User Guide

Multiple microphone positions

Each drum component in BFD is sampled with a number of microphone place-

ments simultaneously:

Direct: a clean, close-mic'd signal. A variety of microphone types were used for

this, including Sennheiser MD421, Neumann KM81 and M49, ElectroVoice Re20,

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 indi-

vidual 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