Why I use Superior Drummer 3 dry all the time....

I can appreciate that struggle. IRs of the spaces would be really cool and fun.  I don't find that I run into trouble with the room sounds of SD3 libraries though (other than the comically large, cathedral ambience of the stock library).  Many (most?) of my favorite records have drums tracked with various room mic configurations right alongside amps that are close-mic'd and/or other instruments that were tracked in isolation booths/smaller rooms/etc.  It's actually kinda rare for me to hear (or at least perceive that I'm hearing) a song where every element has the same ambience on it.  

All subjective stuff though.  And I'd love some IRs of the rooms, would be great fun.  

I've never used the stock library on anything because of the cathedral sound glued to everything. When I have tried, I not only turn the room mics off but I tailor the envelopes of the close mics and overheads too to minimize that room sound that's in every mic.

Wiz’s next album is called Cry me a reverb!

“All in all it was just another Bricasti in the wall...”

Can any of the heshers here vouch for the Death & Darkness SDX?

My favs are Decades, Rooms of Hansa, and Indiependent.  

Haven't used SD 3 at all yet, I keep going back to SD2.

That's actually a fantastic idea. If they could make a Reverb plugin to integrate your other instruments in the same space as the drums.

I've struggled with the same problem many times.

I'll go back to ragan's first post here, I've never had any issue either with mixing rooms, spaces, ambiences. It's sort of a regular practice.

Many times after a drum part is settled, it needs "even more room" in the mix. Maybe that's just my aesthetic, but it's not uncommon. I do think the stereo image of the drum set requires special care, but blending in some ambience is probably not going to ruin that, just add some depth.

These sort of "studio" plugins like Ocean Way, Sunset Sound, Altiverb, Waves IR-1, have been my first reach for this, but the occasional Phoenix Verb or Nimbus has worked sometimes too. Lexicon on drums, to give some example, sounds kind of fake and of a period to me, not my personal goal with drums.

Snare drum will often get a bit of PSP 2445 plate, tip from jcoutu1, to make it sound larger. You don't really hear it as "reverb" so much, just size.

I guess tight drums are another thing altogether, something I haven't spent much time pursuing. I guess at some point many of us do develop a "sound."

That would be very cool Hakan.


That's kind of the way I try using UAD's Ocean Way plug-in. I dial in different amounts using a bus to try simulating all the instruments being played at the same time. Integrating the drums that have a lot of room sound is difficult.

Hey Chad!  I've got UK Pop, totally dig it.  There is one kit in particular (the one that comes up default if I'm remembering correctly) that I really like.  Super fat and punchy in a unique way.  Always kinda reminds me of classic Queen records.  Anyway yeah, I'm into UK Pop.  The EZXs are smaller in options, but also cheaper.  One of the things I like to do in SD3 is layer drums.  So I might have the general picture of a kit from Decades or HANSA or something but want some of that UK Pop snare smack thing so I'll stack the UK Pop snare onto the main kit I'm using.  Endless sculpting possibilities.  SD3 is a playground.  

Layering is super fun.  You can route the "stack" (the added/layered drum) in various ways.  And it'll show up in the SD3 mixer for any relevant channels, like OH, ambience, etc.  You can choose how much (if any) you want the layered drum to show up in those mics.  Lots to experiment with.