Toontrack – The Jazz Sessions SDX

Recording and mixing jazz is an art in itself, especially when it comes to drums. It requires a balance of dynamic range that spans the nuanced and light to the bright and downright explosive. James Farber has an uncanny ability to capture this accurately while also extracting a true acoustic voice from any instrument he puts a microphone to. 

With over 1,000 albums to his credit, over 40 years of continuous production of top-notch recordings, and a discography that reads like a who’s who of jazz, he is nothing short of an industry icon. Seminal albums by the likes of Michael Brecker, John Scofield and Joshua Redman, and not least his work with jazz drumming greats such as Elvin Jones, Jack DeJohnette, Paul Motian, Bill Stewart, Brian Blade and Antonio Sanchez, are – to put it mildly – testament to this.

This SDX for Superior Drummer 3 aims to pinpoint the iconic sounds and eras of jazz drumming from the earliest days to the present day. Where better to capture it than in the jazz capital of the world and one of the most legendary studios ever built: New York City’s iconic Power Station. In addition to possibly hosting more legendary artists than any other studio on the planet, it’s also where James spent his formative years, recorded some of his seminal work, and is still considered the best place to record jazz drums.

A total of seven kits were selected for the session, each representing a different era of jazz, sound, or important recording in James’ career. In addition to each kit being sampled with drumsticks, the selected kits and instruments were also captured with brushes, rods, mallets, and even hands.

In addition to the drums, there is a vast collection of ready-to-mix presets for each kit and configuration, giving you instant access to James’s own fully-fledged and balanced drum mixes. These mixes can be used as is or as starting points to build on to create sounds for almost anything your imagination allows.

To sum it up, this SDX is an engineer, kits and studio. If you’re into jazz and want to add a bookend-style collection of drum sounds to your toolbox, straight from the jazz capital of the world and one of the most influential jazz engineers of the last four decades, this is it. Get ready for jazz magic.

• Recorded at the Power Station in New York City by legendary engineer/mixer James Farber
• Seven complete kits, each representing its own jazz era, style or sound
• Includes kits sampled with sticks, brushes, rods, mallets and hands
• Four different environments (Studio A and C main rooms with their respective adjacent booths)
• Select kits recorded with a 5.0 surround sound mic rig
• Drum and tuning tech: Artie Smith
• Comes with an extensive MIDI library with material tailored to different jazz styles, recorded instruments and more
• Includes a wide collection of ready-to-mix presets for each kit and configuration
• Assistant engineer: Ben Miller