Toontrack SDX: State of the Art

Beautifully Acoustic

Timeless drum sounds by a true recording industry icon: Elliot Scheiner.

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.

Features

• Recorded at the Clubhouse Recording Studios in Rhinebeck, NY, by legendary engineer/producer/mixer Elliot Scheiner
• Seven complete kits, each representing its own niched style, tone or sound
• Features kits sampled with drumsticks and brushes
• Three different ambiences (Live Room, Studio Iso, The Library)
• Selected kits recorded with a Decca Tree setup and/or additional room and ambience microphones
• Drum and tuning technician: Artie Smith
• Comes with an extensive library of MIDI grooves and fills
• Includes a broad collection of mix-ready presets for each kit and configuration

About Elliot Scheiner

An icon of the recording industry.

Elliot Scheiner started his career in the late 1960s at the famed A & R Recording studios in New York City as the assistant under legendary engineer Phil Ramone.

He quickly advanced and started heading up productions on his own, though, with Van Morrison's "Moondance" as his first major record hit followed by a Grammy Award-win for Steely Dan's now-iconic album "Aja".

After that, he’s not only worked back to back with major label artists in all imaginable genres, but he’s also excelled in the world of feature films, documentaries as well as live and surround sound mixing.

In fact, he's got 91 platinum and 14 gold-certified records, 25 Grammy Award nominations (winning eight), four Emmy nominations (winning two) and three TEC Awards nominations to back it up (just to mention some of his many accolades).

About The Studio

A creative haven in Upstate New York.

About 150 miles upstream from the hustle and bustle of New York City, wedged in between green pastures, narrow roads and the Hudson River, the Clubhouse studio has been an off-the-grid creative haven for engineers, producers and artists of all genres ever since it first opened its doors back in the mid 1980s.

Behind the rural facade of this place hides a state-of-the-art studio which is the culmination of 30+ years of dedicated work towards achieving the best in everything from acoustics to mics, gear and - most importantly - feel.

Or, as Elliot explained it, why bands and producers took productions here was because they could focus on what mattered: the music.

About 150 miles upstream from the hustle and bustle of New York City, wedged in between green pastures, narrow roads and the Hudson River, the Clubhouse studio has been an off-the-grid creative haven for engineers, producers and artists of all genres ever since it first opened its doors back in the mid 1980s.

The Rooms

To cover kit timbres tailored for each specific era or sound, all three rooms at The Clubhouse were recorded for this SDX:

• Live Room
• Studio Iso
• The Library

The Drums

With a selection of highest-quality, handmade, rare and artistan kits and instruments, the raw materials of this SDX truly are state-of-the-art in every respect.

All in all, it presents an amazingly broad palette of tones and timbres for use across all imaginable genres.

The Craftsman Kit

Handcrafted using the same traditional method of steam bending drum shells that gave the iconic sound of some of the most celebrated wood-shelled snare drums of the 20th century, this kit sounds both vintage and modern, all at once.

Providing a slightly longer note and higher fundamental than the more common maple material, the single-ply ash construction of this kit, paired with single-ply coated heads, made it an obvious to record in the Live Room.

The Firebird Kit

In contrast to the Craftsman kit, this one has an 11-ply construction of three different woods (plus an additional outer veneer).

That and the fact that each individual drum has its own bearing edge individually optimized for tone and projection makes this kit a masterpiece of contemporary drum-making.

It simply sounds sublime.

The Teardrop Kit

Reimagining the golden ages of drum-making of the 50s, 60s and 70s but with a modern-day stability and reliability, this kit utilizes the classic none-ply beech undersized and cross-laminated shell.

Together with the single-ply coated heads, these shells have that classic, warm and vintage tones that are so highly desired in the modern recording environment.

The Artisan Kit

A smaller, high-tuned version of the Craftsman Kit that really sings in any jazz, classic soul or hip-hop setting.

Again, the skill, effort and meticulousness invested in handcrafting these drums really shines through in how they sound; genuinely inviting and simply acoustically beautiful.

The Burgundy Kit

Powerful, warm and deep.

This kit works in any rock or pop setting.

The Midnight Kit

A tribute to the classic dry, tight and controlled sounds that underpinned the jazz and fusion-tinged pop of the 1970s and 1980s.

Obviously, this kit was heavily inspired by Elliot's work on the iconic "Aja" album by Steely Dan, a record known for its magnificent drum tones.

The Moonlight

Inspired by the critically acclaimed Van Morrison album engineered by Elliot at A&R Studios in the late 1960s, this kit was captured with a different microphone setup consistent with the techniques used at the time.

The results speak for themselves.

The Combo Kit

Soft and laid-back!

This alternative setup is perfectly suited to singer-songwriter, acoustic folk-rock and Americana.

Additional Instruments

• 6 Kicks
• 8 Snares
• 1 Splash
• 1 Stack

The MIDI

Great grooves, at your fingertips.

This SDX comes with an extensive collection of grooves and fills inspired by the kits, the tools recorded as well as by the breadth of music that Elliott has been involved in mixing, engineering or producing over te course of his remarkable career.

• Extensive library of grooves and fills unique to this product and specifically curated for use with its kits
• Dedicated material for all tools (drumsticks and brushes)
• Inspired by Elliot Scheiner's discography, the SDX kits and more

E-Drummer?

This SDX includes more than 34 'clean' presets designed specifically for use with e-drums.

Loading balanced starting points of each kit as well as optimal settings for e-drum use (like extra hi-hat and cymbal articulations), these presets will be perfect for anyone looking to get a great starting point before making additional tweaks using the comprehensive e-drum features of Superior Drummer 3.