“I have a 15-year Superior Drummer addiction”: with this killer Cyber Week deal from Thomann, you can too – for just £249

Black Friday was yesterday and we are now in Cyber Weekend. Every year, Toontrack’s Superior Drummer 3 software and its SDX audio expansion pack are at the top of my wish list. Why? Because my name is Stu and I’ve had one Superior drummer abuse in the last 15 years or so. This year you can start your own obsession with Toontrack’s amazing drum software thanks to the enabler that is Thomann, who is discounted Superior Drummer 3 to £249 in its Cyberweek sale as well as offering great savings on SDX audio expansion pack.

That’s around £100 off the current rate (Thomann usually sells it for around £333, and it’s more expensive from other retailers). So while it’s still an investment, you get entry to a truly remarkable product at a significant savings.

Plus, you’ll receive it as soon as your internet connection can download it and enjoy amazing drum sounds from the comfort of your electronic drum set today. Here are just a few of the highlights:

Over 230 gigabytes of expertly captured drum samples
Playable directly from your electronic kit
Mix-ready presets right out of the box
Comprehensive mixer section including effects processing to create your sound
Compatibility with Toontrack’s SDX and EZX sound expansion packs
Intelligent drum sound replacement built in – perfect for enhancing your existing acoustic drum recordings

tone track

(Image credit: Toontrack)

But if you’ve never tried it and don’t understand what the fuss is about, let me explain. It’s hard to record acoustic drums. First you need a good sounding drum kit and cymbals, and a room you can play them in without receiving noise complaints – spoiler alert, this room also needs to sound good or even the best acoustic kit will record poorly.

Next, you need enough mics to capture each drum, plus overhead, and if you want to add some sense of size and dimension to your drums, room mics. This can get expensive (don’t forget to budget for cables and stands!), but even then, you’ll also want an audio interface with enough inputs to keep all those mics on their own track.

With all this arranged, the next challenge is to figure out the placement of the microphone to not only achieve a good sound, but also minimize phase problems. Sounds like a hassle, right?

Instead, Superior Drummer lets you connect your electronic drums to a computer, where you can play its ridiculously good sound library from the comfort of your drum pads.

To everyone else, it will sound like you’re hitting your electronic kit, but in your headphones you’ll be rewarded with drum sounds captured in the exact same way (and very often, place) that the drums on our favorite album of all time have been.

Realistic dynamics, extensive multi-mic placement and meticulous attention to detail are on the menu. To say it’s been a game changer for me as someone who spends most of his free time playing and recording drums from an electronic drum kit would be an understatement. I guarantee you will be impressed from the first hit on a snare pad.

Mixing in Superior Drummer

(Image credit: Tom Bradley)

It’s also easy to use, just upload a mix-ready kit preset and start playing. But that’s just the beginning, because if you want to get your hands dirty, Superior Drummer 3 is a complete drum workstation.

You can change any part of the kit from Superior’s large menu of classic and contemporary drums and cymbals. There is a comprehensive mixer section to mix the virtual kit’s close, overhead and room microphones, apply processing such as EQ, compression, reverb and much more. I’m really only scratching the surface with the sound shaping options included.

SD3

(Image credit: Toontrack)

By purchasing Superior Drummer 3, you also open up a world of expansion possibilities. If you can think of a style, Toontrack has likely created a definitive, typical SDX or EZX sound expansion pack to fill your needs. Thomann has splashed the cash on a range of these too, so even if you already own Superior Drummer 3, you can expand your drum sound collection for less.

• Toontrack SDX The Rock Warehouse – ~~was £90~~now £41.00

• Toontrack SDX Metal Machinery – ~~was £90~~now £41.00

• Toontrack SDX Custom & Vintage – ~~was £90~~now £41.00

• Toontrack EZX Duality I – ~~was £75~~now £24.50

• Toontrack EZX Duality II – ~~was £75~~now £24.50

• Toontrack EZX Seventies Rock – ~~was £44~~now £24.50

• Toontrack EZX Number 1 Hits – ~~was £44~~now £24.50

• Toontrack EZX Traditional Country – ~~was £44~~now £24.50