Toontrack – State of the Art SDX

Having shaped the sound of numerous timeless albums such as Steely Dan’s Aja, having worked on 91 platinum and 14 gold records, receiving 25 Grammy Award nominations (winning eight), four Emmy Award nominations (winning two), and three TEC Awards nominations, as well as being a TEC Hall of Fame inductee and a Surround Pioneer Award winner, Elliott Scheiner is a true legend in the recording industry. 

Plus, having recorded or mixed soundtracks for iconic Hollywood films like The Godfather and several highly acclaimed Broadway productions, as well as concerts and documentaries in surround sound for the likes of Beyoncé, Foo Fighters, Eagles and many more, Elliott is an equal icon in the realm of live and film sound. What happens when you give someone like him carte blanche over drums, studio, microphones and gear? The short answer is State of the Art SDX, an absolutely flawless collection of beautiful acoustic drum sounds captured perfectly.

This SDX expansion for Superior Drummer 3 includes seven vintage and modern kits, all hand-selected to showcase the absolute maximum breadth of tones and timbres. Recorded at Elliott Scheiner’s studio of choice, the famed Clubhouse in upstate New York, it boasts three distinct room environments: the thin, dry and dense Studio Iso, the warm and intimate-sounding Library, and the powerful yet sonically perfect Live Room. Additionally, select kits have been sampled with brushes and recorded with a Decca Tree mic setup or alternative environments, giving you an even more eclectic palette of flavors to choose from.

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

It would be controversial to call SDX, recorded using some of the most tried and true audio recording techniques, state of the art, but the fact is that anyone can record an instrument in a studio. However, capturing what an instrument actually sounds like comes down to excellent engineering and experience. This is SDX, where five decades of hands-on audio craftsmanship are infused into every mic placement and technical decision, ultimately resulting in digital waveforms of raw, unbridled, brutally honest sound.

No guesswork or luck, just pure love for the craft of making instruments that sound exactly the way they sound. The sum of all these things, laid out in the foundation of the most advanced drum production software on the planet, cannot be described in any other way than the exact meaning of this SDX’s name: “the highest degree of development of an art or technique at a particular time.”

If you’re looking for a collection of dynamic, deep, textured tones – transparent and rich in harmonics, enough that you can hone, shape, and tweak them to fit almost any musical context, this SDX is a must. Simply put: with this extension, you’ll get the best of drums, recorded with the best equipment by some of the best in the business.