Toontrack SDX: Area 33

Into the Infinite

Fredrik Thordendal and Daniel Bergstrand bring you an absolute monster of an SDX for Superior Drummer 3.

The Area 33 SDX brings together parts of the original Drumkit From Hell team: Meshuggah guitarist Fredrik Thordendal and producer/engineer/mixer Daniel Bergstrand (Behemoth, In Flames, Dimmu Borgir).

In this joint venture of sourcing, engineering and ultimately externalizing their very figment of what the most all-encompassing metal-related SDX for Superior Drummer 3 could be, they ended up with an absolute monster weighing in at a staggering 180+ GB.

It was recorded at Fredrik Thordendal's personal studio 33 in Stockholm, Sweden.

This studio, which Thordendal and Bergstrand built from the ground up, was designed with the goal of creating the epitome of a drum room: spacious and reverberant but at the same time profoundly precise, direct and controlled.

With its seven contrasting and complementing kits, extensive pool of additional drums and virtual forest of cymbals, the Area 33 SDX presents a massively broad palette of raw and unadulterated drums that you can hone, shape and mold using the limitless framework of Superior Drummer 3.

To add, these are not your average, everyday kits, several of them boast up to eight toms, double bass drums and 15 cymbal slots.

On top of that, this SDX was captured using what is beyond traditional in terms of microphones.

Each kit was recorded using the classic close-mic technique but, in addition, with an extra set of microphones on each position.

This means that each drum and cymbal is represented by both a mono as well as a stereo pair of microphones, allowing you to sculpt tones beyond what you thought possible.

Finally, to capture the essence of the room and to give you even more options, 11 ambience microphones (of which seven are in stereo) were recorded.

With this one, you'll have endless possibilities of shaping drum mixes beyond what you thought possible.

Features

• Engineered and produced by Fredrik Thordendal and Daniel Bergstrand
• Recorded at 33, Fredrik Thordendal's personal studio in Stockholm, Sweden
• Featuring seven (7) unique drum kits
• A total of 13 snares, 14 bass drums (x2), 42 toms, three hi-hats and upwards of 40 cymbals
• Recorded using 11 ambience microphone positions (of which seven are in stereo)
• More than of 180 GB of sampled drums and cymbals
• Sampled by drummer Leo Margarit (Pain of Salvation)
• Includes presets for each kit engineered by Bergstrand and/or Thordendal

Enter the Studio

Area 33 is Fredrik Thordendal's newly built and personally designed state-of-the-art studio facility, located on the outskirts of Stockholm, Sweden.

The studio features one main live space as well as two individual control rooms.

From here, Fredrik and in-house producer/engineer/mixer Daniel Bergstrand work on a variety of projects and with clients from all over the world.

The Kits

• Classic Kit - Ludwig White Cortex
• Metallic Kit - Ludwig Chrome Over Wood
• Steel Kit - Ludwig Stainless Steel
• Insignia Kit - Gretsch USA Custom
• Impact Kit - Varus Power Series
• Liquid Kit - Pearl Fiberglass Shell
• Red Kit - K-Drums Mod. B

Additional Instruments

• 7 Kicks
• 7 Snares
• 2 Hi-hats
• 5 Chinas
• 11 Crashes
• 2 Rides
• 2 Splashes
• 4 Spocks/Stacks

The Presets

To inspire and enable you to make music immediately, the Area 33 SDX includes a range of mix-ready presets engineered by Bergstrand as well as the Toontrack sound design team.

Use the presets as go-settings for your songs or as great starting points for making your own elaborate mixes.

The MIDI

In the included MIDI library, drummer Leo Margarit delivers a fundamental collection of broad and metal-inspired grooves and fills.

To make it easy for you to find what you're looking for, each section in every "song" is organized by leading instrument (hats, ride, cymbals, toms etc.).