Wide Blue Sound has announced the Silencer plug-in, claiming to ‘effectively supercharge already-owned reverb plug-ins to take sound design and mixes to the next level’.
The process uses a patent-pending process called TimeGate, which resets the reverb signal on each note, silencing reverb that would otherwise sustain over multiple notes and accumulate frequencies that clutter clarity and intelligibility of instruments, vocals and mixes as a whole.
The TimeGate slot hosts userd’ favourite reverb plug-ins and re-triggers them using a CPU process that clears the buffer and starts new reverb for each audio transient. Benefits include punchier-sounding drums; clear leads, chords and vocals; and vintage sample-sounding beats. Even though all such examples work well with conventional reverb sounds, users are encouraged to use Silencer to design the most dirty, cinematic, or otherworldly reverbs imaginable for themselves, then use re-triggering to turn it into a polished but surreal mix – and all with unparalleled levels of control. It is also possible to trigger reverbs via Midi notes, the audio transients of a sidechain signal, or manually perform/automate it via the trigger button.
Three modules use the incoming dry signal to control various effects on the wet signal: Strip adds massive weight and air by using the BBE Sonic Maximiser algorithm, while Gate can add groove to reverbs (using the dry signal for detection) to give them a punchier sound, and Spread pans the dry and wet signals in opposite directions, creating a 3D effect used on radio hits to carve out room in the centre of the mix while still adding dimension. Second, Focus EQ enables users to enhance the important frequencies of any instrument by cutting the reverb and optionally boosting the dry signal at the same critical frequency; and Sidechain compresses the reverb based on the dry signal with Silencer taking care of the routing, Release provides different tones, while a filter assists users with fine-tuning the detection circuit (by telling Silencer which frequencies to listen to from the dry signal).
Silencer users can add their favourite VST effect plug-ins to its Plugin Manager for speedy access; as such, these only affect the wet reverb signal. Silencer also allows favourite reverb set-ups to be saved in one place, regardless of plug-ins used.
‘We adore reverb; it's our favourite effect,’ says Wide Blue Sound founder and CEO Nathan Rightnour. ‘From day one, however, we were clear about one thing: we didn’t want to push another reverb algorithm into the market. Reverb takes a long time to get right, evidenced by the fact that the finest reverb-makers specialise in only doing that. We’re music producers first, and if we could continue using all our favourite reverbs, we’d rather do that. Silencer is future-proof and will work with your current and future reverb plug-ins. It’s the best of all reverb worlds. We like to joke that the last reverb you’ll ever need isn’t a reverb at all.’
Silencer supports macOS 10.13 High Sierra (and above) – it is optimised for Apple Silicon – and Windows Vista (and above); its CPU and RAM usage is minimal, while such usage is up to the user when employed as a plug-in host. Silencer itself runs in all modern plug-in formats, such as AAX, AU and VST3, but is currently capable of only loading VST3 plug-ins for stability and user experience reasons.
Silencer is available to purchase at US$99 directly from the Wide Blue Sound website, which also includes more in-depth information.
