Silver Bullet - drBill's Stereo Tone-Amp™ (mk1) Sound Clips
This EDM clip was provided courtesy of Fernando Zamorano, aka Morphido. The clips are 24 bit, 44.1kHz WAV. You can download either ZIP files or individual WAV files. To download WAV files right-click on the links and choose "Save as". Feel free to level-match the tracks within your DAW as you see fit. This track is © 2016 Fernando Zamorano.
Silver Bullet - Morphido Mixes ZIP
Silver Bullet - Morphido ITB Mix
Silver Bullet - Morphido SB Mix
I processed this clip for Fernando to demonstrate how the Silver Bullet can really create an engaging and lively sound for the EDM genre. To increase the RMS slightly while adding some vintage texture I chose the N>A cascaded mode. This yielded a wider sound stage and sense of spaciousness that really draws the listener into the enhanced drama of the mix. Engaging Tight really helped create some clarity in the low end and enabled the kick to punch even harder than it was. I then increased the size of the overall low end using Sub (it is a dance track after all), and balanced out the upper mids and high frequencies using a generous boost of Presence to create a more vibrant and detailed presentation of the midrange than the original mix had. Starting at 0:49 in the song you can hear how the pulsing and swirling high frequency ear candy is brought to the front of the mix. From 1:25 to the end listen to the dynamic solidity of the bass compared to the original track.
The following example is a rock band tracked and mixed at my studio in Fremont, CA in 2002-2003. These clips are 24 bit, 44.1 kHz WAV. To download WAV files right-click on the links and choose "Save as". Feel free to level-match the tracks within your DAW as you see fit.
Void Corp Silver Bullet - Staircase Flatliners ITB Mix
Void Corp Silver Bullet - Staircase Flatliners - Presence
Void Corp Silver Bullet - Staircase Flatliners - Air + Vintage
I went back into the archives and dug up this very old ITB mix I did over a decade ago. The original track was completely mixed in the box using early Waves and UAD plugins. The ITB mix is very dark, lacks punch, and has a swampy low end and veiled top end. Using the Void Corp Silver Bullet I wanted to enhance the "rock action" and restore presence. I decided to present two different variations: one with the Presence frequency selected, and the other with the Air frequency selected. In both versions I chose A>N to first enhance width and shave transients with the "A" Mojo Amp, and then add some meaty rock tone with the "N" amp. The "A" amp was hit hard to increase RMS level substantially and make the drums feel like that were being hit as hard as they were. Tight was engaged to shore up the loose bottom end. One or two clicks of Sub maintained the massiveness of the toms, kick, and Ampeg SVT bass rig. I turned up Presence until the upper mids and top end felt like they were better balanced with the rest of the track. With Air I had the knob almost all the way up. This pulled the cymbals back into the mix and gave the guitars and vocals some attention they were lacking. By switching in Vintage I was able to keep the extreme top end boost smooth.
The following link features a drum loop processed through six different high end saturation devices, one of which (clip #5) is the Silver Bullet. Thanks to Paul Godfrey of Morcheeba for making these clips available. The dry and Silver Bullet processed clip can also be collectively and individually downloaded as well.
Drum Loop Saturation Clips - Soundcloud Link
Silver Bullet - Drum Loop ZIP
Silver Bullet - Drum Loop Dry
Silver Bullet - Drum Loop Saturated
The following sound clips and commentary have been provided by drBill himself. All clips are 24 bit, 44.1 kHz WAV. You can download either ZIP files or individual WAV files. To download WAV files right-click on the links and choose "Save as".
Silver Bullet - Raw Drums ZIP
Silver Bullet - Raw Drums ITB Mix
Silver Bullet - Raw Drums SB Mix
This clip is raw drums - faders up, print. No EQ, No Compression, No Verb. Nothing. Mics > Preamps > Pro Tools HDX. Notice how the snare is the dominant transient element in the basic mix. I have tried to match the snare on both tracks “by ear”. The processing yields a huge difference in RMS energy between the raw clip and the Silver Bullet clip. This is one thing the Silver Bullet does extremely well: shaving transients to yield a larger, bolder, more “compressed” sound with no compression. This allows for hotter, louder, bolder mixes without compression artifacts. In the processed clip the drums open up, become bolder, punchier and more aggressive. The Silver Bullet also brings out the ambience of the room. Both clips feature identical mixes. If you want to match peak or RMS settings in your DAW, feel free to do so.
Thanks to Craig Bunch for his drum expertise, playing and of most of all his guttural passion. Ha!
Silver Bullet - "Silence" Mix Treatment ZIP
Silver Bullet - "Silence" ITB Mix
Silver Bullet - "Silence" SB Mix
Here’s a song that was mixed without the Silver Bullet on the mix bus. It’s a decent mix, but suffers from a bit of “digititus” that so many ITB mixes suffer from. It’s important to note that the Silver Bullet is the only thing on the mix bus. There is no other compression or EQ. My goal was to open up the mix, give it a modern and big feel, and get some breathing room into the mix. Both mixes are similar at first listen, but the heartbeat bass drum and percussion really come to life on the outer frequency extremes of the Silver Bullet mix, and the middle range focus of the mix opens up and becomes more defined in a nice 3D sort of way in the Silver Bullet mix. To me, the Silver Bullet mix just feels more “alive”. The peak levels are identical with each other and RMS is close as well. Loudness was not the aim in processing this song, but rather imaging and getting things to breathe was.
“Silence” courtesy Heart Pearson Music, BMI
Silver Bullet - "Shaken Not Stirred" Mix Treatment ZIP
Silver Bullet - "Shaken Not Stirred" ITB Mix
Silver Bullet - "Shaken Not Stirred" SB Mix
This time, listen to the Silver Bullet mix first, and then switch to the ITB mix. I mixed INTO the Silver Bullet on this tune. Not the other way around (as I did on Silence) I believe that the Bass on this tune was played on a Baritone Guitar or perhaps a Bass VI guitar, so the vibe is authentic, but the bottom end is thinner than I wanted. Also, the drums are spikey without a huge amount of compression, the brass are samples that don’t have that “fullness and bite” of a real section, and the lead guitar is thinner than I’d like. I had some work cut out for me. I dropped the Silver Bullet on my DAW’s mix bus, and used the cascaded A>N MOJO Amps and set it up for punch, girth and loudness. I started right out of the gate with a little BASS EQ on the SB. I wanted to get an older and richer sound than I could achieve ITB, so I also employed the VINTAGE filter. You can really hear the difference with the Baritone Guitar and Kick Drum on the beginning of the piece, but once we hit the “B section” it gets big, fat, compressed and has a nice gloss, but non-digital top end. I probably went a tad over the top with the bottom end, but it made mixing it FUN and I just didn’t want to back off. Switching back to the ITB mix and pulling the Silver Bullet off the mix for comparison makes we want to quit and go watch Gilligans Island re-runs. :-) Boring….and painful to listen to. Digititus at its finest. The Peak to RMS levels give a lot of insight into what the Silver Bullet is doing on this track, i.e. the ITB mix is 4 dB louder, but the Silver Bullet mix sounds roughly twice as loud. (Not to mention fatter, punchier and overall better).
“Shaken Not Stirred” courtesy Heart Pearson Music, BMI
Silver Bullet - Dirty Hip Hop Loop ZIP
Silver Bullet - Dirty Hip Hop Loop ITB Mix
Silver Bullet - Dirty Hip Hop Loop SB Mix
Several people have mentioned that they really like using the Silver Bullet to put a little “hair” and/or “dirt” on a track. If you’ve spent any time listening to solo’d tracks on analog recordings, it becomes obvious pretty quick that digital is way cleaner and more pristine sounding than old school analog recording. And that’s why I thought I’d have a little fun this track. Although legit hip hop is pretty far outside my wheelhouse, even I know that a dirty, gritty, greasy track is often preferred over a pristine loop. So that’s where I headed here. My goal was to grit and grease things up - and also to show what I’ve been talking about for awhile. And that is using the Silver Bullet to process existing tracks BEFORE you get to the mix. So I started out with a couple of StylusRMX loops which were pretty anemic and bland sounding. That’s essentially the ITB mix. Then I processed both the Drums and Bass separately through the Silver Bullet, and then again, together, in the mix. That got things closer to where I wanted them. I think the final result speaks for itself.
Silver Bullet - "Back Porch" TV Cue ZIP
Silver Bullet - "Back Porch" TV Cue ITB Mix
Silver Bullet - "Back Porch" TV Cue SB MIX
A lot of times I mix very mid-range heavy for TV to stay out of the way of dialog, to make sure nothing pops out and gets in the way, and to get the music to organically tuck in with the other audio elements, but this time I got notes: “Brighten it up, and make it more bouncing or lively or vibrant or something….”. So I headed to the Silver Bullet. My interpretation of the notes was that I needed to thicken things up and get rid of the digital HF edge, while making it brighter, bigger and more punchy (bouncy?) sounding. And still stay within the bounds of sounding authentically “back porch”. There is minimal processing on this cue other than the Silver Bullet. Both tracks are peak matched, but the Silver Bullet track is obviously louder. But even when RMS matched, the Silver Bullet mix just seems more “alive” and vibrant. Mission Accomplished. The cue passed muster.
“Back Porch” courtesy Heart Pearson Music, BMI
All tracks © 2017 Louder Than Liftoff LLC, unless otherwise specified.