Recording - January 2021 - 24

REVIEW
Eddie Kramer's Legacy
of Rock SDX Expansion
for Superior Drummer 3
tone well suited for big ringing whole
notes. The Black Beauty snare is tight with
just the right balance of sitting in a mix
while still making its presence known,
while the Rodgers snare is tight, bright,
woody and cutting-the opening notes of
'Poor Tom' leap instantly to mind.

Jet Black Kit

Charlie Watts, a jazz drummer who
plays rock that swings, is also represented
by two kits here. The first is a four-piece
Round Badge Gretsch kit in a jet black Nitron wrap. This kit also features a Ludwig
Supraphonic snare, this time a 400 series, tuned dry and tight. Offering a touch
more looseness is a 1960s six-ply maple
and gumwood Gretsch 4157 snare, and
a pleasantly pingy Gretsch 4160 brass
snare. Cymbals are all 1950s Zildjian.
This kit is the tightest, driest, and most
petite of the collection. It's small, but it still
gives a good thump with a nice round
yet bold tone. The cymbals sit nicely in
the mix with a thin, crisp tonality. Note
the ride is equipped with a chain that I
personally wish rang out a tad longer but
is still quite lovely. Because of its tight, dry
nature, this kit takes well to reverb without sacrificing its presence in a mix.

Oyster Kit

A second minimal 4-piece set, this Ludwig is slightly larger than the Gretsch kit,
24 RECORDING January 2021

with three-ply mahogany and poplar
shells in Blue Oyster pearl. This one is
also dry, yet exhibits a relaxed but edgy
tone that cuts through a rock track nicely. If you're after the sound of musicians
bashing it out in a room in full classic rock
glory, then this is a great kit to have. It
shows off each drum's rawness, especially the decay on the snare rattle of its 4-ply
maple Camco Aristocrat snare. Here we
find my favorite cymbal in the collection,
a 1950s rivet swish with an outstanding
balance of crash, warmth and sizzle.

Silver Kit

This 5-piece Ludwig set is a 1968 3-ply
maple/poplar silver sparkle classic. With
traditional classic rock sizes, this set has
a fast touch, open-tone jazz sensibility to
it-the sound of Mitch Mitchell. The snare
is a 14 " 404 Ludwig aluminum Acrolite
with a beautiful, well-tuned harmonic ring.
There are two alternate snares: a 60s Rogers 14 " aluminum Dynasonic, ring-free
and with a bold rattle and thwap, and
a 1930s single-ply maple 7x14 " snare
that's the deepest and woodiest of the collection, with a distinctly hollow ring. Cymbals are again all Zildjian, mostly modern
this time, plus a Premier cowbell.

This set might be the most versatile
of the group, as it is adept at jazz (it
sounds excellent with many of the swing
grooves in the Toontrack Decades SDX
library), and it's perfect for both classic
60s and modern indie rock. This set also
has optional brush articulations versatile
enough for wires glancing skins, swing
styles, and bold enough to work on
heavier straight-ahead rock grooves.

Final observations

As with all SDX Expansions, this collection comes with a great selection of presets that show off each drum kit in the studio space, and it takes full advantage of
the mixing desk and internal plugins found
in SD3. I found it quite successful and believable to experiment with minimal setups
of just the external condenser on the kick
drum, the top alternate snare mic and just
overheads or room for compelling vintage
drum tones, especially with only the mono
overhead. Talk about a great learning tool
as well if you've never mixed kits with this
many mics to choose from...
This SDX is well stocked with wellplayed grooves for each kit, which do a
great job of playing believably in each
drummer's style without ripping them off
or crossing the line into parody.
With Eddie Kramer's Legacy of Rock
SDX, Toontrack delivers a well-curated collection with stunning percussive realism,
highlighting three distinct classic drum styles,
kits, players, and with producer and all.
Price: $179
More from: toontrack.com

http://www.toontrack.com

Recording - January 2021

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