The Final Word in Drum Production
Toontrack's Superior Drummer 3 (SD3) yields endless choices for honing, shaping, and molding drums. Over 230GB of raw sounds were captured at Galaxy Studios by the legendary George Massenburg. There's also drag-and-drop support for individual or third-party samples. SD3's mixer provides advanced routing and control over individual mic bleed, and it's loaded with 35 top-tier studio effects. And with integrated audio-to-MIDI conversion, Superior Drummer 3 provides powerful drum replacement and augmentation. Finding the right groove is easy, thanks to advanced search functions, and you can build and arrange full drum tracks without leaving the program. Complete with custom drum graphics, a scalable interface, and detachable windows, Toontrack's Superior Drummer 3 is the final word in drum production.
Related Videos: Superior Drummer 3 Virtual Drum Software
Over 230GB of top-shelf drum samples
Award-winning engineer George Massenburg recorded the sounds in Superior Drummer 3 at Galaxy Studios in Belgium. He utilized Galaxy Hall (the studio's main multipurpose room), which is renowned for its near-perfect acoustics. Over 230GB of raw, unprocessed sounds were captured with 11 surround microphones for playback in stereo and up to 11.1 surround. George only used world-class gear, including mics from Neumann, Sennheiser, Ehrlund, Beyerdynamic, AEA, Sanken, and Schoeps.
Mix, match, change, and rearrange
Superior Drummer 3 makes finding the right groove easy. Search and browse using the integrated browser, or use the Tap2Find function to match the rhythm that's in your head. From there, you can dive in and fine-tune timing, velocity detail, and more with the built-in grid editor. You can even build and arrange full drum tracks without leaving the program!
Route, bus, send, saturate, and blend
The mixer in Superior Drummer 3 is loaded with 35 studio-quality insert effects, so you can process your drums before they hit your DAW. Create groups, buses, routing, and sends exactly as you would with a hardware mixer. A wide variety of presets are available for all included kits, and you have complete control over mic bleed and more. You can even save your own custom instruments, including third-party samples and drum stacks.
A new breed of audio-to-MIDI conversion
Drum replacement is a staple of modern studio production, and Superior Drummer 3's offline audio-to-MIDI conversion is one of the most powerful we've seen here at Sweetwater. Its advanced instrument recognition neural network detects hits with unparalleled accuracy. In fact, while demoing the software for us, Toontrack was able to extract viable MIDI information from a single stereo drum track. Enjoy seamless SD3 integration, along with MIDI tempo and time map export. You also get single-instrument MIDI export and drag-and-drop functionality.
George Massenburg: a studio legend
The drum sounds in Superior Drummer 3 were engineered by legendary recording engineer George Massenburg (Earth, Wind & Fire; Lyle Lovett; Little Feat; Linda Ronstadt). Besides being the inventor of the parametric equalizer, George has produced, mixed, and engineered over 400 albums, received countless industry awards, been inducted into the TECnology Hall of Fame, and received an honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College. George's painstakingly thorough approach to his projects is evident in everything he touches, and SD3 is no exception.
Superior Drummer 3.1.0
Version 3.1.0 adds new features and enhancements to Superior Drummer 3's already formidable arsenal. Detach the grid editor to its own window for multi-screen support. Rearrange instrument rows to fit the way you work, and resize them horizontally to save screen real estate. The overhauled quantize function supports 0%–100% quantize and swing and randomize options. Beyond that, new keyboard shortcuts are on tap to turbocharge your workflow. You also get several editing enhancements, along with improved search and browsing.
Kits:
- Ayotte Classic
- Gretsch Round Badge 1960s
- Ludwig '70s 3-ply Classic
- Ludwig '70s 3-ply Concert
- Pearl Masterworks
- Premier Genista Birch Original
- Yamaha Beech Custom
- Plus 350 vintage and classic drum machine sounds
Snares:
- 5.5 in. x 14 in. Ayotte Custom Maple
- 5 in. x 13 in. Ayotte Maple Custom Yellow
- 4 in. x 14 in. Gigster "Slim"
- 3.5 in. x 14 in. GMS Brass Piccolo
- 5 in. x 14 in. Gretsch Solid Aluminum
- 5 in. x 14 in. 1930s Leedy Broadway Standard Solid Mahogany
- 8 in. x 14 in. Lignum Custom Pear Stave
- 8 in. x 14 in. Lignum Custom Pear Stave (with extra drumhead)
- 4 in. x 14 in. 1920s Ludwig Black Beauty
- 5 in. x 14 in. Ludwig 400
- 6.5 in. x 14 in. Ludwig Black Beauty
- 8 in. x 14 in. Ludwig Coliseum
- 5.5 in. x 14 in. Ludwig Jazz Festival
- 6.5 in. x 14 in. Ludwig Super-Sensitive
- 7 in. x 14 in. Noble & Cooley Steam-bent Maple
- 6.5 in. x 14 in. Noble & Cooley Zildjian Cast Bronze
- 6 in. x 14 in. Odery Air Control Vented
- 4.5 in. x 10 in. Odery Hard Hoop Aluminum Wood
- 6 in. x 14 in. Pearl Masters Custom
- 10 in. x 14 in. Rogers "Yorktown" Eagle Batch
- 5 in. x 14 in. Slingerland Radio King
- 2.5 in. x 10 in. Sonor Select Force Jungle
- 8 in. x 14 in. TAMA Artwood Maple
- 6.5 in. x 14 in. TAMA Bell Brass
- 6 in. x 14 in. TAMA Warlord Collection Masai Bubinga KGB146
- 5.5 in. x 14 in. Yamaha Copper Nouveau
Tools (available on select kits and instruments):
- Sticks
- Mallets
- Brushes
- Blasticks
- Rods
Microphones:
- AEA R88
- AKG D112
- Beyerdynamic M 201 TG
- Ehrlund EHR-E
- Ehrlund EHR-T
- Neumann KM 184
- Neumann KM 84 (modified by George Massenburg)
- Neumann U47 FETi
- Schoeps CMC 6 MK 4
- Sanken CO-100K
- Sanken CS-1e
- Sanken CU-44X
- Sennheiser e902
- Sennheiser MD 431
- Yamaha Sub Kick
Preamps:
- API Vision Galaxy
- DAD Mic Preamp
- GML 8304
Converters:
- Avid 192 I/O
- DAD AX32
Delay:
- Classic Echo
- Filter Delay
- Tape Delay
Distortion:
- Bitcrusher
- Distortion
- Fat Muff
- Tape Simulator
- Valve Distortion Box
EQ:
- Creative Filter
- EQ
- EQ84
Dynamics:
- Classic Compressor
- Comp 670
- Comp 76
- Compressor/Limiter
- Frequency Gate
- Punch Exciter 361
- Punch Exciter 180
- Transient
- Limiter Pedal
- Multiband Compressor
Reverb:
- 1981 Classic Reverb
- Hall Reverb
- Inverse Reverb
- Plate Reverb
- Room Reverb
- Spring Reverb
Modulation:
- Auto-wah
- Chorus
- Dimension T
- Flanger
- String Machine Chorus
- Phaser
- Tremolo
- Vibrato
Toontrack Superior Drummer 3 Features:
- Drum sample engine with over 230GB of raw, unprocessed sounds
- Captured at Galaxy Studios by the legendary George Massenburg
- Recorded using 11 surround microphones for playback in stereo and up to 11.1 surround
- Drag and drop and import for individual or 3rd-party samples
- Mixer provides control over individual mic bleed and more
- Loaded with 35 studio-quality insert effects for processing your drums before they hit your DAW
- Create groups, buses, routing, and sends exactly as you would with a hardware mixer
- Integrated offline audio-to-MIDI conversion for drum replacement and augmentation
- Search and browse using the built-in browser, or use the Tap2Find function to match the rhythm that's in your head
- Built-in grid editor for fine-tuning timing, velocity detail, and more
- Build and arrange full drum tracks without leaving the program
- Support for keyboard shortcuts and DAW automation for built-in macro controls
- Save your own custom instruments, including 3rd-party samples and drum stacks
- Custom drum graphics, scalable interface, and detachable windows
