To paraphrase Withnail: “I’ve made a trailer soundset by mistake!”

Well, that’s not entirely true. It would be more accurate to say that I made a Serum soundset and it changed character during the process.

Originally, my intention was to release a sequel for my first Serum soundset, Alpha. I had made many more cinematic patches after that release and whilst I was curating and collating them, looking for which ones to include in this sequel, I noticed that there was a predominance of big, blasty braam and impact sfx, as well as driving pulses and rhythms, and distorted leads and basses. I had a growing sense that there was something else lurking in these patch folders… Serum Icara.

And as I continued collating these sounds, I started watching a lot of film trailers and got a feel for some more types of sounds I could make to enhance this Icara idea.

Very soon, as is my general way, I had way more trailer-esque sounds than I had ever planned to have. As an example of my ridiculous state of mind, I actually had enough patches for two volumes of Icara and STILL carried on making many more patches. Such a fool!

Nonetheless, this did mean that I could be a bit more strict in my decision-making process, regarding what got in and what didn’t; and it also meant that slightly less trailer-ish, more “underscore” sounds could be returned safely to their rightful home… the Serum Alpha II folder. Oh yes, that will still be coming.

Another little thing that happened on the journey was that I received an email from a trailer composer from Canada. He was telling me about a social media group he was in for trailer composers and that my synth programming occasionally got mentioned there, which was nice. He also brought up the topic of “augmented” patches; patches that could be layered effectively with orchestral sounds, to provide them with a bit more lift and depth, or even just a slight “otherworldliness”.

So, remembering this conversation, I set about adding a few patches of that nature to Icara. Epic brass sounds, fragile strings, even some staccato/ostinato stuff.

I think it adds some extra weight to the soundset, which now has a broader collection of sounds that can work beyond epic and trailer music too.

Hope you enjoy it!