Manual

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1 ADDITIONS TO THE REFERENCE MANUAL

Since the manual went to print, a few feature additions and error corrections were neces-

sary to bring to your attention.

ERRATA

Output Options panel, Output Matrix

The <null> value, used in the Output Matrix to denote a muted mic channel for a Kit-

Piece, has been changed to <mute>.

Link to Kit-Piece, Key2 functions

(in Kit-Piece Inspector and Hit Options Advanced tab)

The manual implies that specifying another Kit-Piece/Hit type with the Link/Key2

parameters will result in both being played together when either is struck.

Correction: The Kit-Pieces will be played together only when the Kit-Piece/Hit type for

which the Link/Key2 setting has been made.

ADDITIONAL FEATURES

There are a few last minute alterations made to BFD in order to enhance usability:

Hit Options panel

Interaction between the Page 1/Page 2 and Advanced tabs

The Advanced tab of the Hit Options panel is the only area in which you can create

multiple key assignments (more than 1 note for a Hit type). Because this is not possible

in the Page 1 and Page 2 tabs, any Hit type with multiple mappings is denoted as being

mapped to <M>.

If the assignment is changed on the Page 1/Page 2 tabs, all multiple mappings in the

Advanced tab are removed.

A warning window will appear, which can be turned off in the Options panel.

Duplicate assignment highlighting in Page 1 and Page 2 tabs

In addition to a blue highlight for a Hit type whose assignment is duplicated with another

Hit type, the following highlighting conventions have been introduced:

Green Key assignment is duplicated with a Groove note

Red Key assignment is duplicated with a choke note

Summary of content (26 pages)

PAGE 1
ADDITIONS TO THE REFERENCE MANUAL Since the manual went to print, a few feature additions and error corrections were necessary to bring to your attention. ERRATA Output Options panel, Output Matrix The value, used in the Output Matrix to denote a muted mic channel for a KitPiece, has been changed to .
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Chapter 1: Additions to the Reference manual BFD supplemental manual Hihat pedal position define slider: current pedal position indicator (Page 1 tab) An indicator has been implemented, highlighting the current hihat pedal position zone, in order to help with setting up the zone boundaries. Please note that some Roland drum brains, such as the TD20, do not send the pedal value until the hihat surface is triggered.
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2 USING BFD IN YOUR HOST This chapter deals with using BFD with the most popular hosts and sequencers. Because of the huge amount of hosts out there, it is impossible to cover everything. Hosts are often updated with new features, and so the information within this chapter may become inaccurate. Please consult your host documentation for the latest information on how it operates. The different BFD plugin types (BFD Stereo, BFD Groups, BFD All and BFD Ultra) are discussed in this chapter.
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Chapter 2: Using BFD in your host BFD supplemental manual Using multiple outputs in Logic Audio When using Logic, the multiple outputs from BFD, like any other AudioUnit plugin with more than 2 outputs, become available to special audio objects called Aux channels. The primary stereo output 1-2 of each plugin (the Direct bus in BFD Groups and the Overhead bus on BFD All) appear at the original Audio Instrument channel used for BFD.
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BFD supplemental manual Chapter 2: Using BFD in your host Using BFD RTAS in Digidesign Pro Tools 6.4 or earlier Firstly, it is necessary to have at least version 6.2 of Pro Tools installed, preferably v6.4 for best performance. Any versions prior to 6.2 have severe problems with RTAS instrument plugins. Versions of Pro Tools up to 6.4 do not support multiple outputs from RTAS plugins. You will be limited to using the stereo version of BFD when using RTAS.
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Chapter 2: Using BFD in your host BFD supplemental manual 8. Run the “BFD Launch ReWire” application (found in the same location as the BFD ReWire Applet) in order to bring up BFD’s interface. ReWire is a protocol which streams audio between two separate applications. • The BFD Launch ReWire program is effectively a different application, and therefore needs to be manually launched. It follows that the BFD ReWire interface will not behave in the same way as your Pro Tools RTAS plugins. 9.
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BFD supplemental manual Chapter 2: Using BFD in your host Using BFD ReWire in MOTU Digital Performer 4.52 and earlier Please note that it is only necessary to use ReWire if you require multiple outs and do not have DP 4.6 or higher. The major disadvantage when using ReWire is that BFD’s settings will not be saved with your DP project. This is because it runs as a separate application, with audio and MIDI being passed between the programs using the ReWire protocol.
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Chapter 2: Using BFD in your host BFD supplemental manual Using BFD in Cakewalk Project 5 Because BFD installs a set of DXi plugins, you do not need to run the Cakewalk VST Adapter in order to wrap the VST versions into DXi format. To use BFD in Project 5, simply click the Insert Track button and select one of the BFD plugins which should be visible on the menu.
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BFD supplemental manual Chapter 2: Using BFD in your host Using BFD in Image-Line FL Studio To use BFD, please do the following after launching FL Studio: 1. B FD will not be in the list displayed by default. To make it part of the list select ‘More…’ to popup a list of all available plugins. From the bottom-right of this window click Refresh then Fast Scan (recommended). 2. E nable the checkboxes next to the BFD plugins which are shown in red (to show they are newly found plugins). 3.
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3 GETTING STARTED The following tutorials will get you started with using BFD. These are not comprehensive tutorials, but rather are intended to provide a brief introduction to using BFD. They do not cover all functions available in BFD. Please see the reference manual for a more comprehensive guide to BFD’s features. In particular, you should familiarize yourself with the interface in chapter 3. Where appropriate, relevant sections in the reference manual are specified. i.
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BFD supplemental manual Chapter 3: Tutorial ii. Playing BFD via MIDI • BFD can be triggered via MIDI either as a standalone application, or as a plugin in a host environoment. • If you’re using a host sequencer, you can use its MIDI editors (such as the ‘piano roll’) to program drum parts instead of playing them in live. • See section 4:3 of the reference manual for a list of default MIDI notes used in BFD. • Using the Grooves is a very quick and easy way of getting a drum part going in BFD.
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Chapter 3: Tutorial BFD supplemental manual iii. Playing Grooves in BFD BFD features a built-in MIDI file playing system called the Groove Librarian, which comes with a large number of pre-recorded MIDI drum performances. This allows you to play Grooves either by playing MIDI notes, or you can configure BFD to start playing a Groove (and repeat it, optionally shuffling through the loaded Grooves) when you start your sequencer playing (‘auto-accompaniment mode’).
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BFD supplemental manual Chapter 3: Tutorial Transition mode There are 3 different transition modes, which specify how BFD moves onto the next Groove when a new Groove note is played. See page 60 in the reference manual for more details on the transition modes. Humanization When using Grooves, you can use not only velocity humanization functions (described on page 11) but also timing humanization features.
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Chapter 3: Tutorial BFD supplemental manual iv. Mixing in BFD BFD contains a substantial array of mixing and audio routing facilities. These give you a virtually infinite way of shaping the sound of your Kit. It is a very good idea to read section 10:1 of the reference manual before going further in this tutorial, in order to understand the audio architecture of the BFD library. Mixer functions With a Kit loaded and playing, you can explore the Mixer. Bus Mixer area (ref.
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BFD supplemental manual Chapter 3: Tutorial Output controls (see ref. manual section 10:3) BFD comes in a variety of output configurations: BFD Stereo (Stereo output) BFD Groups (Group outputs: 4 stereo) BFD All (All outputs: 3 stereo and 11 mono) BFD Ultra (6 stereo and 22 mono outputs) Depending on which version you launch, the Output Options panel (see ref. manual section 10:2) will give you a variety of routing options for the mic channels in BFD.
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4 USING BFD WITH ELECTRONIC DRUMS BFD 1.5 contains several new features in order to improve performance with electronic drumkits. In particular, hihat and cymbal choke control is substantially improved. We have included pre-made presets for the most popular drum brains.
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BFD supplemental manual Chapter 4: Using BFD with electronic drums Important note about cross-talk It is very common to experience cross-talk symptoms when using e-drum systems, due to vibrations being transmitted to other pads when one is struck. This is often made worse by the fact that most e-drum systems are supplied with a single ‘frame’ mounting system, resulting in less isolation for each pad.
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Chapter 4: Using BFD with electronic drums BFD supplemental manual Hihat Most e-drum systems transmit a MIDI continuous controller for the hihat pedal, as well as one or more notes when the hihat surface is struck. The actual note configuration can vary, but the principle is the same: the note(s) should be mapped to variable hihat notes.
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BFD supplemental manual Chapter 4: Using BFD with electronic drums Method 2 1. If the hihat note(s) which are sent out by your drum brain are already mapped to any Kit-Piece Hit type, move these assignments to other, unused notes. 2. Map the drum brain’s transmitted hihat note(s) to the variable hihat notes. If you have a 2-zone hihat, you will be able to specify a tip and shank variable note. If your hihat only features 1 zone, you will have to specify either a tip or shank variable note.
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Chapter 4: Using BFD with electronic drums BFD supplemental manual To get around the problem of cross-talk between tip and shank zones, it is recommended to set the Retrigger threshold in the BFD Options panel to a figure of 10 or 15 ms. Many Roland brains send out positional information for drums as MIDI CCs: it is best to disable these MIDI CCs in the Hit Options panel (or load the hihatpedalonly.bfc preset).
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5 TROUBLESHOOTING BFD USER FAQ Many common installation and performance issues can be resolved by reading our BFD User FAQ: http://www.fxpansion.com/product-bfd-userFAQ.php INSTALLATION AND AUTHORIZATION PROBLEMS • On which hard drive should I install the BFD data? We recommend, in order of performance preference (first is best): 1. A dedicated SATA or IDE internal drive, 7200rpm or above 2.
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Chapter 5: Troubleshooting BFD supplemental manual 4. If for any reason you are not prompted for the folder, and if you cannot see any kits to load, please go to the Options panel inside BFD and make sure that the Data Path location is correctly pointing at your hard drive’s BFD folder. • I’ve tried the manual installation method, but there are errors during copying some files. What should I do? Firstly, check that your DVD drive is functioning properly.
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BFD supplemental manual Chapter 5: Troubleshooting PERFORMANCE PROBLEMS • I’m not hearing any sound! Chances are that you have not yet loaded a Kit. Also, many sequencers (such as Logic) require you to record-enable a MIDI track, or enable live MIDI input in order to get MIDI input to it. • There is a noticeable delay between pressing a key on my MIDI keyboard and hearing the sound. This is a symptom of latency, something which all CPU-based processing suffers from.
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Chapter 5: Troubleshooting BFD supplemental manual you should be okay. Also, on Windows platforms, make sure that the drive is running in DMA mode (check your primary and secondary hard disk controller settings in Control Panel/Device Manager). Also, try looking at the various cache and buffer settings in the Options panel. You can try the following workarounds to get around hard disk subsystem bottlenecks: • Install BFD on a separate drive to the operating system and any audio tracks you may be using.
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BFD supplemental manual Chapter 5: Troubleshooting • How can I reduce the amount of CPU BFD uses? Generally, the less data throughput, the less CPU BFD will use - so if you follow the memory reduction tips, you will find this reduces BFD’s CPU load as well, as most of the CPU load comes from operations related to the disk streaming, or from the operating system being forced to use virtual memory (which requires swapping large chunks of RAM to disk).
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Chapter 5: Troubleshooting BFD supplemental manual • Make sure you’re running BFD off a 2nd Drive, not from the system disk, or a drive which is already streaming audio tracks or samples. Firewire is preferable to USB as it has its own controller, reducing the load on the CPU. • RAM is an important consideration, especially with applications like Protools. Whilst 1 gig is the minimum for best performance I would recommend at least 2 gig. ProTools is a hungry beast, as is BFD.