SD3 and Pro-tools

[Blix Six]

Hi,

I’m a long-time user of Toontracks and recently made the jump from EZdrummer to SD3. I’m wanting to get an idea of some of the most efficient and effective ways to get  SD3 into Protools (so I can use my plugins and external gear)? I think with EZY, I dragged the midi into Protools, then set up Aux tracks and hit commit (or something like that). However, there is a degree of complexity to SD3, so I want to make sure I’m aware of all the options in regards to workflow

I’ve had a look at youtube, but I wanted to get some ideas from this forum…….and I’m sure this topic has been covered many times before 🙂

Any advice will be greatly apprciated.

Thanks in advance

Superior Drummer 3 version: 3.2.4
Operating system: macOS Catalina (10.15)

B6

Topic

[José Sanguino]

Hi. I do not use Protools myself – Never have, either. But I guess I can give you some advice regarding your workflow.

First of all, remember that SD3 is much more powerful than EZDrummer. The internal SD3 mixer allows you to do a lot of work that with EZX or any other Drums Virtual Instrument you would have to do inside your DAW, rendering your drum channels first. SD3’s mixer allows you to create Busses, Add EQs, Compressors, Saturators, Delays, etc… to any of the channels and/or busses. SD3’s FXs are great quality. That way you can shape your drum sound in a style suitable for the rest of your instruments before rendering the drum tracks for the mix. If you’d rather use your own third-party EQs and FXs, it’s no problem. You can also remove any EQs or FX from SD3 mixer and render your drum tracks clean; and then set up your own EQs and FXs in your DAW. Both workflows are feasible (you might even combine them somehow, by shaping your sound first with SD3’s internal EQ’s and FXs, and when you’re pleased with the results, if you’d rather use your favourite third-party EQs and/or FX, make a note of what settings you have used for any EQs and FXs within SD3, deactivate them and render the drum tracks. Then, in your DAW, add your favourite EQs and FXs with similar settings to the ones you used in SD3 internal EQs and FXs.

Remember that the quality of the samples included in SD3 surpass EZDrummer’s (in bit resolution and sampling rate), so you’ll be able to get better results anyway. Each of the presets in your SD3 library (and expansions) will provide you with a sculpted sound which already uses SD3’s EQs and FXs in the mixer.

Oh, and regarding dragging the MIDI into ProTools… it’s basically the same. Within SD3 you can use the beats provided by the library & any SDX expansions you might get, Select them in the “Grooves” tab and drag it to the “Track” below build up your song’s drums. Then, you can drag & drop the MIDI track into Protools (I guess – I can do it in Reaper) and edit your groove there if you require it.

Have fun drummin’

Superior Drummer 3 version: 3.2.4
Operating system: Windows 10

1

Thanked by: Blix Six

[Blix Six]

Thanks for the detailed response.

Superior Drummer 3 version: 3.2.4
Operating system: macOS Catalina (10.15)

B6

[John]

Hi,

I’m a long time Pro Tools user, so if you have any specific questions – fire away!

Personally, I work differently depending on project and timeframe.
When sketching, I tend to just have SD3 on a Stereo Instrument track and build stuff on one or more Song tracks in SD3.
Some projects are prone to change down to the last minute and then I keep the MIDI on the internal Song Track. Others are pretty much set MIDI-wise at an early stage and then I drag the MIDI from SD3 onto the SD3 Instrument Track(s), unless I feel confident enough that there won’t be any more changes and I can Bounce internally in SD3 and import these audio files to Audio Tracks in Pro Tools.

When I have left the early stage but don’t have the need for printed Audio Tracks, I route out from SD3 to separate Instrument Tracks (or Aux Tracks) and perform additional mixing in PT. Sometimes I set up a Send in the SD3 mixer to an Aux Track in PT for separate FX/Reverb treatment for certain elements; it could be if I have e.g. Rototoms coming out on a percussion SD3 Sub Out->Aux Track in PT but I want to apply e.g. an LX480 reverb to just the Rototoms. Then I have a separate Return in PT for the SD3 mixer Send.

Another SD3 feature I tend to use very often is dropping in User samples; Stacked, Replacing or as separate Instruments.

BR,
John

John Rammelt - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

2

Thanked by: Michael McLain and Blix Six

[Blix Six]

Thanks for the advice, I always enjoy learning about other peoples workflow

B6

1

Thanked by: John

[Pete Dyball]

My main DAW is protools and I use both Ez drummer and Superior drummer .. I tend to find my work flow starts with EZ drums on an instrument track.. I drop and drag midi from EZ into my instrument track for editing and playback.. I find that using EZ with just a basic kit keeps the CPU usage down and keeps my creative flow efficient .. when I’m at a point that I’m happy with the groove and feel of the drums I switch my instrument track over to Superior.. and then I tweak my final drum sounds ✌️

1

Thanked by: Blix Six

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