Eurobeat is one of those genres that refuses to die. It peaked in Japan in the 90s, got a second life through Initial D memes, and in 2026 it’s still pulling millions of streams. And the core of the sound has always been the same thing: loud, detuned, slightly ridiculous synth leads.
I make Serum presets for a living, and eurobeat was one of the first genres I ever built a pack for. In this post I’ll show you what makes the eurobeat sound tick, how to program it yourself in Serum 2, and which presets to grab if you’d rather skip the sound design and start writing.
Quick note if this post looks familiar: I originally wrote it back in 2022 for Serum 1. Serum 2 came out in March 2025 as a free upgrade for Serum 1 owners, so I’ve rewritten everything around the new version – three oscillators, five engines, the built-in sequencer, all of it helps here.
What eurobeat actually is
Eurobeat grew out of Italo disco and Hi-NRG in the late 80s. The strange part of its history: it’s mostly produced in Italy but consumed in Japan, where labels like Avex released the Super Eurobeat compilations for decades.
The names behind the genre are a small circle of Italian producers and vocalists: Mauro Farina, Dave Rodgers, Clara Moroni, Maurizio De Jorio, Alessandra Gatti and a handful of others, often recording under dozens of aliases. If a track sounds like it was made by an entire scene, there’s a decent chance it was three people in a studio near Brescia.
Sound-wise, the recipe is stable:
- Tempo: classic tracks sit around 150-160 BPM, older ones as low as 125, modern ones push toward 190.
- An octave-jumping synth bass that never stops.
- Big detuned saw leads playing fast melodic runs.
- Dramatic vocals, key changes, and often rock guitars layered under the synths.
The synths are the identity of the genre. Get the lead and bass right and you’re 80% there.
How to build a eurobeat lead in Serum 2
Here’s the patch I keep coming back to. It takes about five minutes.
Oscillators. Osc A: basic saw wavetable, unison 7, detune around 0.18-0.25, blend at 75% so the center voice still cuts. Osc B: same saw one octave up, unison 3, lower in volume by about 6 dB. Serum 2 gives you a third oscillator – I like putting a square wave there at low volume for extra midrange bite, or switching it to the Spectral engine for a glassier top end.
Envelope. Full sustain, zero attack, release around 150 ms. Eurobeat leads are played staccato, so the envelope stays simple – the performance does the work.
Vibrato. This is the detail most people miss. Route an LFO (sine, around 5.5-6 Hz) to global pitch at about 20-30 cents, and delay its onset by 200-300 ms. That delayed vibrato on held notes is the single most “eurobeat” move you can make.
Effects. Hyper/Dimension with 2-3 unison for extra width, a compressor to glue the voices, then a plate reverb kept fairly dry (15-20% mix) and a 1/8 ping-pong delay around 20%. Serum 2’s new FX buses let you send only the lead’s tail into reverb while keeping the attack dry – use that, it keeps fast runs clean.
If you’re new to stacking detuned saws, my supersaw guide for Serum 2 goes deeper into unison, blend and width settings, and the modulation guide covers LFO routing like the vibrato trick above.
The bass: octave jumps at 158 BPM
The eurobeat bassline is almost a percussion instrument. It’s a mono synth playing root notes jumping up and down an octave in straight eighths or sixteenths, all the way through the track.
In Serum 2: one saw oscillator, one square an octave below, no unison, mono mode with a tiny bit of glide (10-20 ms). Filter: low-pass around 400-700 Hz with the envelope modulating cutoff for a short pluck. Zero attack, decay around 200 ms, low sustain. Then distortion – the tube or soft clip mode – just enough to make it growl.
Serum 2’s built-in sequencer is genuinely useful here. Program the octave pattern once inside the preset, hold one key, and the bassline plays itself. That used to require an external MIDI pattern – now it can live in the patch.
Presets that get you there faster
If you’d rather not build all of this from scratch, this is literally what I sell. Our Eurodance Presets for Serum 2 pack is the descendant of the old eurobeat pack this post originally featured – the leads, plucks and basses were built on the classic Super Eurobeat sound and then updated for Serum 2. Here’s what’s inside:
A couple of other packs from our catalog work well for this style too. Creative Leads for Serum 2 Vol.1 has aggressive detuned leads that sit nicely in a eurobeat mix, and if you want that adjacent big-room energy, the Future Rave Serum 2 Presets share a lot of DNA with modern high-BPM eurobeat.
And if you want to test the waters for free first, grab the 250+ free Serum 2 presets – there are plenty of leads and basses in there you can reshape into eurobeat territory with the settings from this post. If presets don’t show up after installing, here’s how to install Serum 2 presets properly.
What about other synths?
You can make eurobeat with almost any subtractive or wavetable synth. The originals were made on hardware like the Roland JP-8000 (the supersaw’s birthplace) and Korg M1. Today the usual suspects are Xfer Serum 2, Sylenth1 and Vital.
I still think Serum 2 is the best pick for this genre. The unison engine is clean at high voice counts, the third oscillator makes layering trivial, and the sequencer handles the octave bass without leaving the plugin. If you’re weighing the free option, my Serum 2 vs Vital comparison breaks down where each one wins.
FAQ: eurobeat production
What BPM is eurobeat?
Most classic Super Eurobeat tracks sit between 150 and 160 BPM. Early tracks from the late 80s were slower, around 125-140, and some modern productions run all the way up to 190. If you’re unsure, start at 158.
What synth is used in eurobeat?
Historically, hardware like the Roland JP-8000 and Korg M1. Today most producers use software – Serum 2 covers everything the genre needs: detuned supersaw leads, octave basses, brass stabs and orchestra hits.
Do the old Serum 1 eurobeat presets still work in Serum 2?
Yes. Serum 2 opens Serum 1 presets and they sound the same. The upgrade was free for Serum 1 owners, so there’s no reason to stay on the old version – you get three oscillators, five synthesis engines and a built-in sequencer on top.
Why does eurobeat sound so energetic?
It’s a stack of small decisions: fast tempo, a bassline that never rests, staccato lead runs with delayed vibrato, frequent key changes, and heavy compression gluing it together. Remove any one element and the track starts sounding like generic dance music.
Start with the free pack
If eurobeat is your thing, the fastest path is: download the free Serum 2 presets, set your project to 158 BPM, program an octave bass, and build the lead with the settings above. When you’re ready for sounds that are already dialed in, the Eurodance pack is waiting.
I run Monosounds.studio and make the packs myself. Ten-plus years of producing, 97+ releases, 16,000+ downloads. Every Serum 2 preset we ship passes a CPU check on a mid-range laptop and gets used in a real track before release. If it does not survive a mix, it does not go in the pack.
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