‘Route Instrument Microphones’ is a tool inside of Superior Drummer 3 that allows you to route the output of any selected instrument to any channel in the mixer, or new channels.

Accessed from the ‘View’ menu (or the ‘More’ menu when right-clicking an instrument), ‘Route Instrument Microphones’ presents you with three columns.

In the first column, the desired instrument is selected.

The second column shows you the microphone channels that this instrument is routed to by default.

The third column is where you can make changes to the routing. Clicking on one of the menus in the third column will display all currently available channels in the ‘Mixer’, and you can decide which of these channels you would like your selected instrument to be output to. Additionally, you could select ‘None’, or ‘Create New Channel’. If you create a new channel, your instrument could be processed and leveled in unique ways.

Example 1:
In my first example. I’ve selected a ride cymbal in ‘Route Instrument Microphones’ and in the third column, I’ve chosen to create a new channel for the overhead microphones. Doing this will break the ride cymbal out of the stereo ‘OH Dyn’ (overhead) channel and instead route its audio to a new channel. This way I can EQ and level the ride cymbal independently of the overheads.

Example 2:
In my second example, I’ve stacked a new electronic kick.

When you stack a new instrument with the ‘Search for Instrument’ option you are given a choice to route the close microphones of the new instrument to existing channels or to new channels in the mixer.

This option essentially does all of the previous steps for you and automatically routes the added instrument to new channels. Here I’ve added an electronic kick drum and chosen the ‘New’ in the ‘Route close mics to’ option so that I could mix this element separately.

Playing the groove on the ‘Song Track’ of Superior Drummer 3 from the downloadable project file, and then switching to the mixer tab (Option + 3) will allow you to view the new channels output of the previously routed ride cymbal and electronic kick drum.

Mike Sanfillipp