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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/1877
104 MacDirectory
REVIEW
TOONTRACK > SUPERIOR DRUMMER 2
There are many software-based drumming
solutions on the market. The two
competing approaches are prerecorded
loops and MIDI-based samples. While
much can be said for former, they cannot
compete with the editability and flexibility
of the latter. One of the best of these is
Superior Drummer 2 from ToonTrack.
SD2 can be used in loop-like fashion or
you can record your own tracks using a
keyboard, pads/sensors, or by importing
existing MIDI tracks. Prosumers or
songwriters can assemble a fantastic drum
track in minutes while engineers can
create custom automated setups with a
degree of fine-tuning and control that is
simply amazing.
This control includes a wide selection of
mics, mic placements and bleed, with up
to a half dozen full featured channels with
multiple busses, and a set of first rate
effects from Sonalksis that include a 5-
band parametric EQ, high and low pass
filters, compression, gate, and transient
designer filters.
SD2 comes with part one of ToonTrack's
New York Studio Legacy Series samples,
which were recorded at the legendary
Avatar Studios (formerly Power Station) in
one of the best drum rooms on the
planet. A victim of a combination of high-
end home studios and high-end real
estate values, Avatar closed its doors in
March, which makes these samples not
only special in their own right, but also in
their embodiment of an aural ambience
that launched countless hits for some of
the biggest names in music history.
While many sample packages top out at
around 4 GB, with SD2 you can choose
between 4 GB and a full 20 GB install of
fast loading, great sounding samples.
While not included with Superior Drummer
2, part two of ToonTrack's Legacy set
(which requires SD2) is also available.
Recorded at New York City's legendary Hit
Factory and at the amazing Allaire Studios
in the Catskills (which has an amazing
cathedral-like ambience) this 12.5 GB
collection should be considered a must-
have. Other collections are also available.
The samples are only the starting point.
Controlling all this percussive firepower is
Superior Drummer 2 itself (the engineering
component) that, as with the bundled
browser/track editor EZ Player Pro, is
accessed via your audio workstation of choice.
The SD2 interface includes a construct
window and a mixer window. The former is
where you build your kit and it provides a
drummer's eye view of the selected kit as
well as various controls, popups and other
key elements. This well organized interface
provides access to the desired samples,
kits (factory as custom), beaters, etc., and
the ability instantly change out individual
pieces on the fly and you can trigger the
drums remotely or by mouse click.
The second part of the interface is the
mixer window. Add a drum to the kit and
a series of mic-specific channels is added
to the mixer, making it possible to fine
tune the placement, bleed and ambience
per individual drum as well as a selection
of mics for each placement. Also included
are a number of busses per channel for
highly focused effects and signal
processing. The factory presets are great
right out of the box, but the user is free to
tweak or create an infinite number of
custom presets.
The third component, EZ Player Pro,
provides a lot of power in a small package,
making it easy to demo and assemble
great sounding and highly complex
sequences on the fly without skipping a
beat and using as many tracks as you wish.
Canned and user defined sequences are
available via a columnar interface that also
provides the option of splitting the
combined kit into separate tracks if
desired and edit at will. Once your
sequence is built, you can then drop it into
a track in your workstation for playback or
further modified as desired.
This truly is a superior product in its overall
design, in the amazing degree of control
and in the quality and depth of the
samples, which simply must be heard to
be believed. Whether you are a
songwriter, or a studio producer, or a
gigging drummer with a need for a highly
versatile and great sounding kit, Superior
Drummer 2 is well worth a serious look.
WORDS BY TREY YANCY
Product Superior Drummer 2 & New
York Studio Legacy Series Vol. II
Made by ToonTrack