Superior Drummer 2.0

ultratwin · Post by **ultratwin** » Sun Mar 08, 2009 1:27 pm

This is seriously great stuff. Although it could have been posted in maybe three different forums, I decided to just throw it here because of the magic of the software itself after one day of usage.

We finally got it installed on our Mac and have been fiddling around a bit to see what it can do. In one word, fantastic. So many good tones and 127 steps of velocity(sampled with both hands), with close overheads, up front ambiants, a pair of AKG C30s way up on the ceiling of a massive room, and bleed control on each mic. Perfectly tuned heads (and they're additionally tunable!), no phasing problems between microphones, and have all the room ambiance you need to kiss your sequencer's trusty/crusty ol' digital reverb bus send goodbye. Programmed drums simply don't sound any more "right there" than this, and for the price of a Squier Classic Vibe model we're quite happy so far.

If you're patient enough to download a 3mb clip, please do: http://www.mediafire.com/?kyiznmujmjw

Disclaimer: It's just an incomplete demo. Cindi and I decided to try covering Sonyeo Sidae's "Gee", which has been 8 weeks at No.1 on the pop charts here. We're going to make a mini music video to join it, and just for the heck of it we will try to see if we can create a local (viral) sensation on the net, as many off-the-wall covers of mainstream pop tunes can do. Mind you, no plugins were used for the individual tracks, it's just the faders somewhat adjusted to a decent volume balance. Strangely the ride isn't a loud as the MIDI velocity I had it set to would have seemed to sound, and the hi-hat is much more audible through the overheads than I had expected. Also, I've yet to use the toms/ most crash cymbals for the Rogers set I selected, but you'll get the idea: Kick-snare-hats-ride-2 crash cymbals

The other instruments are the CIJ Strat, Rickenbacker 360-12, DAME bass, and effects courtesy of The Vox Tonelab.

Here's the above tune we're covering, as posted a few weeks back.

[youtube][/youtube]

Sloan · Post by **Sloan** » Sun Mar 08, 2009 3:42 pm

Dude, I've been wanting to get that or BFD 2, shit's awesome.
Also, Toontrack's new Drumtracker is supposedly way, way cool for working with midi/drums.

One thing that I wish I understood more is more in-depth drum editing, like cutting everything up and tightening based on THE GRID. I've always taken more of a minimalist approach to recording/mixing, but it would be great to have better drum editing skills.

superfuzz · Post by **superfuzz** » Sun Mar 08, 2009 6:11 pm

I wish we got pop like this in the states. ITS SO HAPPY.

This drum software sounds AMAZING. I'll really have to look into this. The rest of the song sounds great too. Good luck with the rest of the cover.

ultratwin · Post by **ultratwin** » Sun Mar 08, 2009 11:13 pm

Thanks amigo.

It's amazing what a difference quality drum samples can make a track sound, even after just feeding in the unedited MIDI data. I'll keep you folks posted on new discoveries and such, as there's so much you can do with this thing.

nomorebridge · Post by **nomorebridge** » Sun Mar 08, 2009 11:47 pm

Does anyone know how this compares to Reason with regard midi drums and such like?

They both seem to boast similar things...or are they totally different have I got something wrong here

euan · Post by **euan** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 12:06 am

Thanks to this thread I've gone onto a wonderful journel of Kpop.

Sloan · Post by **Sloan** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 4:13 am

nomorebridge wrote:Does anyone know how this compares to Reason with regard midi drums and such like?

They both seem to boast similar things...or are they totally different have I got something wrong here

Reason is more like a rack full of synthesizers, samplers, and sequencers and is focused more towards in-the-box electronic music creation.

Superior Drummer is strictly a drum program/plugin that uses MIDI data to either create drum tracks or replace current drum/midi tracks with the supplied samples. The samples are all professionally recorded and sound great with tons of velocity levels and things of that nature so you can create super-realistic drum tracks. You can trigger samples with an electric drum kit, an acoustic kit using triggers for live performance or recording.

ultratwin · Post by **ultratwin** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 4:26 am

euan wrote:Thanks to this thread I've gone onto a wonderful journel of Kpop.

Thanks for the reminder...I'm gonna throw some Kpooop back onto the epic thread.

Johno · Post by **Johno** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 11:06 am

Has anyone used a program called EZ Drummer?

ultratwin · Post by **ultratwin** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 12:21 pm

I read up a little on it before going with SD 2.0, but have never used it. It also happens to come with the DVD bundle SD 2.0 is on, but I'm not a fan of looping over individual hits(unless I'm producing dance tunes w/highly processed beats over here) and have left it be so far. Still, I can imagine it being extremely fun for Drum & Bass or UK Garage applications with a tight ska/hip-hop snare and some heavy grooving.

From what I know, EZDrummer is basically a huge set of loop patterns using a number of drum sets with about 5 sampled stages of velocity spanned over 127(MIDI) degrees of volume, which is better than most MIDI drum (sound module) kits of antiquity, I reckon. Still, it's a 1GB vs. 20GB thing, so those with the need for some sensitive dynamics in velocity(ie ghost notes, etc) with the tone color that comes from different hits over the course of a tune would like what SD 2.0 could offer. As for me and my limited understanding, fter hearing what SD 2.0 could do from velocity 90-127, I realized it did indeed sound that much better, especially on hard hitting fills and crescendo lines.

euan · Post by **euan** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 1:04 pm

ultratwin wrote:Still, I can imagine it being extremely fun for Drum & Bass or UK Garage applications.

Rather strangely UK Garage has mated fully with Grime into Dubstep. Which is a great thing to be honest. I love a bit of dubstep, even if the dancing is a bit funny.

nomorebridge · Post by **nomorebridge** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 4:14 pm

Sloan wrote:
nomorebridge wrote:Does anyone know how this compares to Reason with regard midi drums and such like?

They both seem to boast similar things...or are they totally different have I got something wrong here
Reason is more like a rack full of synthesizers, samplers, and sequencers and is focused more towards in-the-box electronic music creation.

Superior Drummer is strictly a drum program/plugin that uses MIDI data to either create drum tracks or replace current drum/midi tracks with the supplied samples. The samples are all professionally recorded and sound great with tons of velocity levels and things of that nature so you can create super-realistic drum tracks. You can trigger samples with an electric drum kit, an acoustic kit using triggers for live performance or recording.

Cheers Sloan, looks like Reason drums may not then be the pro standard I had been led to think by their rather pro video.

snazzy reason vid

but there we go! One thing that worries me about this superior drummer thing though is that all the demo's and youtube and such seem to have full electronic kits set up.... guess my midi keyboard isn't going to cut it.... maybe this is too high end for me. Cheers for the detail you are a gent

Sloan · Post by **Sloan** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 10:14 pm

Johno wrote:Has anyone used a program called EZ Drummer?

EZ Drummer is like very 'lite' version of Superior with only a small amount of samples and very limited options. It's more like a quick demo tool and is indeed easy to use. You can still trigger it via midi with either pads/keys/drum triggers/e-drums or write your own midi track for it. It's very good for just coming up with a beat for songwriting duties. Superior Drummer is for taking your drum tracks to THE NEXT LEVEL - it's got a ton of options - which can weigh you down when you just need a quick & dirty drum track for writing.

If you like the idea of EZ Drummer, you may also want to check out Addictive Drums. It's very similar, but seemed a bit more stable/faster than EZ Drummer on my old computer.

I would strongly suggest trying demos of these programs before making a purchasing decision.

Sloan · Post by **Sloan** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 10:17 pm

nomorebridge wrote: but there we go! One thing that worries me about this superior drummer thing though is that all the demo's and youtube and such seem to have full electronic kits set up.... guess my midi keyboard isn't going to cut it.... maybe this is too high end for me. Cheers for the detail you are a gent

You can actually write MIDI data with what ever controller you have - keys, pads, mouse, e-drums etc... - they all are basically doing the same thing, just writing data. It's just easier for someone that already plays drums to just have an actual drumset to play to get the tracks.

Once the MIDI data is recorded, you can go in and edit it to your heart's content and you really start to see how amazing MIDI really is! You can move hits around all over the place, loosen the groove/tighten the groove, change how hard the drums are hit, change entire drum sounds - all after the track is already recorded. You can't do that with acoustic drums.