Toontrack State of the Art SDX (SOUNDBANK)

Having shaped the sound of numerous immortal albums, like Steely Dan’s “Aja,” worked on a total of 91 platinum- and 14 gold-certified records, received 25 Grammy Award nominations (winning eight), four Emmy nominations (winning two) and three TEC Awards nominations as well as being a TEC Hall of Fame inductee and a recipient of the Surround Pioneer Award, Elliot Scheiner is nothing short of a legend in the music recording industry. To add, having recorded or mixed soundtracks for iconic Hollywood films – like “The Godfather” – and several highly praised Broadway productions as well as surround concerts and documentaries for the likes of Beyoncé, Foo Fighters, the Eagles and many more, Elliot is just as much an icon in the fields of live and cinema sound. What happens when you give someone like him a carte blanche on drums, studio, mics and gear? The short answer is the State of the Art SDX, an absolutely impeccably captured collection of beautifully acoustic drum sounds.

This SDX expansion for Superior Drummer 3 features seven vintage-to-modern kits, all handpicked to showcase the absolute maximum width of tones and timbres. Recorded at Elliot Scheiner’s choice studio, the famed Clubhouse in Upstate New York, it boasts three different room ambiences; the subtle, dry and tight Studio Iso, the warm and intimate-sounding Library as well as the hard-hitting but still acoustically perfect Live Room. To add, selected kits were sampled using brushes and recorded with a Decca Tree microphone setup or alternative ambiences, giving you an even more eclectic palette of flavors to choose from.

In addition to the drums, presets by Elliot as well as the Toontrack sound design team are provided, allowing you get started instantly with fully balanced and mix-ready sounds. On top of that, a generous collection of custom grooves and fills inspired by the kits, Elliot’s discography and the overall vibe of the session are included. All combined, this SDX gives you the total package of drums, mixes and grooves.

One might argue the contradictory in calling an SDX captured using some of the most tried-and-true techniques in audio recording state-of-the-art, but fact is that in the studio anyone can record an instrument. Actually capturing what an instrument truly sounds like, however, comes down to great engineering and experience. This is an SDX in which five decades worth of hands-on audio craftsmanship is imbued in every single mic placement and technical decision that ultimately lead to digital waveforms of raw, unbridled and brutally honest sound. No guesswork or strokes of luck involved, just pure love for the craft of making instruments sound exactly like they do. The sum of all those things put in the framework of the most advanced drum production software on the planet can’t be labeled anything other than the exact meaning of the title of this SDX: “the highest degree of development of an art or technique at a particular time.”

If you’re looking for a collection of dynamic, deep and textured tones – transparent and rich in harmonics enough for you to be able to hone, shape and tweak them to fit in virtually any musical context, this SDX is a must. Simply put: with this expansion you’ll get the best of drums captured with the best of gear by one of the absolute best in the history of the business.