and chorus

A second EQ tames the noise with a shelf, OTT with its time all the way up adds density, and reverb plus a second chorus give the foghorn some space.

Add another EQ Eight to double up on the shaping (watch at 6:52). The noise felt like too much, so add a shelf: on screen a high shelf at 3.03 kHz, −4.83 dB. After the saturator, add OTT, pull the Time all the way up (1000%) and add some output gain. Then add some ambience with a Reverb (watch at 7:24), another Chorus, and a duplicate of the OTT after the chorus.

10.Shape and modulate the distorted harmonics

Go back to the first EQ and keep adding points you want the saturator to distort. Modulating that EQ’s frequency adds another interesting movement, and boosts on the second or third harmonic, or a notch, can take the sound in new directions.

Return to the EQ before the saturator and add points you want to get distorted (watch at 7:48). You can really dial in the combination of harmonics this way, and with enough tweaking you may get close to the original. But once you understand it, experiment and make your own version. One suggestion from the video: modulate the frequency of this EQ’s bell (watch at 8:20). That adds quite an interesting movement. Also try boosting a bell a lot, try the second or third harmonic, or add a notch.

After some fine-tuning, the video plays the final sound (watch at 8:58). The key, again, is to experiment: the Bend knob, the filter cutoff and the wavetable all change the result. For where a bass like this sits among the styles, see the neurofunk section of our subgenres guide.

Common mistakes making a foghorn bass in Serum

• Leaving random phase up. Every note will sound different. Turn it down and choose the start point with the phase knob.
• Distorting the sub. Cut the fundamental in the EQ before the saturator, and high-pass the chorus so the sub stays clean and mono.
• Filtering after the distortion. The Band 24 filter goes on the oscillator, before the distortion, so the moving low harmonics turn into a growl.
• Too much noise. The multiband compressor and OTT both bring the noise up. Lower the noise level and shelf the top end.
• Stopping inside Serum. The EQ-into-saturator stage is what shapes the final tone. Spend time on its bells.
• Chasing an exact copy. Use the recreation to learn the principles, then move the warp, cutoff and EQ until it’s your own sound.

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FAQ: making a foghorn bass like IMANU & Buunshin’s “Nagow” in Serum

Next steps

Open Serum, load Creeper with the Bend − warp, add the sub, noise and tube distortion, and build the growl with the Band 24 filter and its LFO envelope. Then spend most of your time on the EQ before the saturator. For more bass types and when to use them, read our drum and bass bass guide; for more Serum sound design, try a bass like Noisia’s Diplodocus in Serum.

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