Recording - January 2021 - 22

REVIEW

Eddie Kramer's
Legacy of Rock
SDX Expansion for
Superior Drummer 3
The traps and tones of three of rock's greatest drummers,
all under the faders of a legendary engineer
REVIEW BY PAUL VNUK JR.

uperior Drummer 3 is the flagship drum program from Toontrack. Its
massive, deeply articulated 236 GB drum sample library gives you
access to hyperdetailed drum tones recorded in one of the world's
most elite drum rooms. Plenty of fool-the-ear MIDI performances are also
included, along with drag 'n' drop drum replacement, Tap2Find groove
suggestion, and more. Over the Superior Drummer 3 foundation, eighteen
SDX Sound Expansion packs offer a wide array of genre-specific sounds
and styles. This month, we focus on Eddie Kramer's Legacy of Rock SDX!

Air with Eddie

Legacy of Rock was created under the
ears, eyes and hands of the legendary
Eddie Kramer. Eddie is best known for
capturing the guitar tones of Jimi Hendrix
and Jimmy Page. He's also responsible for
tracking some of the greatest drummers in
rock history, and this SDX showcases his
time with Charlie Watts, John Bonham and
Mitch Mitchell. The 180 GB, five-kit collection was recorded at London's AIR Studio 1.

The gear

Most of this library was captured through
Neve AIR Montserrat mic preamps into
Neve 31106 EQs. The mic selection: kick
drum: AKG D12/AKG D25/Neumann
U 47 FET combo; snare: Shure SM57,
Neumann KM56 and AKG C451; hi-hat:
Shure KSM141 and AKG C451; toms:
Sennheiser MD-421; overheads, room,
and miscellaneous: Neumann U 67, AEA
R44C, AKG C24, Shure Beta 52 and D30,
Coles 4038, Blue Bottle, Schoeps MK 21
and MKH 20, and a good old Neumann U
87 on the timpani! For a full list of the gear,
check out the Toontrack web page.
22 RECORDING January 2021

Paiste Symphonic Gong, or smaller 36 "
model-hallmarks in Bonzo's live presentation. And true to form, we have drums
played with soft marimba mallets, snare
wires on and off, and even drumming with
bare hands-all of the above is included.
As someone who has both played and
recorded Vistalite sets over the years, this
is spot on! These are also some of the
best-articulated timpani I have used in a
drum library, specifically more for rock
beats and grooving than the usual orchestral boom-boom film score work. The hand
and mallet articulations add great versatility to this kit, leading to some excellent
sound design and unique fills and breaks
options for your tracks. Of special note,
the kick drum's psychoacoustic sensation
of rumbling the room's floorboards is uncanny. Regarding the cymbals, the 24 "
Paiste ride has a sublime dark and heavy,
yet forceful tone with a great round bell.

Amber Kit

The see-through orange hue gives
away this kit's origin, or maybe it's the
big-ass gong and dual timpani? Either
way, this dual-floor tom five-piece acrylic-shelled kit is as close as you can get
to the set favored by John Bonham on
many Led Zeppelin tours. It's a 70s-era
Ludwig Vistalite set with a 14 " Ludwig
402 Supraphonic snare (chrome-over-Ludalloy shell). There's an alternate 22 "
matching kick available, and a 411 Super Sensitive snare as well.
The cymbals are mostly Paiste 2002
series and feature an 18 " Giant Beat
Crash. As mentioned, this kit also includes
extras such as a Meinl cowbell, 26 " and
29 " Ludwig Timpani and a massive 60 "

Sparkle Kit

Moving to Zep's studio side, we have
a five-piece 70s-era three-ply maple silver sparkle Ludwig kit with a 417 Ludwig Black Beauty snare. Alternates include a 26 " kick with a Moleskin patch
and a plastic beater, a 22 " kick and
a Rodgers 14 " Dynasonic 5-ply maple
and birch snare. As they say, the cymbals remain the same...
This kit is warmer and tighter than the
bombast projection of the Amber kit. And
the 26 " primary kick has a classic rubbery

Recording - January 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - January 2021