FXpansion BFD2 Manual - Manual (Page 138)

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Bus traffic problems
You may find it particulatly difficult to achieve low latencies on laptops and smaller machines with limited expansion potential – no
ability to install dedicated internal drives or audio interfaces. This means you may need to chain devices on the same firewire bus,
for example. This often leads to dropouts at lower latencies.
It is highly recommended to run the hard drive containing BFD2’s sounds from a separate bus to the audio interface. Numerous
options are available – Cardbus or ExpressCard Firewire/E-SATA cards are one option, while USB2 hard drives or audio interfac-
es represent another solution. Some laptops feature fast 7200 RPM internal drives – in such cases, running BFD2’s sounds from
the internal drive is another potential option.
Recommended systems for low latency
If you’re serious about drumming with BFD, you must assemble a system which can get down to very playable low latencies. Au-
dio interfaces such as those by RME and Lynx can deliver latencies as low as 64 or 32 samples (1.5ms or 0.75ms at 44.1 kHz).
A PCI or PCI-Express solution is recommended, with CardBus and ExpressCard interfaces on laptops being of similar quality.
A Firewire interface on its own bus is the next best option in our experience.
An internal 7200 RPM drive for the sounds is preferable – if this is not possible, use an external drive on its own bus (Firewire,
USB2 and E-SATA are all potential options).
If you also use a good MIDI interface (PCI/PCI-Express is better than USB) and a fast computer, you can achieve a very respon-
sive feel when playing BFD2 with e-drums.
If it is not possible to assemble a system capable of stable low latency operation, it may be best to record your performance while
monitoring the sounds in your drum brain, and then afterwards route the recorded MIDI to BFD2’s sounds.
9:2 Simple hihat control
The easiest way to control BFD2 hihats with an electronic kit is by ignoring the MIDI CC transmitted by the brain according to the
hihat pedal position and instead simply using the open, closed and pedal hihat notes transmitted by the brain.
The drum brain calculates whether to send out an open or closed hihat note depending on the state of the hihat pedal. Some
brains that support multi-zone triggers are capable of sending out different open and closed notes for tip (also known as bow) and
shank (edge) triggers. A pedal note is transmitted when the hihat pedal controller is fully depressed.
These notes are mapped to suitable BFD2 articulations.
Example: Roland TD-20
The following table shows how to map the notes transmitted by a Roland TD-20 to achieve non-variable hihat control.
Roland note
Open Bow
Closed Bow
Open Edge
Closed Edge
Pedal
MIDI note (note no.)
A#1 ()
F#1 ()
D0 ()
A#-1 ()
G#1 ()
default BFD mapping
open tip
closed tip
open shank
closed shank
pedal
It is highly recommended to remap A#1 and D0 to 1/2-open tip and 1/2-open shank, as these represent the most common type of
open hat sound. The open tip articulation in particular is more like a hihat bell sound, or a small ride cymbal.
Advantages and disadvantages of non-variable hihat control
While it may be argued that using this method is less expressive than using a variable hihat control method, it offers a distinct
advantage.
When recording in a MIDI sequencer, the resulting MIDI data is much easier to edit. When using a MIDI CC for the hihat pedal
position, you need to move or copy the recorded CC values along with any notes when editing. This can be cumbersome.
If you use the simple hihat control method, any editing and quantizing you need to do are also much more straightforward. You
can move notes to other articulations after recording to make parts more expressive.