FXpansion BFD Premium Acoustic Drum Module - Manual (Page 58)

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Swing
BFD’s Swing Templates can be considered as a cross between
‘groove templates’ in sequencers such as Cubase or Logic, and
the ‘shuffl e’ or ‘swing’ function on classic drum machines. They
defi ne an X-Y map which translates original time into swing time
to achieve different feels. Currently, BFD comes with the common
8
th and 16 th note swings.
The Swing slider gradually varies the timing of the playing
Groove between the setting specifi ed with the Hard Quantize slider and the currently
selected Swing Template. Positive and negative time displacement is possible, with no
effect at the central point of the slider.
The drop-down menu allows the selection of one of a number of Swing
Templates supplied with BFD.
The graphic represents the point between straight (‘Beatsborg’).and swung
(‘Groove dude’) timing.
Humanize panels
In addition to the versatile Quantization panel, BFD offers a further two functions to
vary the expressive character of its output: the Humanize Timing and Humanize Velocity
panels.
These work in a slightly different way to the other panels. To bring up either panel, click
the timing or velocity
buttons. You will see that a popup graph is displayed, the curve of
which can be shaped by moving the mouse over the graph. Changes to the curve shape
will take effect in real time.
Once you’ve found the setting you want, click the graph to fi nalize it and exit the panel.
Please see below for details of how to interpret the curve shapes.
Humanize Timing panel
Use this panel to introduce random
timing variations to make a Groove
sound more ‘human’ - in other words, with less
mechanically perfect timing. The panel graph’s
x-axis shows time deviations away from a note’s
original time position (marked by a white line in the
centre), while the y-axis represents the probability
of a certain deviation occurring, the top of the
graph being ‘highly probable’.
If you are playing a Groove with Auto Repeat
enabled, the timing variations will be different for every repetition.
Timing randomizations are not applied to notes from your sequencer or MIDI controller
– only to Grooves.
Chapter 8: The Groove Librarian