The Tracker function is one of the easiest drum replacement apps I have seen. And you can blend that with other stock samples in complex stacks. Once you’ve placed the sample on the instrument, you can either replace the existing sound or add the new sample to the original. SD3 allows you to import your own one-shot samples by simple drag and drop of. Not only will you find all the common brands listed in the preset drop-down, but it also includes some niche products like Aerodrums and even the rival BFD-backed NFUZD kit.Ī nifty feature for current Roland owners is the new positional sensing functionality that allows you to assign specific articulations to three ‘zones’ on the snare and ride, with the ability to control the crossovers between zones. SD3 seems to have drummers in mind at every step, and includes one of the most extensive e-drum preset collections around. Often, drum VSTs are designed for producers, and e-drummers are an afterthought. And for lovers of classic electronic drums, there are around 350 sounds from vintage and classic drum machines. Most of the kits come with brushes, rods and mallets articulations in addition to stick sounds. There are 25 snares and 16 kick drums, and toms range from 6” to 20”. The pack features seven kits, from bread-and-butter sets like Pearl, Yamaha and Gretsch to more exotic kits from Ayotte and a couple of Ludwigs.

The samples are rich and detailed with up to 25 velocity layers per instrument.

Of course, this is an enormous download which would have taken more than 1,000 hours on my Internet connection, so thankfully, an SSD ‘hard copy’ version is also available. That’s almost 15 times the size of SD2 (19 GB). SD3 “ships” with more than 230 GB of raw, unprocessed sounds. One click, and you’re behind the kit and in the studio with SD3. SD3 is a standalone software product, and no longer requires a host such as the Solo product required to run SD2. Here are some of the features which make this VST offering a new benchmark.

This month’s release of Superior Drummer 3 may be a bit overdue, but was certainly worth the wait.

Sd3 drums