Does it really dovetail with D&D well? I imagined that but if you have both do you get the best of both worlds?

Not managed to download LOR yet – have to share the home WI-FI with the kids and my wife who is still working from home but how to try it out tonight.

Will have to write a song with it called, “Begging For Forgiveness (When I Should’ve Asked Permission).

Toontrack Superior Hits 1

B-side is Waiting on the Down Low(d)

Out of interest which Helios Plugin are you using BFC? I guess the UAD one from the name but just checking…

I have no doubt that they just work. All of the heavy lifting has been done for us. And, unlike their competition, Toontrack and Eddie Kramer did AIR Studios right (I had huge complaints about it to the “competition” for over a decade). This is what I love about these SDXs. I am installing it right now.

you are right and that the kits here are not the “spaceship“ type of kits used in modern prog rock. Yes is a different story. These come from a much different era, and the masters that use them knew how to squeeze every type of sound out of them. I am probably going to find huge use of the hand articulations, as I have often done such things with acoustic guitar recordings (not everything I do uses a standard drum track).

In answer to your other question, yes, I am using the UAD Helios plug-in. It is absolutely fantastic for recording guitar and bass. I was absolutely hooked on the unison technology of the Apollo, as it brings my ribbon mics to life. My double ribbon mic never sounded so good with it. I never used it with my previous audio interface, because they didn’t seem to go together. Probably an impedance issue. When the unison Helios plug-in was introduced, in the moment I recorded my first guitar track with it, I was immediately like “this is my sound right here“!

jord

Jord you’re spot on – these kits are my favourite of any drums I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to, let alone record – with the possible exception of Mike Portnoy’s from DT’s “Scenes From a Memory” album and tour.

The only MIDI I have that doesn’t work without modification seems to be the Metal ones which have the China symbol as the power hand – not the biggest problem a producer has ever had.

Possibly the biggest impact this has had on my workflow though, is I’ve spent a few hours today analysing the mixer for some of the my favourite kits and presets in LOR and I’m going to try to see if applying some of this to the SD3 bigger kits gets me in the same ballpark. I know it’s a big ask – different studio and desk, different mics and pre’s, kits and engineers but fun to try.

If I could find a mix which opens up the SD3 5 tom, 10 cymbal kits to this plug and play approach I’ll be asking for Eddie Kramer to get a knighthood in the New Year’s Honour lists.

I finally stopped messing around with the SDX and plugged it into a couple of songs that I was working on. This might be the first time I have hit a crossroads in one of the songs: both the Legacy of Rock and Rock Foundry kits impart their magic on the song and breathe their own life into it. It just comes down to whether I want that true 70’s Classic Rock feel of LoR or the modern feel of the Rock Foundry. It’s not an easy decision as they both sound amazing to my ears. Something for me to sleep on, I guess.

jord