Serum · Leads & harmony · Recreation

How to Make a Lead Like Camo & Krooked and Mefjus’ “No Tomorrow” in Serum

To make a lead in the style of Mefjus and Camo & Krooked’s “No Tomorrow” in Serum, the harmony does most of the work: write a chromatic chord progression (a C major chord, then the same chord with every note a semitone up), add a dissonant bass note and a perfect fourth, and set Serum’s pitch bend range to −24 so you can swoop notes up by two octaves. Then play it with simple saw patches, stack three variations and a sub, and mix the layers. This is our own recreation, step by step, with the settings from the screen and audio of each stage.

By DNB Academy · Updated 26 October 2026 · 7 min read · Serum + Ableton Live, beginner to intermediate

This is a recreation for learning, inspired by the main lead in “No Tomorrow”. It’s not the original sound or MIDI: it’s our own patch and progression, built to teach the ideas behind it. For where chords and leads fit in a full track, see the chords step of our drum and bass guide.

Our recreation of the “No Tomorrow” lead in Serum and Ableton Live: the harmony, the pitch bends and the three layers. Every step below links to the moment in the video.

1.Split the lead into three Serum layers and a sub

The sound is simple: three layers of Serum plus a sub, and a bit of basic music theory. Each layer plays a different version of the same harmony with a slightly different sound, and the character comes from how you mix them.

In the project, the lead is a group of three Serum tracks with a separate sub track underneath (watch at 0:54). Layer one, layer two and layer three each play their own MIDI clip over the same four bars, and each has its own EQ Eight devices. Soloing them one at a time is the quickest way to hear what each one adds.

Thinking in layers keeps every part simple. No single patch has to do everything: one can carry the full chords, another only the top line, and the sub holds the low end.

2.Write a chromatic chord progression

The progression starts on a C major chord (C, E and G). The second chord is the same chord with every note moved up one semitone, in a different inversion. Moving whole chords chromatically like this gives the lead its tense, cinematic sound.

Open the MIDI (watch at 1:13). The first chord is C major: C, E and G (on screen G1, C3 and E3). The next chord is the same chord with every note one semitone up: the G turns into a G#, the C into a C# and the E into an F. It just uses a different inversion (C#2, G#2 and F3 on screen). If you bring all of those notes closer together, you can see that the two chords are chromatic chords: the same shape, a semitone apart, with more interesting inversions.

If chords are new to you, our guide to writing liquid DnB chords covers chord shapes and voicings from the start. The same ideas apply here, just pushed somewhere darker.

3.Add a dissonant bass note and a perfect fourth

Under the second chord sits a single dissonant bass note that clashes on purpose. The last chord is an interval rather than a full chord: C and F, five semitones apart, which is a perfect fourth. An extra F stacked lower makes it heavier.

After the chromatic chords comes a dissonant bass note (watch at 1:59). On screen it’s tried on D1 and then D#1, and it sits at a lower velocity than the chords (51 on screen). It’s short, and it adds a moment of tension before the last chord.

The last chord is just an interesting interval: C and F, five semitones apart, which is called a perfect fourth (watch at 2:08). We stack one more layer of it, another F, and bring it down to an F lower in the range. The fourth has no third, so it’s neither major nor minor, which keeps the lead open and a bit ambiguous.

4.Use only the top notes on some layers

The full progression is the source, but most of the sounds only play its top notes. That gives you a clear melody line on top, while the full chords sit in one layer underneath.

This is the progression we use, but in a lot of the sounds we end up using only the top notes (watch at 2:30). In the piano roll, the lower notes are deactivated and only the highest notes of each chord play: E3, then F3, and the F3 again over the last chord. The simplest layer of all only uses the highest note (watch at 3:24).

Across the layers we use different variations of the same intervals with different sounds (watch at 3:12). At this stage it’s a lot about experimenting: try which notes each layer plays and listen to how they combine.

5.Set the pitch bend range to −24 and automate it

One very important detail: Serum’s pitch bend down range is set to −24 semitones, two octaves. Pitch-bend automation at key points then makes the notes swoop up from far below into the chord.

In Serum, the pitch bend range sits in the bottom-left corner, next to the keyboard (watch at 2:43). Here the up range is 2 and the down range is −24. With the pitch bend fully down, a note plays two octaves lower.

Then the pitch bends are drawn as automation on one of the layers, at certain key points. We bend from −24, two octaves down, up to the middle, and later from the middle back down to the full two-octave bend, so the notes swoop in and out (watch at 2:56). The bends line up with the chord changes, which is where they’re most noticeable.

6.Build the patch: an init saw

The patch itself is very, very simple: a saw wave playing the harmony. You don’t need complex sound design when the notes are this interesting.

Let’s build a patch from scratch (watch at 3:47). Start from Serum’s Init preset and use a saw wave (on screen it’s oscillator B with its default saw). Keep the same pitch bend range as before, so this layer can follow the bends too. That’s the whole oscillator section.

7.Add EQ, a multiband compressor and reverb

Three effects inside Serum finish each layer: an EQ that cleans up the low-mid frequencies, a multiband compressor that everything runs through, and some reverb.

On the FX page (watch at 4:00), add an EQ to help clean up the low-mid frequencies: a dip with the low band (it reads 360 Hz on screen while it’s being set). Then run everything through a Compressor with MULTIBAND switched on, which evens out the saw and brings up its detail.

Finally add some Reverb (watch at 4:13). On screen it’s Serum’s reverb in Hall mode. It gives the lead some space without changing the notes.

8.Make variations: unison, or none at all

To vary the patch, add unison for the wider, thicker layers that only play the upper notes, or keep it super simple with no unison. For the simple version, turn random phase all the way down and play one note at a time.

To make a variation, add unison (watch at 4:18). On screen the oscillator is set to 13 unison voices, with the detune shown at 0.05 while it’s being adjusted. This is what we do on the other high layers, the ones that only use the upper notes.

Or you can make it super simple, with no unison at all (watch at 4:33). In that case, make sure you bring the oscillator’s random phase (RAND) all the way down so you get a consistent sound on every note, and then only play one note.

9.Stack the variations and mix the layers

Stack the different variations of the sound with each other, add the sub, then balance them. Simple EQ removes annoying spots, and volume decides how much each layer comes through.

At the end, the sound is about how you play with the mix of the three layers (watch at 3:32). Stack the variations of the sound with itself (watch at 4:47), and bring in the sub underneath.

Then do some simple EQing (watch at 5:39). On one layer, the first EQ Eight makes a gentle cut (−1.61 dB around 1.47 kHz on screen), and the second uses a low cut and deep notches to remove annoying spots (one sits at 2.90 kHz on screen). Then level the layers against each other: on screen the third layer sits much lower than the others, at −14.6 dB.

That is the principle behind this sound. For more Mefjus-style sound design, try our bass like Mefjus in Vital tutorial. For another big recreated lead and how it sits in an arrangement, see our dancefloor DnB tutorial with DC Breaks, and for where this style sits, the dancefloor section of our subgenres guide.

Learn the harmony, don’t copy the track

The real lesson here isn’t the patch. As the video says, at the end you wouldn’t want to copy the exact same track (watch at 5:03). Learn how to create interesting harmonies like these, then use simple sound design to shape them. A few ways to practise:

• Move a chord by a semitone. Take any chord you like and shift every note up or down one semitone. Try different inversions until the notes move smoothly.
• Add one wrong note. Put a short, low note under a chord that doesn’t belong to it, at a lower velocity. Listen to how it adds tension.
• End on an interval. Instead of a full chord, try a fourth or a fifth and stack the root again lower down.
• Split the voicing. Give the full chords to one layer and only the top notes to another.

If you want a structured way to learn this, the Music Theory and Harmony course in DNB Foundations covers chords and progressions for drum and bass.

Common mistakes making a lead like “No Tomorrow”

• Over-designing the patch. The notes do most of the work. A plain saw with EQ, a multiband compressor and reverb is enough.
• Leaving the pitch bend range at the default. Serum’s default range is small. Set the down range to −24 or the bends won’t reach two octaves.
• Every layer playing the full chords. Stacking full chords with unison gets muddy fast. Give the full chords to one layer and the top notes to the others.
• Random phase left up on a simple layer. Each note will sound slightly different. Turn RAND down for a consistent tone.
• Not cleaning the low mids. Several saw layers pile up between the sub and the melody. Cut there, and notch out any harsh spots.
• All layers at the same volume. Level them. One layer may only need to sit far underneath the others.

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• Vital · Bass designHow to Make a Bass Like Mefjus in Vital7 min read · Video + guide
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• Harmony · ChordsHow to Write Liquid Drum and Bass Chords and Pianos18 min read · Video + guide
• Serum · Techy DnBHow to Make Techy Drum and Bass Like Break & DLR: Two Basses in Serum7 min read · Video + guide

FAQ: making a lead like Camo & Krooked and Mefjus’ “No Tomorrow” in Serum

Next steps

Open your piano roll, write the C major chord, move it up a semitone, add the low dissonant note and the C–F fourth, then set Serum’s pitch bend down range to −24 and play it with a simple saw. Build two or three variations and mix them. For every step of a full track, read our guide to making drum and bass; for more Serum sound design, try techy DnB basses like Break & DLR in Serum.

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