State of the Art SDX

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 27 Grammy Award nominations (winning
eight), four Emmy nominations (winning two) and
three TEC Awards nominations as well as been
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
concert 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
choosing 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
captured using a Decca Tree microphone setup
and sampled using alternative tools like brushes
and brush rods, giving you an even more eclectic
palette of flavors to choose from.
In addition to the drums, preset libraries 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 triedand-
true techniques in audio recording state-ofthe-
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 the
entire chain of technology between each sound
that reverberated between the studio walls and
ultimately ended up as 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.
FEATURE SPOTLIGHT
• 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, brushes
and brush rods
• Three different ambiences (Live Room, Studio Iso,
The Library)
• Selected kits recorded with a Decca Tree setup
• 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