Ch.2 bfd eco audio architecture, 1 kits, kit-pieces and articulations – FXpansion BFD Eco User Manual
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Ch.2 BFD Eco audio architecture
2:1 Kits, kit-pieces and articulations
Kits
In BFD Eco, a kit is a combination of kit-pieces, along with Channel inspector adjustments to each kit-piece.
Kit-piece
Kit-pieces are individual drums, cymbals, hihats or other instruments within a kit. They are each made up of one or more articulations, which
represent an individual way of playing the kit-piece.
Articulations
The available articulations vary for each type of kit-piece. Here is a summary of possible articulations in BFD Eco. Please note that some kit-
pieces do not contain all possible articulations.
Kit-piece type
Articulations within BFD Eco library
Additional articulations supported in expansion packs
Kick
Hit, Hit (no snare)
Snare
Hit, Sidestick, Half-edge, Rim, Drag
Flam
Hihat
Closed, 1/4-open, 1/2-open, 3/4-open, open (tip)
Closed, 1/4-open, 1/2-open, 3/4-open, open (shank)
Pedal
Toms
Hit
Alt, Rim Shot
Cymbals
Hit, Bell and Edge
Percussion
Hit, Alt
Note: When toms and cymbals are loaded into the Perc1, Perc2 or Perc3 channels, only the first 2 articulations are available – Hit and Alt for
toms; Hit and Bell for cymbals.
Each articulation is a folder of numbered audio files, called velocity layers. These are recordings of the instrument being struck at varying levels
of intensity, from very light to very heavy, arranged across the MIDI velocity range from 0 to 127. When articulations are triggered in BFD Eco, its
velocity layers are played depending on the velocity of MIDI events received.
Choke articulations
A choke is a special kind of articulation which does not produce any sound – instead, triggering a kit-piece’s choke stops any other articulations
from the same kit-piece that are currently playing. This feature is useful for choking a cymbal tail early, for example (a drummer would ‘stop’ the
cymbal by ‘grabbing’ it).
Note that if you play a kit-piece articulation while another from the same kit-piece is still playing, the new articulation chokes the previous
articulation. In most situations, this occurs gently. However, if you play a closed hihat articulation while an open articulation is still playing, the
open sound is choked immediately, reflecting the behaviour of a real hihat.