How It Was Made: Passenger 10 – Druids (Enormous Tunes)

Passenger 10’s Druids feels like one of those tracks that doesn’t just land—it makes an entrance. It’s melodic house in its purest form: sharp, emotional, and undeniably effective. The melody hooks you right away, but it’s the weight behind the production that keeps you locked in. Whether you’re on a packed dancefloor or just zoning out on your own, this track knows exactly where it belongs—and it’s everywhere.

Talking with Passenger 10 about Druids, you can tell he’s all about precision. The lead melody comes straight from his own CERBERUS 1000 preset pack, and honestly, it’s a standout sound. He mentions wanting to nod to Tiësto’s Lethal Industry vibe, but what he’s done here feels completely his own. Layering that lead with a supersaw in the drop was a move that gives the track its massive, full-bodied feel, but it never loses its clarity. There’s a restraint in how he shapes the sounds—every filter tweak and modulation serves a purpose.

It’s this balance—big energy with meticulous control—that makes Druids hit so hard and we’re stoked that he spent the time to share the sauce on how this track came together and the plugins needed to make it all happen!

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Serum

The lead synth used for the main melody is my own preset pack called CERBERUS 1000 which can be purchased on soundsphat.com. 

The idea to reproduce the legendary Leathal Industry sound from Tiesto’s classic was on my to-do list, when I produced the preset pack. And when I had the preset it sounded so good, that I knew I wanted to create a new track with it. And that’s what I did. In the drop that sound layers with a supersaw sound also from that Serum preset pack.

The main preset is very close to how it sounds on the preset pack, I pretty much left it untouched. As for the supersaw sound I used some cutoff filtering tools to shape it and being able to add in some live and modulation.

Having a useful preset pack and organizing the sounds/presets in a way that allows quick access to the exact sound you need is key for me, and I recommend this to every producer. That’s also why I spent months creating my own preset bank — just to have everything I need readily available. This goes for any synths you are using.

Bass XXL

This plugin allows me to shape, enhance and mix my basslines, kickdrums and general low end in a way that it enriches a track sometimes up to 20%. It can really make an average kickdrum sound like a thundering kick which is hard to achieve with regular EQing or compression. Especially the harmonic saturation feature is very useful to control and modulate low end sounds. So it became my go-to plugin when it comes to low end.

Try to use it as an addition to your EQing. This plugin works best if it is added very subtle and just enhances the EQing. Dial it in slowly to understand what it does to your sound and find the sweet spot.

Split EQ

A super useful tool in my studio is the Split EQ from Eventide. Being able to EQ tonal and transients separately is phenomenal. This plug in is one of the best findings of mine in the past few years, as it handles a process that is super useful for dance and electronic music. 

I often times had to work with multiple plugins, like EQ, compression and transient shaping tools at the same time to achieve results that can now being achieved easily with Split EQ. This has become a go-to plugin for me over the years.

Use it to shape your transients, or mix your sounds in a way no EQ or transient shaper can.

Replika XT

As a third pick, I chose my go-to delay plugin. Just for the fact this delay plugin is not really getting the recognition it deserves. Many people go for H-delay or Echoboy, which both are great tools as well. But for me Replika handles delays best. With being the delay tool that has the widest delay in my opinion, I can easily shape my delays in a way that the effect is not canceling out my main sounds.

The delay sits perfectly on the sides of the stereo image and has a warm and rich sound. So, to all the producers that didn’t try this delay out just yet, just give it a go and see if it works for you as good as it works for me.

Tips For Making Melodic House

Tip #1: Be authentic. Follow your musical taste, not the musical trends. If you keep delivering authentic music, the trends will find you.

Tip #2: Have fun making music. Have fun creating melodies. This kind of genre requires to be able to work and joggle with melodies and sound-design that goes well with those melodies.

Tip #3: Music is your life? Make your girl/boyfriend second priority. The girl/boyfriend(s) will come once the music is good and successful. 😉

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