# Catch 33 Drum Setup: When Tomas Haake Replaced Himself with a Computer

> Complete breakdown of Tomas Haake's drum programming on Meshuggah's Catch 33. Discover how the 'Atomic Clock' traded his kit for Logic Pro and dfh Superior, creating the most unique drum album in progressive metal history.

**Type:** Album Drum Setup
**Drummer(s):** [Tomas Haake](/llms/drummers/tomas-haake.md)
**Band / Album:** Meshuggah — *Catch 33* (2005)
**Genre:** Extreme Progressive Metal / Djent

## Overview

Released on May 23, 2005, Meshuggah's *Catch 33* stands apart from every other album in metal history for one remarkable reason: there is no live drum performance on it. Every single drum note — every kick, every snare, every cymbal — was programmed by Tomas Haake on a laptop using Logic Pro and Toontrack's dfh Superior (now known as Superior Drummer).

The irony is extraordinary. Tomas Haake, widely celebrated as one of the most technically gifted drummers in extreme metal, chose to replace himself with a computer for an entire album. But this wasn't laziness or creative avoidance — it was a deliberate artistic statement that fundamentally shaped the album's character.

*Catch 33* is a 47-minute continuous piece, never breaking into discrete tracks in the traditional sense. Its nine sections — Autonomy Lost, Imprint of the Un-Saved, Munspori (The Uncontrollable Spread), In Death - Is Life, In Death - Is Death, Shed, Personae Non Gratae, Dehumanisation, and Sum — flow into one another without pause, forming a single unified composition that unfolds more like a symphony than a metal record.

The album sits chronologically between *Nothing* (2002) and *obZen* (2008), bridging two live-recorded masterworks with a digital experiment that remains unlike anything else in Meshuggah's — or any other band's — catalog. Understanding *Catch 33* means understanding not just the gear, but the philosophy: sometimes the most powerful creative tool is the one that removes every physical limitation.

## Gear Breakdown

- **Drums:** Toontrack / Apple dfh Superior (Drumkit From Hell Superior) — pre-commercial beta build (N/A — software instrument finish)
- **Snare:** Toontrack dfh Superior snare samples, Various — programmed velocities and articulations
- **Cymbals:** Toontrack — dfh Superior cymbal sample library
- **Hardware / Pedals:** Sonor Perfect Balance Pedal (x2 single pedals); Sonor Designer Series; Electronic triggers on bass drums and select pads; Vic Firth 5A American Classic
- **Heads:** N/A — sampled drum library
- **Snare tuning:** Programmed — velocity layers simulate dynamic range from ghost notes to rimshots

### The Digital Arsenal: Logic Pro + dfh Superior

*Catch 33* has no drum kit in the conventional sense. Tomas Haake sat at a laptop with Logic Pro and a pre-commercial build of Toontrack's dfh Superior — a sample-based drum instrument that would later be released to the public as Superior Drummer — and programmed every drum part note by note.

dfh Superior (short for "Drumkit From Hell Superior") was the successor to the original dfh sample library that had become popular among metal producers. The Superior version introduced multi-velocity layering, round-robin sampling, and realistic cymbal bleed — features that made it far more convincing than earlier drum replacement software.

Haake used this software not as a convenience but as a compositional canvas. Without the physical constraints of a human body — the limits of what two arms and two legs can play simultaneously — he was free to write parts of any theoretical complexity. The polyrhythms on *Catch 33* occasionally exceed what is humanly playable, existing in a space between composition and performance art.

The drum programming was done entirely on laptop, with MIDI input likely via keyboard or step-sequencing directly in Logic Pro's piano roll. Each note was placed with deliberate precision, each velocity carefully shaped to create the illusion of organic performance while simultaneously embracing the mechanical accuracy that only programming allows.

### The Programmed Crack

The snare sound on *Catch 33* comes from the dfh Superior library, which included multi-velocity samples of actual studio snare drums recorded in a professional environment. The snare could be programmed with precise velocity values — ranging from ghost notes to full-power rimshots — without the physical fatigue that limits a live drummer's dynamic range over an extended session.

What makes this particularly interesting is that Haake's programming reflects the same philosophy as his live playing. The snare patterns on *Catch 33* exhibit the same polyrhythmic logic that defines his work behind a physical kit. The "feel" of the snare placement — its relationship to the kick and hi-hat patterns — carries Haake's musical fingerprint even when executed by software.

The tight, dry snare sound that characterizes the album helped establish a production aesthetic that would influence the early djent movement. Bands like Periphery would later use similar sample-based drum approaches in demo recordings, creating a sonic lineage that traces back directly to *Catch 33*'s production choices.

### Digital Cymbals: Precision Without Physics

The cymbal sounds on *Catch 33* derive entirely from the dfh Superior sample library. This library was revolutionary for its time, capturing cymbal articulations with a realism that previous metal drum samples had failed to achieve — including the natural decay curves and overtone behavior of real cymbals.

One of the most distinctive aspects of programming cymbals versus recording them live is control over bleed. In a live session, cymbal bleed into drum microphones is inevitable and must be managed. In dfh Superior, bleed is simulated algorithmically, giving Haake complete control over the album's sonic space.

The hi-hat programming on *Catch 33* is particularly noteworthy. Haake programmed intricate open/closed transitions that mirror the complexity of his live hi-hat work, creating rhythmic textures that serve the same function — establishing pulse reference points within the polyrhythmic chaos — that his physical hi-hat playing does in live contexts.

## Key Facts

- ALL drums programmed in Logic Pro — no live kit recorded
- Toontrack dfh Superior used for drum sounds (pre-commercial beta)
- 47-minute single continuous composition divided into nine sections
- Programmed by Tomas Haake on laptop — completely solo drum creation process
- Bridges the Nothing (2002) and obZen (2008) eras of Meshuggah's sound
- Unique in metal: a masterwork of rhythm created without touching a drum
- No physical drum kit used for the recording
- dfh Superior provided the drum sounds — multi-velocity sampled library
- Logic Pro used as the DAW for all programming
- Programming done on laptop — completely solo creative process
- Some patterns deliberately exceed what is humanly playable
- Live performances later required an extended physical kit plus triggering
- Estimated kit value: N/A — software (dfh Superior retailed at ~$300 USD at commercial release)
- Estimated snare value: N/A — included in dfh Superior library

**Source:** https://metalforge.io/articles/catch-33-drum-setup

**More LLM resources:** [Site index](/llms.txt) · [Full database](/llms-full.txt) · [Master FAQ](/llms/faq.md) · [Drummer index](/llms/index.md)

*Last updated: 2026-06-25 · Source: [MetalForge.io](https://metalforge.io)*