Release date: Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Cakewalk® Announces New SONAR Session Drummer 3 Kits from Andy Johns and Neil Peart

Boston, MA (May 10, 2011) — Cakewalk, the world's leading developer of powerful and easy to use products for music creation and recording, announces the availability of  Andy Johns Kit 1 for Session Drummer 3 (Platinum Samples) and Neil Peart Drums Vol 1 for Session Drummer 3 (Sonic Reality) – available as downloads at Cakewalk.com.

The Andy Johns Kit1 for Session Drummer 3 was recorded by legendary engineer Andy Johns who invented the modern rock drum sound.  Andy’s credits include Led Zeppelin II, III, IV & Physical Graffiti, The Rolling Stones Exile On Main Street and Sticky Fingers, Van Halen For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, Blind Faith, Eric Clapton and more. The albums Andy has engineered and produced have sold over 150 million copies.

The Andy Johns Kit 1 features an expertly sampled hybrid kit with a Pork Pie bass drum, DW Toms and Andy's personal engraved Ludwig Black Beauty snare as well as a Hihat, 3 Crash cymbals, 1 Ride, a China and a Splash cymbal with up to 12 velocity levels and 6 round robin variations. Also included are 120 MIDI Grooves from the Platinum Samples Steve Ferrone (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) and Bobby Jarzombek (Halford) MIDI Groove libraries.

Learn more about Andy Johns Kit 1 for Session Drummer 3

Neil Peart Drums Vol 1 for Session Drummer 3 by Sonic Reality features samples of the authentic Drum Workshop® Signature "Snakes and Arrows" kit of drum legend Neil Peart from the band Rush. Recorded by producer Nick Raskulinecz (Rush, Foo Fighters, Alice In Chains) this powerful stereo kit offers the ultimate high fidelity rock sound with incredible realism. Coming from the acclaimed Drum Masters 2 and Studio ProFile series, Sonic Reality has crafted  this legendary kit in Session Drummer 3 format so SONAR 8.5 and SONAR X1 users can enjoy one of the finest sampled kits in the world.

This custom DW kit was made to spec for Neil Peart, complete with a unique 23" kick drum, wide array of toms, cymbals and a rocking snare recorded through vintage Neve® channels using vintage tube and ribbon microphones by engineer/producer Nick Raskulinecz.  This powerfully expressive drum kit packs in the punch and delivers dynamic acoustic drums like nothing else.

Learn more about Neil Peart Drums Vol 1 for Session Drummer 3

Session Drummer 3 is a SONAR 8.5 Producer and SONAR X1 Producer exclusive and provides for easy and fast creation of realistic sounding drum tracks.

Features include:

• Photorealistic drum kit page to load kits, programs, patterns, and tweak mappings
• Dedicated Mixer page for fine tuning kits (12 channels each) with control over volume, pan, width, and tuning controls
• Mix and match kit components: all kit pieces are broken down into individual components for flexibility in creating your drum sounds
• Drag-and-drop drum components: build kits by dragging any WAV or OGG file from the desktop onto a pad
• Comprehensive collection of presets and MIDI-based loop files to provide a creative jump-start for your drum tracks
• Flexible MIDI pattern playback
• 12 pads/12 outputs

Availability

Both Session Drummer 3 Expansion Packs are available for download at the Cakewalk Store. The Andy Johns Kit 1 for Session Drummer 3 is $39.95. The Neil Peart Drums Vol 1 for Session Drummer 3 is $99.95.

About Cakewalk, Inc.
Cakewalk, Inc. is the world's leading developer of powerful, yet easy to use products for music creation and recording:

• Award-winning Digital Audio Workstations and Sequencers
• Integrated Music Hardware and Software Solutions
• Powered Stereo Monitors
• High-quality Digital Audio and MIDI Interfaces
• MIDI Keyboard Controllers
• Innovative Virtual Instruments and Effects
• Entry-level Consumer Products

Millions of musicians around the world choose Cakewalk products to produce audio for the professional music, film, broadcast, and video game industries. These customers include Grammy® and Emmy®-winning producers, composers, sound designers and engineers. We invite you to learn more about our company and products by visiting www.cakewalk.com.

Cakewalk is a registered trademark and the Cakewalk logo, SONAR, and Session Drummer 3 are trademarks of Cakewalk, Inc. Other trademarks mentioned are held by their respective owners. All specifications and appearances are subject to change without notice.