The centrepiece of Superior Drummer 3 is its massive core library of multisampled drums and cymbals recorded by the legendary George Massenburg in true 11-channel surround (see boxout). The whole thing is freely resizable, too, with internal elements (text and controls) scalable from 70-250%, and all four tabbed sections able to be popped out into their own windows.

Gone is the skeumorphic, oddly arranged fascia of SD2 now we have our menus and tabs (Drums, Grooves, Mixer and Tracker) along the top, all instrument editing controls in a single contextual panel on the right hand side, and the new sequencing tools at the bottom. Superior Drummer 3 (VST/AU/AAX/standalone) makes an immediately positive impression with its gorgeous GUI. That patience has been generously rewarded, as SD3 marks a genuinely revolutionary leap forward for the platform. The long-awaited arrival of Superior Drummer 3 is big news, then, particularly for the loyal SD2 user, who’s been overlooking the increasingly apparent shortcomings and UI niggles of their beloved virtual drums suite with commendable patience. Since then, however, not only has it been surpassed in several areas by arch rival FXpansion BFD3, but it’s also seen Toontrack’s own development spotlight sighted squarely on their much cheaper, more accessible ‘prosumer’ alternative, EZdrummer 2.

Superior drummer 4