TUTORIAL GUIDE

TUTORIAL
In this short tutorial we will show you how to playback an existing midi file in your favorite host. We strongly
recommend you perform the tasks while reading through this chapter even if you have some experience of
drum samplers or previous versions of the SUPERIOR instruments.

In the /Tutorial folder of the disk marked “installation 1” you will find ready-made templates for many hosts
for both Mac and PC. If your sequencer of choice is among those represented start your program and load the
project file relevant to you. Other users should import the midi file testfile.mid on a track in their sequencer
and instantiate SUPERIOR Drummer as per the instructions found in their programʼs user manual.

If you are new to multiple channels instruments or if this is required by your program you might also want to
force the sampler to output to a stereo bus. See chapter 9 for details. Note that this is not required for any of
the ready-made templates located in the /Tutorial folder.

Before you start you should also ensure that your system is configured for basic audio and midi playback (as
well as inter application audio streaming in the case of ReWire). Should you be unable to complete this tutorial
check first that your program is correctly set up and that you are able to audition other virtual instruments.

Graphical User Interface

Bringing up the plug-in window of the SUPERIOR Drummer instrument is normally achieved by double clicking
the insert name on the virtual instrument track. Please refer to your program manual for exact procedure.

Because of the nature of ReWire, users of hosts that do not support the VST or Audio Unit format should double
click the “Launch Drummer Rewire” application (Mac) or “DrummerRewire.exe” executable (PC) instead. It is
important that the host program is running and ʻlisteningʼ for a rewire slave.

It is of course mandatory that a valid rewire installation should exist on your system prior to using SUPERIOR
as a ReWire instrument. Please visit http://www.propellerheads.se/technologies/rewire/ for additional
information.

If you are unsure your system has a functional rewire installation, we suggest installing Propellerheads Reason
demo which will install the necessary components and provide you with a useful tool to test your rewire
installation.

PC users will find the Drummer applet in the folder specified for installation at the software install stage (please
refer to page 15 for details). Mac users will find the applet in the /Library/Application Support/ folder.
Setting the Path to the Sounds

If it is the first time the SUPERIOR instrument is being used you will be prompted to indicate the location of the
samples. Click then next to the line relevant to your product:

Navigate to the Superior folder on your hard drive (for example in E:\Samples\Superior\) and select the
CustomVintage folder inside it. Do not select a subfolder or the parent Superior folder as the install will
not be recognized. Do not check any of the Local Soundstats checkboxes.

All products specified and whose path has been set correctly should now be followed by a happy face
If the product you have just indicated to the sampler is still followed by one or more sad faces repeat the
procedure. If after several attempts you do not succeed check your install against page 17 of this manual.

Once you have set the correct path to your sounds press the button.

Pad Configuration Window

You now have the choice to select your pad configuration (key map) amongst factory presets or recall a saved
file from a previous session (or one provided with this product). This determines which midi note triggers a
particular drum and other aspects of the software.

Click on the “dfh SUPERIOR” box to bring a pull down menu detailing all available configurations. For now
select “dfh SUPERIOR” and click .
Construction Window

D
A

3
B C 1
2
The Construction window is where the composition of your drumkit can be made A , tools selected B , sounds
previewed , memory usage monitored C and leakage enabled or disabled for real time ambience D .

Select the Custom preset from the pull down menu marked “Drumkit Presets” 1 . The size of the kit will be
updated in the field located below this menu as will, further up, the individual contributions of the various
drums contained in this selection. The word ʻnoneʼ will be replaced by basic details of the specific drums.

Many instruments sampled for this library were recorded with a variety of tools (and beaters where applicable).
Selecting the tools for your virtual drummer is performed in bottom left corner of this window B . Click on the
selection boxes to see the options available. For now keep the default tools (Drumsticks and Felt beater).

One extremely important concept of the SUPERIOR instrument are the sampler modes. Cached mode 2 is one
of the most useful resource savvy feature of the sampler and allows you to load a much greater kit than would
normally with the memory available to the virtual instrument.
The distinction between Cached mode and Live mode will be discussed in details in chapter 6.
For now however it is best to stay in Cached mode until you have mastered SUPERIOR basic concepts.
 The section to the right of the instrument list, the “Microphone Leakage Control” C , is where you will be able
to specify which drum should be heard through which microphone.

The matrix surrounded by switches is a representation of the bleeds that will occur. This only affects the
SUPERIOR instrument in real time and has no effect on the result of the bounce facilities built into the
sampler as discussed in chapter 7.

We will examine this section in greater detail in the next chapter but feel free to click buttons and switches to
preview different leakage configuration (using the preview function outlined above).

Before you leave the Construction window however please make sure that you click the “clear all”
switch 3 to turn off all leakage... if you donʼt you risk overloading your system! When done click

Edit or Main Window

B

A C

>

This window cumulates many functions but its main focus is the edition of the various attributes of the drums
chosen in the Construction window as discussed on the previous page.

The large area on the left presents you with the so-called Superpads A , one for each drum selected in the
Construction window. A number of controls are associated to the Superpads and these will be discussed later
on in this manual (chapter 5 in particular) but for now click inside the darker area. First towards the top, then
progressively towards the bottom. A velocity sensitive preview should be heard.

Controls over the microphones are regrouped in B . This section works in tandem with the “Superpad” section
sitting just underneath. We will study this unique and interesting feature of SUPERIOR in a later chapter but for
now make a mental note of what it does: performing corrective adjustments over bleeds.
Other alterations to the way microphones output sound can also be found here.
Moving to the section to the right of the Superpads, the instruments edit functions themselves C are presented
neatly in groupings covering specific categories of adjustments (pitch, fade, humanize, etc). These will be
explained when we examine more advanced functions of the SUPERIOR instrument in chapter 8.

The bottom half section D is quite straightforward but will also be the subject of a dedicated section later in
this manual. What we would like to take some time detailing now, however, is the “status” box > sitting in the
right corner of the window. It regroups important information regarding the SUPERIOR instrument:

• Demon Working: A green light indicates that the SUPERIOR instrument is currently loading samples into
RAM. You can continue working in this window or in your sequencer while this is in progress.

• Corruption LED: if cache is switched on (as should be the case in this tutorial) this light will be ON to reflect
that the current playback should not be used to capture the performance, on tape or otherwise.

• Not Loaded: when lit this means that a sample request cannot be honored. This could happen for example if
you had programmed a Tom roll on a large kit but are playing back on a basic kit.

• Unmatched Key: if a midi event has no equivalent in the current key configuration and a request is sent to
the sampler this LED will warn you that the request is not understood by the sampler.

Note that all the LED apart from the Demon Working can be reset by clicking on the LED itself.

Playing back a Sequence

OK. We are now ready to play the midi test file. Press play on your sequencer and listen through the speakers.
It will take a few seconds for playback to stabilize while the RAM is fed dynamically in cached mode
being enabled. The Corruption LED will light up. This is normal. See chapter 6 for details.

When you have played the file from start to finish click the Corruption LED to reset it. Press play again in your
sequencer. You should notice that playback is smooth and that the Corruption LED does not light up. However
the “Not loaded” LED still lights up occasionally. Letʼs sort this out!

Go back to the Construction window by clicking on the button (you can do so while the file is still
playing back). Click and hold the selection box next to “Cymbal 2” and select a cymbal at your discretion.
Repeat for “Cymbal 4”. Come back to the Instrument window. Click on the “Not Loaded” LED to reset it and play
the sequence again. Voila!

You are now done with the tutorial. Congratulations!

Chapters 5 and 6 contain important informations regarding the use of this software, we strongly
recommend you read them before doing any experimentation on your own.

If you require further help make sure that to check the Xtra folder of the DVD marked “installation 1” as more
learning material has been gathered there for your convenience.