FXpansion BFD Premium Acoustic Drum Module Mixing with BFD - Manual (Page 8)

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Mixing with BFD www.fxpansion.com
The Master Dynamics control is particularly useful, especially if you assign a MIDI
controller to it for realtime automation. Program a drum track as normal, then record
yourself ‘riding’ the Master Dynamics control over its duration with a MIDI controller. Pull
it down slightly for the verses, and perhaps towards the end of the bar leading up to each
chorus, start to pull it up to give the drums more intensity.
Each Kit-Piece slot has a Dynamics control too, so you can adjust the intensity of each
part of the kit independently. It’s quite astounding how many different permutations of
drum sounds you can achieve with a single pattern and the Dynamics controls.
2:3. Articulations
The various articulations (Hit types) are a very important aspect of BFD, and making
intelligent use of them can contribute to the realism of your drum tracks. Articulations
such as snare drags and flams offer quick access to elements of a drum performance
which are not always straightforward to program or play. Other articulations represent
different ways of playing a Kit-Piece.
• Kicks
Kicks are typically recorded with a snare present, meaning that it also contains the sound
of the snare wire resonating when the kick is hit. However, some kicks also offer a ‘no
snare’ hit, which does not contain the snare rattle, due to the snare drum being removed.
• Snares
Snares generally contain a normal hit, a rim and a sidestick as well as flams and drags.
Some expansion packs contain different substituted articulations - on some snares in
Deluxe Collection, for example, sidesticks are replaced by another regular hit, half-way
between the centre and the edge of the skin. Jazz & Funk Collection features substantial
use of substituted hits, especially on brushed instruments. It’s important to check the
manuals of the expansion packs to learn about the available articulations and how to use
them optimally.
When using the drags, remember that the choking mechanism in BFD lets you cut the
sound of a Kit-Piece with another hit. A low velocity snare hit is ideal for cutting short a
drag if it’s too long and you don’t want to choke it with another loud snare hit.
The choking mechanism is also crucial when using brushed snares from Jazz & Funk
Collection. If you want a continuous brush sweep pattern which won’t be choked with
other snare hits, you’ll need to load the snare into a separate slot and use it for the sweep
hits.