Toontrack Superior Drummer 3 - Everything You Need To Know
Toontrack, makers of Superior Drummer and the EZ range of instruments, have today announced Superior Drummer 3, described by Toontrack as 'the complete drum production studio.' The Pro Tools Expert team has been working with Toontrack for some time preparing for this release. James Ivey attended a preview some time ago at Galaxy Studios in Belgium and several of the team have had copies for several weeks.
This release features at least 14 new features. In the coming weeks, we will be going deep into Superior Drummer 3, for those who want an overview here is everything you need to know about Toontrack Superior Drummer 3.
Superior Drummer 3 New Feature At A Glance
In excess of 230 GB of raw, unprocessed sounds in 44.1 kHz/24 bit
Recorded with eleven surround microphones for a completely immersive experience
Playback in stereo up to 11.1 systems
Engineered by George Massenburg
Integrated offline audio to MIDI conversion
Approx. 350 vintage and classic drum machine sounds
35 mixer effects
New and improved scalable interface with detachable windows
Edit Play Style, Tap2Find, Song Creator and Song Track features as well as improved workflow and search functionality added
Built-in MIDI grid editor
DAW automation for built-in macro controls
Drag & drop and import for individual and third party samples
Support for keyboard shortcuts
Save your own projects (including custom samples)
Exclusive Pro Tools Expert First Look Video Of Superior Drummer 3
Pro Tools Expert was given early access to Superior Drummer 3.0. Watch our first look exclusive video to see a selection of new features in Superior Drummer 3.0 such as UI Resizing, New Mixer with Built-in Effects, Marcos and drum hit replacement in Tracker.
New Superior Drummer 3 Kits
Recorded at Galaxy Studios, described as probably the world’s quietest and ideal location for sampling, the core sound library boasts in excess of 230 GB of raw sound material captured in immersive 11:1 audio by award-winning engineer George Massenburg.
Six (6) kits (Ayotte, Gretsch, Pearl, Premier, Ludwig, Yamaha)
Tom shell dimensions cover ranges from 6” to 20”
Optional tool selection available on select kits and instruments (sticks, brushes, rods, felt mallets)
Optional drum head selection available on select kits and instruments
Approx. 350 electronic drum sounds, sampled from vintage and classic drum machines
25 unique acoustic snares, 35 recorded configurations
16 unique acoustic kicks, 27 different recorded configurations
Download the entire Superior Drummer 3 kit list here
Download the mic list and set-up map here
Who Is George Massenburg?
George Massenburg’s contribution to the world of audio technology is hard to emphasize in words. Aside from having produced, mixed or engineered in excess of four hundred records, received almost any industry award thinkable, been inducted into the TECnology Hall of Fame and received an honorary Doctorate of Music at the esteemed Berklee College, he is the inventor of an industry staple: the parametric equalizer. His attention to detail, accuracy, and quality is second to none.
Superior Drummer 3 - New Mixer And Effects
The new mixer includes 35 insert effects which offer low CPU usage, Toontrack claims this turns each channel strip into a virtual sound processing powerhouse.
The mixer also offers the options to route tracks to buss channels for group effects processing.
The mixer at a glance;
35 mixer effects (EQ, delay, reverb, filters, dynamics, distortion, modulation)
Group channel properties
A wide array of presets for all included kits
Individual mic bleed and mic control
Save your own custom instruments (including third party samples and drum stacks)
Download a complete list of the included effects
The New Tracker
The quickest way to describe the new Tracker in Superior Drummer 3 is drum replacement on steroids, a fully featured multitrack audio to MIDI converter. This can then trigger the audio samples contained in Superior Drummer 3
Toontrack says this; "The Tracker introduces the arguably most efficient and accurate audio to MIDI conversion software on the market. Built on a highly advanced instrument recognition neural network, the Tracker detects hits with an unequaled accuracy and speed. With the seamless integration with Superior Drummer 3, replacing or augmenting drums has never been more powerful than now.
Having used it for several weeks it really is very clever, offering amazing automatic tricks lick identifying the audio and matching it, so in most cases it really is as simple as dragging in the audio and Tracker knows what kit parts are which and then maps to that sound. It then offers a deep level of tweaking to deal with any bleed or mis-triggers.
Superior Drummer 3 Grooves
Taking a lot of the ideas from EZ Drummer 2, the Grooves panel in Superior Drummer 3 offers features for finding, customising and working with MIDI. From quickly getting a custom beat going to diving deep into fine-tuning timing and adjusting velocity detail.
Multiple song tracks
Build full drum arrangements
Grid editor to modify patterns
Time and tempo editor integrated in Song Track
Edit Play Style, Tap2Find, Song Creator and Song Track with improved work ow and search functionality added
Integrated grooves and search browser • Text search
Price And Availability Of Superior Drummer 3
All versions come with the exact same software and sound library. The only two things that set the versions apart are pricing and the unique serial number.
REGULAR VERSION
For all new customers that do not own Superior Drummer 2 or EZdrummer 2. $399 | €329 | 2 799 SEK
UPGRADE
For owners of any version of Superior Drummer 2. $199 | €169 | 1 399 SEK
CROSSGRADE
For owners of any version of EZdrummer 2. $299 | €249 | 2 299 SEK
Superior Drummer 3 is released worldwide on September 12, 2017. Upon release, the previous version of Superior Drummer will be discontinued and no longer sold online. It may however remain in some retail outlets as long as stocks last.
DOWNLOAD CONFIGURATION & DISTRIBUTION.
The Superior Drummer 3 software will be delivered as a download, available at the Toontrack website and in the Toontrack Product Manager directly upon purchase or registration, regardless of whether the product is obtained from Toontrack’s web shop or from a third party retailer. The full Superior Drummer 3 core sound library content can be downloaded in convenient parts through the Toontrack Product Manager. At an additional cost, there is also an option of getting the full sound library pre-installed on an SSD hard drive and having it shipped directly to you.
Visit the Toontrack website for more information about Superior Drummer 3 including Superior Drummer 3 upgrade and crossgrade information.