CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Credits 3 3 WHAT IS BFD? The BFD concept Multiple microphone positions Hyper-realistic kits Easy compilation of new kits Flexible play modes: introducing the Groove Librarian Endless variety of sound and feel Potential uses for BFD A note about the manual Technical Support and Updates 4 4 4 5 6 6 6 6 7 7 INSTALLATION AND GETTING STARTED System Requirements Installation Using BFD in Your Sequencer or Host Using BFD in Steinberg Cubase SX and Cubase VST Using BFD in Emagic Logic Audi
REFERENCE Introduction To BFD’s Interface Loading Kits and Kit-Pieces Kit Display Mixer Section Groove Librarian Humanization Functions Quantization Panel Humanization Panels Play Options Panel Auto Groove Repeat Buttons Options Panel Hit Options Panel Tempo Display Loading and Saving Presets Other File Types Used in BFD Miscellaneous Functions Drum Recording Notes BFD’s Library of Grooves 32 32 32 36 37 41 45 45 46 48 51 53 56 58 59 60 61 63 65 APPENDIX Host-specific issues Troubleshooting 66 66 66 2
INTRODUCTION Thank you for choosing FXpansion’s BFD! We hope you will agree that the painstaking effort of putting it together has resulted in the most realistic acoustic drum machine ever. CREDITS Lead Programming: SKoT McDonald (www.vellocet.com) Audio Engineering: Steve Duda, Elan Trujillo Drum Technician: Josh Baldwin Additional Programming: Angus Hewlett Design and Graphics: Adam Ferns (www.raresense.co.
WHAT IS BFD? BFD is a high-quality acoustic drum module. It concentrates on impeccablyrecorded multi-velocity acoustic drumkits, with some crucial differences to using a general-purpose sampler with sample-CDs, or using pre-recorded acoustic drum loops.
AKG 451 and Shure SM57. They were recorded through custom modified API preamps. Overhead: a lush set of overhead mics - namely AKG C-12’s (which, incidentally, cost around $15,000 each), recorded through Summit MPC-100A tube preamps. Room: a room ambience signal, recorded with Neumann U87’s and Avalon preamps. PZM: Crown PZM microphones placed at floor level, tracked with API preamps and an additional compression stage (Empirical Labs Distressor set at 3:1 ratio) for added body and sustain.
is sampled at up to 46 velocity layers, resulting in drum parts of unparalleled detail and expressiveness. Easy compilation of new kits Ever tried to edit and combine elements of large disk-streamed sample libraries? You’ll know that it isn’t exactly the most productive use of creative time in the studio. To save you this tedious, time-consuming process, BFD allows you to easily mix and match the kicks, snares, toms, hats and cymbals of the various supplied kits to create custom kits.
composers who require ‘ready-rolled’ but flexible drum accompaniments in order to facilitate song-writing without interruption to the creative flow, it also provides convenient access to the very highest quality sampled drum sounds for producers without access to a real drumkit or good recording facilities. BFD’s sounds and Grooves are perfectly suited to rock, jazz, funk, hip-hop, blues, drum & bass… in fact, anything that may require a real drumkit.
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INSTALLATION AND GETTING STARTED System Requirements BFD requires a substantial amount of computing power.
Please note that the BFD data directory needs to be on a fast disk with around 9 GB of free space which, ideally, you will not be using to stream other audio data. If you are using Digidesign ProTools, Sonic Foundry Acid, or MOTU Digital Performer 4, and want multiple outputs from BFD you will need to install the ReWire version. See “ReWire installation” below for help on setting your ReWire options. Windows installation Insert the first DVD and run the BFD Windows Setup program.
USING BFD IN YOUR SEQUENCER OR HOST If you are familiar with using plugin instruments with your chosen sequencer or host, you can skip the following tutorials, and go straight to the next chapter, “Using BFD”. Below are guides to using BFD in the most popular sequencing hosts. BFD will also work perfectly well in other hosts which support the VST, DXi and AudioUnit plugin formats, and those which support ReWire.
• If you want to access the various multiple outputs if you load a multi-channel version of the plugin, create some Aux objects if you have not done so already, and assign BFD to them by click-holding on their input slots and choosing Instrument n, where n is the number of the Instrument object on which you inserted BFD, and selecting the required output. The output configuration in BFD All is different in Logic, because it has a limitation of 16 VST/AudioUnit outputs.
At this time, Digital Performer does not support multiple outputs from instrument plugins. Therefore, the only one you can use as a plugin is BFD Stereo (the stereo version in DP4 - the mono one won’t be very useful). If you would like to use the multiple output capabilities of BFD, you will need to use the ReWire version - please see the section below entitled “Using BFD with ReWire”.
Using BFD in Sonic Foundry Acid 4.0 As long as the installation went smoothly, you should now have three new plugins available in your Vstplugins folder: BFD Stereo, BFD Groups, and BFD All. As long as you have pointed Acid to your Vstplugins folder, it should detect the BFD files. To use BFD, please do the following after launching Acid: • Load BFD using the Soft Synth entry on the Insert menu. • Choose BFD Stereo. At this time, Acid does not support multiple outputs on VST instruments.
• Insert BFD as a DXi plugin. To do this, use one of the following methods: • Open the Synth Rack (using the Synth Rack entry on the View menu) and choose one of the BFD plugins from the Insert button’s drop-down menu. or: • Use the Insert/DX Instruments menu command to display a list of installed DXi's, and choose one of the BFD entries. or: • You can also right-click on the Fx field of an unused audio track, aux bus or virtual main bus, in either the Track or Console view.
USING BFD If you’re not familiar with using plugin instruments in your host, please make sure to read the Host Quickstart guides in the previous chapter. During the tutorial, there are references to opening various panels, which should be fairly intuitive. If you are in any doubt at any stage during the tutorial, please consult the Reference section later in the manual.
In order to make sure all Kit-Pieces are loaded, the currently-loaded kit layout can be viewed by clicking on the main drumkit graphic, upon which the Kit Display appears: an overhead view of the kit, with a box for each individually-loadable Kit-Piece. Each Kit-Piece box contains a graphical representation of whatever is loaded into it (it will be blank if nothing is loaded into it), and a button.
recorded with and without the snare present, while there is a range of different hihat hits. Some kits do not have recordings of certain hits - for example, side-stick is missing on some snares, while some kicks do not have an individual hit for ‘kick with snare’. On these occasions, an intelligent substitution method is used, where a suitable hit is used for the missing one. Please see the Reference section for a summary of substitutions.
• note: If you save your kit file (.bfk) in the BFD/Kits folder, it will be selectable via the main Kit Selector panel. BFD’s .bfk files are small files which only reference the bulky audio data which contains the actual sounds. A .bfk can be loaded as the default kit via the Options panel which is covered later in the manual.
Part Two: IN THE MIX… Once a sequence or internal Groove is playing through BFD, it is possible to explore the plugin’s extensive mixer section. The most prominent controls are the main level faders for the Direct Master and ambient (Overhead, Room and PZM) microphone buses. By using these faders, you adjust the level of each mic bus to create an overall drum mix. For convenience when mixing, Solo and Mute buttons are also present. The Master fader adjusts the overall level of BFD’s output.
The finer points of mixing… BFD also allows much more in-depth mixing possibilities than those detailed above. The Kit-Piece and Direct mixer areas allow detailed control over levels of individual Kit-Pieces. Let’s say, for instance, that you wanted to reduce the amount of ambience on the kick drum, to get a tighter, more focused bottom-end. Firstly, you can tighten the kick with the Kick In/Out control.
in a similar principle: it blends between a mic placed on the top of the snare drum, and another on the bottom. Like the Kick In/Out, it applies only to the Direct bus. Each Kit-Piece has a Tune parameter. This changes the pitch for each component globally, through the Direct and ambient buses. The Solo (yellow) and Mute (red) lit buttons also affect each Kit-Piece globally.
Part Three: INTRODUCING THE GROOVE LIBRARIAN… To initiate the Groove Librarian, start by clicking the pull-down bar at the top of BFD’s interface. You will see three ‘Banks’ of Grooves, flanked by a tree-view ‘browser’ on either side. The Groove Browser on the left is for what we call ‘Grooves’: essentially MIDI drumloops. Meanwhile, the right-hand side browser is the Fill Browser. Fills are exactly the same format as Grooves: they are just regarded as ‘Fills’ for convenience.
automatically. This can be over-ridden with the -2 Octave Numbering toggle in the Options panel. Now that you are aware of all this, try triggering some Grooves and Fills with your MIDI keyboard! If the Auto Groove Repeat option is still checked for any of the two Banks, any Groove in that Bank will loop as long as you hold the key down, or until you press another key. It is also possible to use BFD as an auto-accompaniment module by activating certain options.
Different ways of playing Grooves… You may remember that when we first introduced the Groove Librarian above, we made the playing Groove repeat by clicking the Auto Groove Repeat A button. This button is just one of a number of options which let you change different aspects of the Groove Librarian’s behaviour. On the right of the BFD interface, there are two columns of three buttons. Each column relates to one of the Groove Librarian’s Banks.
Transition Mode This parameter sets how transitions between Grooves are handled. So far, we have been using the ‘Immediate’ mode, which stops a Groove which is playing already and starts the second Groove straight away when it is triggered, according to the currently-selected Sync mode. If you change the Transition Mode to ‘Next Beat’, the transition takes place on the next beat of the Sync Mode source. To try it, trigger a new Groove on an offbeat - for example, between the 2nd and 3rd beats of a bar.
with a wide array of working methods. For example, some people will not want to bother with programming in or playing the MIDI notes so the Respond to Song Start, Auto Groove Repeat, Auto Bundle Shuffle and Auto Fill options are present, making BFD function as a no-nonsense auto-accompaniment unit which happily plays along at the host tempo while you compose without requiring any MIDI input. Humanization… BFD’s intelligent humanization system offers a great deal of control over the ‘feel’ of Grooves.
way compared to the original timing of the Groove, somewhat reminiscent of a ‘shuffle’ parameter on a drum machine. Now vary the Hard Quantize to allow more of the original feel, and move the Swing slider… now, the Swing Template is being applied in addition to the original timing, resulting in a different type of feel again. There are a number of different Swing Templates, which you access using the Template pull-down menu.
When the graph looks like the one shown here, there will be no randomization of timing: the graph is showing that there is an equal probability of no timing deviations occurring. The Humanize Velocity panel, works in the same way except that, this time, the x-axis represents velocity. The randomization causes changes in velocity which emulate the non-linear way in which a drummer would play.
Part Four : USING YOUR HOST’S MIXING CAPABILITIES As mentioned at the beginning of the tutorial, there are three different versions of the BFD plugin: • BFD Stereo: Stereo Master output only. This version mixes all microphone buses together with the Direct signals inside the plugin, outputting a stereo pair. The Master output fader controls the overall output volume of the plugin. • BFD Groups: Stereo Groups version. This version outputs each stereo microphone group as an independent stereo output.
routed individually into the host’s mixer, according to the rules shown above. Therefore, if you are not getting any sound, or if you are only hearing certain parts of the kit, it may be necessary to ‘enable’ the additional outputs in your host: for example, in Logic Audio you need to create Aux channels and point them to one of BFD’s multiple outputs.
REFERENCE INTRODUCTION TO BFD’s INTERFACE All of BFD’s knobs, faders and dynamics controls are adjusted by clicking the control and dragging vertically. They can also be adjusted by moving the mouse pointer over the control and scrolling your mouse-wheel, if your mouse has one. LOADING KITS AND KIT-PIECES Click the drumkit panel icons (the column of icons on the left side of the plugin window) in order to bring up their respective panels.
Kit Selector panel Clicking on this icon brings up the Kit Selector panel. Here, you can load one of the supplied full drumkits. Moving the mouse over each kit brings up information about the kit on the right of the panel. You can also navigate around the kits with the arrow/PageUp/PageDn keys on your computer keyboard. Click on any kit in order to load it. This will load all elements of the chosen drumkit, and overwrite any previous edits made with the individual Kit-Piece Selector panels.
• Snare Each Snare Kit-Piece contains five hits: Hit: D1 (a standard snare drum hit) Drag: D#1 Flam: F1 Rim: E1 Side-stick: C#1 There are some exceptions: the DW Snare 1, DW Snare 2, Extras Snare 3, Extras Snare 7, Lucite and Radio King Kit-Pieces do not have a Side-stick hit. These are all redirected to a Rim hit. Additionally, the Ayotte Snare has a Sizzle-stick hit instead of a Side-stick.
• Cymbals Each Cymbal Kit-Piece has two hits: a standard hit and a control to choke the cymbal (i.e. damping it). Cymbal 1: C#2 Cymbal 1 choke: F#2 Cymbal 2: G2 Cymbal 2 choke: G#2 Cymbal 3: D#2 Cymbal 3 choke: A#2 By default, each Kit and Kit-Piece is mapped to the keys shown above, which correspond to the GM standard. However, the key assignments can be changed using the Hit Options panel.
KIT DISPLAY Clicking on the main drumkit graphic in the upper centre of the BFD window shows the Kit Display. At the top of the display is an indicator showing which kit is loaded. The rest of the display shows a graphical layout of the drumkit, showing which parts are loaded for each component. Clicking on the box for each KitPiece auditions the sound, the position of the click from bottom to top maps to increasing velocity.
MIXER SECTION A note on the controls: Controls are manipulated by clicking on them and dragging up and down. Doubleclicking any control returns it to its default value. Holding down the [SHIFT] key while moving a control allows fine control over it. You can also move a control by hovering the mouse pointer over it, and moving your mouse-wheel, if your mouse has one. BFD’s mixer section is divided into three areas. 1.
one. You can still independently mix the substituted tom: in other words, you can alter the tuning, panning and levels without affecting the original. To preserve a realistic three-tom set, it is advisable to retune the substituted tom. The indicator lights under the Mute buttons light up when any hits in each KitPiece are triggered via MIDI (or via the Groove Librarian). • Trim: This control allows you to trim the ambient level of each drumkit component, between +6 and -inf dB.
BFD Stereo or BFD Groups, and are greyed out when using the BFD All version of the plugin, as the individual mono Direct outputs do not need to be panned. The kick and snare Kit-Pieces each have some special controls for the Direct bus. • Kick In/Out: This control adjusts the blend between the mic placed inside the kick drum, and that outside. If you click the button, the phase of the internal mic is inverted.
The last two controls in this area are as follows: • Master: This is an overall master level control for all of the buses together. In the master output plugin (BFD Stereo) this will control the overall level of the stereo channel. In the multi-channel versions of the plugin (BFD Groups and BFD All), it controls the relative volume of all separate outputs. • Master Dynamics: This is a global control over velocity sensitivity.
GROOVE LIBRARIAN To open the Groove Librarian, click the top bar of BFD’s plugin window. To close it again, click on the bottom or top bars of the Groove Librarian drop-down panel. When using the Groove Librarian, it is important to remember some of the terms used in BFD in order to properly understand its functionality. • Groove: A MIDI drum sequence used in BFD ‘s Groove Librarian. BFD can import any General MIDI (GM) MIDI file (type 0 and type 1). It is advisable to import MIDI files with only one track.
When you access the Groove Librarian, you will be presented by a couple of distinct areas. • Browsers: There are two tree-view browsers in BFD’s Groove Librarian, which are used to select Groove and Fill bundles, located within the BFD/Grooves and BFD/Fills folders, and the individual Grooves within them. The top ‘tree-level’ is the Bundle itself. If you expand the tree structure (click on the icon next to the Bundle name), you will see the individual Grooves which comprise it.
Auditioning Grooves Grooves or Fills within any Bank can be auditioned just by clicking on them. The name of the Groove and the MIDI note label will turn red. If you want to audition the Groove while it repeats, turn on the Auto Groove Repeat option for the relevant Bank. Clicking a playing Groove again will stop auditioning it. Playing Bundles from the Keyboard The Grooves and Fills in all three Banks are mapped to the keyboard.
If you click on one of the Note Filter buttons while holding down the [SHIFT] key, the state of all the Bank’s Note Filters is inverted relative to the one on which you click. If you [CTRL]-click a note filter, the filter settings for that filter are inverted between Bank A and Bank B. The button on the extreme-right of each row is the Half-Time button, which makes that Bank’s Grooves play in half-time. Creating your own Grooves and Fills BFD’s Grooves and Fills use the standard MIDI file format.
HUMANIZATION FUNCTIONS • QUANTIZATION PANEL BFD’s humanization system is comprised of the Quantization panel, and the Humanize Velocity and Humanize Timing panels. All of these functions take effect when BFD is playing Grooves, with the exception of the Humanize Velocity panel, which also affects BFD’s output when using standard MIDI input (in other words, when triggering BFD’s sounds using the MIDI functions of your sequencer, rather than the built-in Groove Librarian).
Template selector This drop-down menu allows the selection of one of a number of Swing Templates supplied with BFD. Swing slider This control gradually varies the timing of the playing Groove between the setting specified with the Hard Quantize slider, and the currently selected Template. The funky opposing ‘Groove Dudes’ are a graphical representation of the two swing parameters.
when hitting the drums. This panel is unique among BFD’s humanization functions in that it not only applies to the Groove Librarian, but also when using the plugin as a sound module - i.e. using the host’s sequencing functions to trigger its sounds as single hits. Here are a few examples showing how to interpret the graph curves. If, for instance, you are using the Humanize Timing panel: With a graphical shape similar to that shown in the picture to the left, the randomization can be quite extreme.
PLAY OPTIONS PANEL This panel lets you change a number of different aspects of the Groove Librarian’s behaviour. Exit the panel without making any changes by clicking its icon again, or by clicking the icon in the top-right corner, or bring up a new panel instead by clicking another panel icon. Sync to Song This setting sets the host sequencer’s song clock as the synchronization source for BFD’s Grooves, so that they play in phase with the song clock.
• Next Bar: This mode works in a similar way to Next Beat except that, when the next Groove is triggered, it starts playing from the start of the next bar. Default Groove This parameter specifies the default Groove trigger note to play when the Respond to Song Start option is enabled. Whatever Groove you have loaded into this note’s corresponding Groove Bank slot will be triggered when you start playing your song.
Respond to Groove Notes If you need to use a drum mapping that includes midi notes in the range that triggers Grooves you can use this option to disable triggering of Grooves. Respond to MIDI CCs This option enables MIDI controller support. It is essential when using the variable Hihat Controller method of playing hihats (see the Hit Options section for further details on this). There are also a number of hardwired MIDI controllers used for the knobs and faders in BFD’s bus mixer section.
AUTO GROOVE REPEAT BUTTONS The two columns of three buttons on the right of the BFD interface are used for auto-accompaniment purposes. Each column represents one of the Groove Banks: the column on the left represents Bank A, while the one on the right represents Bank B. Auto Groove Repeat When this option is checked, any triggered Groove will repeat until it is stopped by a note-off (or by another note-on if in Latching Mode).
will be also routed to Bank B, and vice versa. It is useful when using the Note Filters in the Groove Librarian - you can use mutually exclusive Kit-Pieces in each Bank, then use one note to trigger a Groove from each Bank, making new Groove styles quickly and easily.
OPTIONS PANEL This icon activates the Options panel. Here, you can toggle various options within BFD, which affect how it performs. Exit the panel without making any changes by clicking its icon again, or by clicking the icon in the top-right corner, or bring up a new panel instead by clicking another panel icon.
Host Starts Time At 1 This option is provided for sequencers such as Digital Performer, which start their time numbering at 1 instead of 0, which would lead to Grooves playing at the wrong time. Bleed To Primary Direct (BFD All only) BFD’s multiple-microphone technology enables control over the level of bleed present in the final mix. All bleed appears in the kick (in and out) and snare (top and bottom) channels.
hard disk. Specifying a lower number of buffers within the cache leads to less RAM overhead, but also to a higher strain on the hard disk. If you are using a wide range of velocities, RAM caching will be less effective, as each velocity split maps to a different sample. To adjust the amount of cache buffers, double-click the value box, enter a new value, and press enter. Only do this when BFD is idle! Maximum Voices Here, you can set a limit on BFD’s polyphony.
HIT OPTIONS PANEL The Hit Options panel allows you to preview, and to adjust the key assignments and trim levels, for the different hits in each Kit-Piece of the currently loaded drumkit. It also allows the facility to unload any hit from the current kit. In addition, it lets you assign a continuous MIDI controller for hihat control, so that a variable controller pedal such as those used in Clavia D-Drums, Roland V-Drums and DrumKats, can be used.
use a variable hihat controller to indicate the position within open/closed states of the hihat pedal. When used with BFD, this method will use the definable/learnable Variable Trigger note for triggering the hihat, with the controller position telling BFD which sound to play from the available hits - closed, 1/2-open, and fully-open hats. To define a controller number, click the MIDI Learn button and move the controller pedal, or enter it manually.
TEMPO DISPLAY There is a handy tempo display in the bottom-right of the BFD interface. This area also houses the ‘Panic’ button. Panic Button Clicking this button stops any sound which may be coming out of BFD. It is useful if you get any stuck notes, or if you are auditioning Grooves using the Auto Groove Repeat options. Beat LED This light flashes on every beat when the song is playing. Tempo display Shows the current tempo in your sequencer.
LOADING AND SAVING PRESETS BFD has 4 different types of presets: Kit Combo Preset: .bfk Location: BFD/Kits This preset type contains information about the loaded kit components. You load and save these presets via the buttons just under the Kit Display. Mixer Setup preset: .bfm Location: BFD/Mixers These files contain information about the mixer section.
OTHER FILE TYPES USED IN BFD As well as the preset file formats listed above, BFD uses a number of other filetypes: Grooves and Fills: .mid Location: BFD/Grooves and BFD/Fills These are standard MIDI files. Groove and Fill Bundles: .bfb Location: BFD/Grooves and BFD/Fills These are text files which reference up to twelve Grooves and Fills. Swing Templates: .
MISCELLANEOUS FUNCTIONS Bounce Switch This switch is intended for use with hosts that provide an offline bounce facility. When it is switched on, BFD waits for all data to be properly delivered from the hard disk before continuing, ensuring that sounds are not cut off before their natural decay is complete. Please note that the Bounce mode is non-realtime, and should only be used during offline rendering in your sequencer (if it offers this feature).
• BFD All: All Outputs version. This is the same as BFD Groups but, instead of a stereo mix of the Direct signals, each individual kit-component has its own output. The Master output fader affects the volume of all buses in a relative manner. Note that Logic only supports a maximum of 16 outputs from a plugin so the direct signal from cymbal 2 and 3 are mixed together.
DRUM RECORDING NOTES BFD’s high-quality drum content was produced and edited by Steve Duda… http://www.good-science.com/SteveDuda/ … and was recorded by Elan Trujillo and Steve Duda at Eldorado Studios, Burbank, CA, USA. http://www.eldoradorecording.com/ Drums were provided courtesy of Josh Baldwin and Christopher S. Heuer at Vintage Drum Rental, Los Angeles. http://www.vintagedrumrental.
• Room set: Neumann U87’s recorded through Avalon preamps. They were placed 15 ft. back from the bass drum, each at a 45 degree angle from the kit. A room set like this is often mixed in mono and set back 10 to 24 dB. It provides a nice ‘filler’ for the drum tone, and adds a live room flavour. • PZM set: Crown PZM microphones at floor level recorded through API preamps and Empirical Labs Distressors set at 3:1 compression ratio with a gentle threshold (removing 0 to 6dB depending on drum-hit velocity).
BFD’s LIBRARY OF GROOVES Most of the Grooves supplied with BFD are performed on Roland V-Drums by Chris Dagley, a renowned UK session drummer. As well as playing with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra for several years, Chris has played with such diverse luminaries of the international music scene as Lalo Schifrin, Des’ree, Gary Barlow, All Saints, Rosie Gaines, Jamiroquai, Tom Scott, Gloria Gaynor, Chaka Khan, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Ella Fitzgerald, George Michael and countless others.
APPENDIX Host-specific issues Some hosts do not support multiple outputs from plugin instruments. At this time, we are aware that Sonic Foundry Acid 4.0, MOTU Digital Performer 4 and Digidesign ProTools fall into this category. To get around this limitation, we suggest you use the ReWire application in these hosts. Emagic’s Logic Audio has a limitation of 16 outputs from plugin instruments.
• There is a noticeable delay between pressing a key on my MIDI keyboard and hearing the sound. This is a symptom of latency, something which all CPU-based processing suffers from. Latency can be reduced by using a better soundcard with well-written drivers. Latency also depends upon the speed of your computer processor: even if your soundcard supports very low latencies (for example RME cards are capable of going down to 1.
You should always make sure that the drive or partition on which the BFD audio data resides is defragmented. As long as you defragment the drive before installing the plugin, you should be okay. Also, on Windows platforms, make sure that the drive is running in DMA mode (check your primary and secondary hard disk controller settings in Control Panel/Device Manager). Also, try looking at the various cache and buffer settings in the Options panel.
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