User Guide

5
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.
These signals can be mixed together as desired, so you can ‘dial in’ exactly the
amount and type of natural ambience you need, without having to use CPU-heavy
reverb plugins. The ambience in BFD is totally natural and the result of pain-stak-
ing recording in high-quality spaces. Any reverb processor can only try to emulate
such a space, while BFD gives you the real thing. There is additional control over
the distance placement of each mic-set, and the width of its stereo field.
The ambient send levels of each kit element (such as kick, snare, toms, hats and
cymbals) can be adjusted in the detailed mixer section, resulting in exceptionally-
versatile control over the final drum sound. The mixer section even has controls
to handle the blend between mics inside and outside the kick drum, and above
and below the snare. In addition, each individual microphone bus, and even each
individual dry drum component, can easily be routed to an individual output into
the host sequencer’s mixer for further sound processing. The mixer section has
an integrated, intuitive preset system, facilitating the ability to save your favourite
mixer configurations and flick through them with ease.
Hyper-realistic kits
As well as the flexibility offered by the multiple microphone positions, BFD’s high
quality drum sample library has an unparalleled degree of realism. For each
type of drum type in each kit, there are a number of different styles of ‘hits’: for
example, the snares offer flams, drags, rims and side-sticks, while the hihats
include closed and half-open tip & shank, open tip and pedal. Each of these ‘hits’