FXpansion BFD Premium Acoustic Drum Module Mixing with BFD - Manual (Page 6)

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Mixing with BFD www.fxpansion.com
2. Programming Techniques
Before getting onto the subject of mixing drums, it’s good to ensure you have a
reasonably decent-sounding drum track to begin with.
You may have noticed the large scary BFD reference manual - read it! BFD has a huge
amount of functionality to manipulate sounds even before they come out as separate
channels in your host’s mixer. All these functions exist for a reason. So it’s vital to
familiarize yourself with BFD’s capabilities. If any of the topics below confuse you, refer to
the manual for assistance. Most features are listed in the table of contents at the start of
the manual, so it is pretty easy to find the information you require.
2:1. ‘The obvious stuff’
• Building the kit
Choosing the right Kit-pieces is paramount to getting the right sound. If you want a tight
kick sound, start with the tightest-sounding kick you can find!
Pay close attention to the composition of your kit - BFD allows you a lot of freedom by
allowing you to mix and match toms and to load any type of Kit-piece into any type of slot
- it’s very easy to use a floor tom as a kick, for example.
There is absolutely no reason to stick to pre-defined manufacturer-based kits. Most
drummers will regularly mix and match parts of the kit for different musical needs, and it
takes a matter of seconds in BFD. Having said that, there is absolutely nothing wrong with
finding a kit that works for you and sticking to it. There are infinite ways in which to shape
a single kit to sound good in any type of context.
Don’t be afraid to mix and match different Kit-Pieces from different expansion packs.
Although all the packs (with the exception of BFD XFL) are recorded in different rooms to
the original library, there is no reason why they won’t sound good in the mix together.
• Ambience
Drums too roomy? Then turn down the big fader called ‘Room’ ! The ambience in BFD
is there if you need it. If you don’t, turn it down and work with the direct signals. Room
and PZM signals tend to be the biggest-sounding channels, which really give a heavy
impression of space and increased sustain. If you want a dry, intimate sound, turn
these down. The Overhead channels will still provide a lush sense of ambience without
sounding too huge. The PZM channels tend to sound more ‘trashy’ than the room
channels - very nice for those Shellac-esque drum sounds.
There’s nothing wrong with just using one mic bus - for example, it’s quite common to
just use the overheads. It is entirely up to you and depends upon the sound you want to
achieve.