snare sound

It does sound great.  Hard to tell - but sounds to me it is layered with a reversed clap with maybe a 100ms long reverb tail (just a guess).  And the normal clap doesn't seem to have any reverb on it so the reverb only comes ahead of the clap (with the reversed clap) and no reverb after it.  It is nicely EQ's and compressed.

Hey, Mathew! That sounds similar to an effect I just used recently. Here's a snippit. The effect is brief, just 2 measures about 5 seconds in.

I got this effect by freezing a handclap from the TTS-1 with a short reverb on it, copying the section to another track and reversing it. I used volume envelopes to remove the attack from the reversed version to it was mostly just the reversed reverb tail and just a little of the clap. Then I lined it up with the original handclaps.

Yes, I'm definitely going to have to try this.

Also, I would imainge the layering makes it a fatter sound.

Yes, I have a reverse cymbal I use all the time.  

Although, I might try loading the samples into battery.   (I don't think I can load it into superior drummer)

I was going to guess that it was a hand clap track, but I figured the processing a bit different. If you notice the most significant beat of the hand clap is at the end which forms sort of a cresendo that starts a bit ahead of the actual beat and ends at it's loudest right on the beat. I would of guessed that the hand clap track/clip was reversed and a short reverb applied to it, and then bouced with the reverb embedded in the track/clip. The track is then reversed again to make it appear forward (putting the cresendo in the right order). Not a new trick, but not the usual treatment for a clap track.

Clap tracks themselves can be difficult to record. I've done them live and with synth/sampler patches. I generally have the best luck by doubling the claps with a snare cross-stick sound, or a wood block patch on a seperate track. The sound is similar to the claps but is definitive and on the beat. I then slide the claps ahead in time just a touch. If you're recording actual people clapping they will not clap together or necessarily on the beat. If one clap is late now and then, it is anti-climactic and kind of sucks the groove out of the song. By using the cross-stick track and sliding the actual claps slightly ahead in time, each cluster of claps appears to end on the beat with the implied cresendo right on time.

Thanks for the tips about session drummer 3.  I finally figured out how to load full kits (I had just been loading indvidual instruments before).

Though I still say they need to give an audio preview to really make it useful.

Anyway, I'm doing some experimenting now.  If it works out, I'm going to use it on the song I'm currently working on (see the song forums for a draft).

Thanks again for all the help,

Another really interesting snare sound

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5Sd5c4o9UM

In particular, I note how wide it is in the stereo field.  But still sounding very in your face.  Almost sounds like the left is hitting a hair before the right.  

In this type of music, I definitely think the mixing and effects can be half the song.