Toontrack Superior Drummer 3 (Download)

Superior Drummer 3 is more than a drum production tool – it’s a virtual studio introducing endless possibilities for you to hone, shape and mould your drums without any thinkable creative restraints. Building on the legacy of its predecessor, Toontrack have redesigned it from the ground up to introduce a completely new and improved workflow, countless added features and an unequalled amount of raw sound material. With Superior Drummer 3, you are in total control.

Toontrack recorded SD3's vast 230GB library at Galaxy Studios in Belgium, a space famed for having only 14 dBA of environmental noise - literally one of the quietest recording spaces in the world! Renowned production guru George Massenburg combined perfect acoustics, unparalleled recording technology and a wealth of experience to make this one of the most comprehensive, detailed and expressive sample libraries ever released.

So What's New?

Toontrack have pulled out all of the stops with this release - compared to Superior Drummer 2, this is an entirely different beast! Here are the new features at a glance:

• 230GB+ of raw samples in 44.1KHz / 24-bit (over 12 times the size of SD2)
• 6 drum kit brands with 14 different kit configurations
• Ready for Surround playback (5.1, 9.1 and even 11.1!)
• 16 kicks and 25 snares to choose from
• Approximately 350 drum machine and electronic sounds
• 35 mixer effects
• Presets curated by the likes of Bob Rock, Andy Sneap, George Massenburg and more
• Advanced algorithm for tuning of drums and cymbals
• MIDI groove banks
• Edit Play Style, Tap2Find, Song Creator and Song Track features
• Improved workflow and search functionality
• Scalable interface with keyboard shortcut support
• Customizable mixer layout

The Ultimate Drum Production Studio

Superior Drummer 3 is your one-stop go-to drum plugin to nail pretty much any drum sound, groove or effect for your next track. Not only can you deep-edit the midi-tracks and nail authentic drum sounds - well frankly, some of the best drum sounds available to date - you can also mix them to taste.

• You can add bleed from other mics (as this would happen in a real studio) as well as add up to 35 different mixer effects including distortion, modulation and compression.
• You can edit the tracks within the software itself with the grid editor.
• You can drag and drop 3rd party drum samples to get your own sounds if you wish.
• You can easily mix and match different drum sounds and different drum kits including acoustic and electro/drum machine sounds.
• You can use samples, loops and presets for on the fly writing or to build whole tracks including basic beats and complex fills and grooves.

Here's what Toontrack say about Superior Drummer 3

With Superior Drummer 3, we have pushed the boundaries of what can be done with digital drum production.

The Complete Drum Production Studio

Superior Drummer 3 is more than a drum production tool – it’s a virtual studio introducing endless possibilities for you to hone, shape and mold your drums without any thinkable creative restraints.

Building on the legacy of its predecessor, Superior Drummer 3 was redesigned from the ground up to introduce a completely new and improved workflow, countless added features and an unequalled amount of raw sound material. With Superior Drummer 3, you are in control. Welcome to the future of drum production.

• In excess of 230 GB of raw, unprocessed sounds in 44.1 kHz/24 bit
• Recorded with an additional eleven separate room microphones set up in a surround configuration for a complete immersive experience
• Playback in stereo or up to 11 channel surround 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
• 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

Immense & Immersive, Captured with Layers of Technology

The Superior Drummer 3 core sound library was recorded by award-winning engineer George Massenburg at probably the world’s most quiet and ideal location for sampling, the Galaxy Studios in Belgium. The library boasts in excess of 230 GB of raw sound material captured in extreme detail.
In additional to close microphones and several ambience positions, the Superior Drummer 3 setup also includes an additional eleven room microphones set up in a surround configuration, for use in anything from stereo to 5.1, 9.1 and all the way up to 11.1 systems. In combination with the large selection of extra instruments added for stacking and sound design purposes, the sounds of Superior Drummer 3 give you an incomparable palette of options to craft drum tones beyond your wildest imagination.

• 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

The Superior Drummer 3 core sound library was recorded at Galaxy Studios in Belgium. With its 330 square meter room and eight meter ceiling height, it was the ideal location for capturing immersive audio of the utmost quality. In addition, the entire studio complex is built on springs to ensure
that the outside interference is literally non-existent. In fact, with only 14 dBA of environmental noise, the main hall at Galaxy Studio is the most quiet recording space of this size in the world. Perfect acoustics, balanced reverberation and second-to-none recording technology. Superior Drummer 3 called for a superior studio. We’d dare to say that this is the most nuanced and candidly captured sample library on the market.

Song Tracks

Build full drum tracks right inside the program.

Customise

Mix, match, change and rearrange.

Grooves - the Heartbeat of your Song

New and improved features for finding, customizing and working with MIDI. From quickly getting a custom beat going to diving deep into fine-tuning timing and velocity detail, Superior Drummer 3 has got you covered.

• Multiple song tracks
• Build full drum arrangements
• Grid editor
• Time and tempo editor integrated in Song Track
• Edit Play Style, Tap2Find, Song Creator and Song Track with improved workflow and search functionality added
• Integrated grooves and search browser
• Text search

The Midi Library

The Superior Drummer 3 MIDI library was designed to provide a wealth of fundamental groove and fill variations for mainstream pop, rock and singer-songwriter material. It also has a few dedicated sections for metal as well as an ‘Extras’ category with count-ins, snare rolls and MIDI files specifically designed for use with brushed samples. In total, the library encompasses in excess of 1,600 individually played fills, all categorized in common song structure parts.

• Drum grooves and fills inspired by a broad range of styles
• More than 1,600 individually played files
• 4/4, 3/4, 6/8, 12/8, 2/4 in straight and swing feel
• Tempos ranging from 55 to 204 BPM
• Song structure categorization (intro, verse, chorus, bridge, fills, etc.)

Bleed

Otherwordly control over each microphone and instrument.

Create

From acoustic perfection to elaborate sound design.

Mix

Route, bus, send, saturate, blend and mix.

Mixer - Control & Power, Beyond the Thinkable

The mixer introduces 35 low-footprint insert effects, making each channel strip a virtual sound processing powerhouse. Route, bus, send, saturate, blend and mix – the creative options are endless. With Superior Drummer 3, you are in control.

• 35 mixer effects (EQ, delay, reverb, filters, dynamics, distortion, modulation)
• A wide array of presets for all included kits
• Individual mic bleed and mic control
• Bus, route, send

The Presets

To help you get started or to let you peek “under the hood” of how other engineers tweak their drums, we’ve included a comprehensive collection of mix-ready presets for a wide range of genres that you can use either as quick one-click solutions to get a great mix up or as a starting point from where you can venture off into your own sonic landscape.

We have worked with a wide range of our favourite producers – from local talent to some of the industry’s top names, like Bob Rock, Andy Sneap, George Massenburg and Richard Devine. Each engineer was given a blank slate and could create from the ground up, involving anything from their own custom samples to brand new field recordings of foley, one shots and percussion.

• A wide range of traditional acoustic presets for each kit
• Presets for electronic, hip-hop, rock, metal and much more
• Creative sound design and hybrid kit renditions
• Presets by industry legends such as Bob Rock, Andy Sneap, George Massenburg and Richard Devine.

Tracker - a New Breed of Audio to MIDI Conversion

The Tracker introduces the arguably most efficient and accurate drum audio to MIDI conversion software on the market. Built on a highly advanced instrument recognition neural network, the Tracker detects hits with an unequalled accuracy and speed. With the seamless integration with Superior Drummer 3, replacing or augmenting drums has never been more powerful than now.

• Drum recognition based on artificial intelligence (AI)
• Machine learning based on over 1.4 million drum audio files
• Offline audio to MIDI conversion
• Track complex drum patterns faster than ever before
• Unlimited control with Find Similar, Sound Recognition Threshold and other specially designed features
• Create tempo maps from audio with the Find Tempo feature
• Reduce bleed between different microphones to avoid false triggers
• Edit MIDI notes individually directly in the waveform
• Seamless integration with Superior Drummer 3
• Endless possibilities to replace or augment any drum performance
• Get experimental – import any audio file to generate original percussive rhythms

System Requirements

• 64-bit Windows 7 or newer, 4 GB RAM (8 GB RAM or more recommended).
• Mac OS X 10.6 or higher, 64-bit Intel-based Mac with 4 GB RAM (8 GB RAM or
• more recommended).
• 64-bit host (with support for VST, AU or AAX). Standalone is included.
• SOFTWARE: Approx. 320 MB download + installation space.
• SOUND LIBRARY: Basic install: Approx. 41 GB download and an additional
• 41 GB for the installation process. Complete install: Approx. 236 GB download
• and an additional 55 GB for the installation process.
• SSD install (optional): Approx. 236 GB pre-installed.