.WHATS NEW IN BFD 2.

Welcome to the BFD 2.2 update. This PDF features a guide to the changes, enhancements and new features in BFD 2.2 (chapter 1) Chapters 2-8 describe the new features already introduced in BFD 2.1

Contents
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1. Whats New in BFD 2.2

1:1 BFD 2.2 General notes and compatibility 1:2 New features and enhancements 1:3 Data patch and engine changes 1:4. BFD Eco compatibility changes

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2. BFD 2.1 Summary of changes

2:1 Important note about backwards-compatibility 2:2 Load menu 2:3 Save menu 2:4 Help menu additions 2:5 Chooser panels 2:6 Variable mic channels 2:7 New standard articulation for toms 2:8 Special articulations

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3. Kit page
3:1 Kit-piece slot context menu 3:2 Kit-piece slot Prev/Next 3:3 Toolbar 3:4 Improvements to Kit-piece presets 3:5 Kit-piece in-place preview (preview-in-context) 3:6 Load-on-demand 3:7 Summary of added preferences

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4. Mixer page
4:1 Variable mic channels 4:2 New FX 4:3 EQ changes

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5. Groove page
5:1 Undo improvements 5:2 Loading, importing and exporting 5:3 Toolbar edit mode functions 5:4 Drum Track changes 5:5 Added keyboard shortcuts 5:6 Preferences relevant to the Groove engine

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6. Mapping page
6:1 Mapping special articulations 6:2 Program Change Playlist view

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7. Preferences
7:1 Hihat preferences moved to Session preferences 7:2 Grooves preferences 7:3 MIDI preferences 7:4 Engine preferences 7:5 GUI preferences

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8. New effects
8:1 Env Shaper 8:2 Overloud Breverb BFD2 edition 7:3 PSP Vintage Warmer Lite

1. Whats New in BFD 2.2

1:1 BFD 2.2 General notes and compatibility
Update summary BFD 2.2 is a maintenance update for BFD2. It can be applied to any BFD2 installation it is not necessary to install any other previous updates (although you will need to install the data from the installation DVDs on a new installation). BFD 2.2 contains all the improvements in previous updates up to 2.1.x, which are described in chapters 2-8 of this PDF. The update includes a number of bug-fixes. For a list, please refer to the release notes located in the BFD2 forum: http://www.fxpansion.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=29 The update contains some new features and enhancements for details, see section 1:2 below.  The update also includes some re-engineering in the BFD2 engine to allow future third-party libraries to include features such as round-robin samples see section 1:3. Installing BFD 2.2 also installs an accompanying data patch see section 1:3 for details.  BFD 2.2 features cross-compatibility with BFD Eco. It is now possible to load and save BFD Eco presets/kits/mixer presets/keymaps with BFD 2.2. See section 1:4 for details. There is an accompanying installer for a set of free BFD2 Presets, also available from the download area. Platform support changes Note that, as of BFD 2.2, it is no longer possible to support the following platforms on Mac OSX: No OSX 10.4 support No PowerPC support

1:2 New features and enhancements

Load Random Kit... (Kit page Load menu) This function loads a random kit-piece of the appropriate type into each available kit-piece slot in the current kit size configuration. Choke groups (kit-piece inspector) BFD 2.2 makes it possible to choke a kit-piece slot with another using the Choke Group function in the kit-piece inspector. Each Choke Group refers to a kit-piece slot number. The number of Choke Groups that are available depends on the current kit size (10, 18 or 32). By default, the Choke Group control displays the kit-pieces slot number, meaning that articulations from only that kit-piece slot can choke its articulations that may be currently playing. If a kit-pieces Choke Group is set to that of another slot it is choked by the articulations of the other slot as well as its own. Articulation control (kit-piece inspector) If any articulations currently feature independent settings (for Artic Trim, Vel To Amp, Vel To Pitch etc.), using All Articulations mode reflects this fact by displaying Multiple values in the background of the relevant setting. Info button (kit-piece inspector) The info overlay which is displayed by enabling the Info button in the Kit page toolbar now also includes the size of the entire kitpiece on disk. This feature was introduced in BFD 2.1 please see section 3:3 for more details. Kit display (Kit page) You can now left-click and right-click on kit-pieces in the Kit display in order to preview them. Aux channels (Mixer page) BFD 2.2 features additional intelligent functionality when holding down ALT and clicking the Add Aux button to create an aux channel with the selected channels routed to it.  The aux channel is named according to the selected channels. For example, an aux created from tom channels is named TomsAux, while an aux created from multiple kick channels is named KicksAux.  The newly created aux channels output routing is set to the same output as the source channels if the source channels are routed to a common output.  Amb3, OH and Room are now reserved names it is not possible to name an aux channel with these names. If any ambience channel is not present (for example, when loading a BFD Eco preset see section 1:4), attempting to name an aux channel with an ambience channel name results in a prompt asking whether you want to create the ambience channel. If not, the renaming operation is cancelled.

Mapping page (Key mapping view) Kit-piece photos in the Key mapping view can now be clicked to hear an audio preview. MIDI log window allows you to save the log to a text file, in case you need to send a log to tech support.  The Auto pedal event, Auto splash event and All Hihats variable settings are now stored only in the key map not in the BFD2 Preferences. These settings are shown in the Mapping inspector for notes that contain hihat articulations. Mapping page (Automation view)  Automation parameters highlighted in gold are mapped to an automation source not currently being viewed (for example, MIDI Note or Host Automation if MIDI CC is currently being viewed). Automation parameters highlighted in yellow params are mapped within the currently viewed automation source. The following additional parameters can now be automated: Kit, Mixer, Grooves, Mapping and Preference page buttons Master Vel to Amp (this control does not exist on the BFD2 interface it is included for BFD Eco compatibility)  Kit-piece Mic blend (this parameter currently has no effect in BFD2 it is reserved for future use, although it is used internally for converting BFD Eco files)

Mapping page Program change playlist view A large display featuring the current program change number and name is now shown. The page now features Prev/Next buttons which can be automated, allowing you to switch between program changes with a MIDI controller. The Up and Down buttons move the contents of the selected program change slot up and down in the playlist. The Clear button removes the contents of the selected program change slot. The program change playlist functionality was introduced in BFD 2.1 please see section 6:2 for more details. Preferences
Data path check

 BFD2 now checks that all currently specified data paths are still valid when it is launched. If any paths cannot be found a status message informs you which path is missing.  Data paths are checked regularly during BFD2 operation if a data path cannot be found, it is highlighted in red in the list of data paths with a [Not Found] prefix. It is possible to reconnect a drive containing a missing data path during BFD2s operation when the drive becomes active, the data path is automatically recognised by BFD2.
Favour BFD2 over Eco data (Data preferences) 

With this setting enabled, if your data paths contain the same kit-pieces in BFD Eco and full BFD2 versions, the BFD2 version is always loaded. With the setting disabled, the first kit-piece found is loaded based on the order of the currently defined data paths.
Default mixer channel gain (GUI preferences)

This setting allows you to define a custom default gain level for mixer channels in order to achieve more headroom by default without having to manually gang all channel faders and decrease them.
Keyboard shortcut editor (GUI preferences)

Learn Click the Learn button and press the desired keyboard shortcut (with keyboard modifiers such as ALT/SHIFT) to assign the shortcut to the command. Learn multi This button allows you to learn multiple shortcuts without clicking the Learn button repeatedly. Simply select a command in the list, type the desired shortcut and repeat as many times as necessary. Click the Learn multi button again to return to normal operation. Clear Click this button to clear the selected command shortcut. Clear all Click this button to clear all current keyboard shortcuts.

New keyboard shortcut commands (GUI preferences)

All the following new keyboard shortcut commands relate to the mixer. Like all keyboard shortcut commands, none are assigned to any keys by default. They must first be assigned using the Learn / Learn multi buttons (see above). Move channel left/right Select channel left/right Toggle Phase, Record Arm, Mute and Solo buttons Delete channel Increase / Decrease channel gain
Program Change index starts at 0 (MIDI preferences)

This setting allows you to start the program change slot numbers from 0 instead of 1, to match some manufacturers program change numbering schemes.
Sync To Last Bar (Session preferences)

This setting is provided for situations when using Grooves with a different time signature to that of your host. When this is enabled, BFD2 continuously calculates synchronization of the Groove engine with the last bar that was played. With this setting disabled, BFD2 calculates synchronization based on the entire number of beats and bars from the start of the project.
Max cache channels (Engine preferences)

This setting is established automatically when BFD2 scans the database of available kit-pieces. It specficies the maximum number of audio channels that the BFD2 streaming engine supports.
Auto-arm mixer channels for export (Grooves preferences)

This setting allows channels to be automatically record-armed prior to recording if none are already armed. Manual: BFD2 asks if you would like to arm all channels and continue Master: The Master channel is automatically armed before continuing with the export process All: All channels in the mixer are automatically armed before continuing with the export process
Enable VST Time logging (Health preferences)

This setting is only for diagnostic purposes when in contact with our tech support team. With the setting enabled, extra diagnostic logging information (specifically with regard to timing) is written to the BFD2 runtime log.

1:3 Data patch and engine changes

Data patch The accompanying BFD 2.2 data patch features a number of fixes to the factory audio data. Paiste/Hihat 2002 Heavy 14 (Paiste Sound Edge Hihat) quarter shank slapback effect is fixed. All kit-pieces Amb3 left/right mic channels were flipped this is now fixed. All kit-pieces now have explicit dimension, skin and damping info. Metronomes feature updated XML fixes. Engine modes The BFD 2.2 engine is now capable of supporting future libraries with additional sampling paradigms. With the updated engine, third-party expansion pack producers can create round robin groups, non-linear velocity zones and include velocity layer gain scaling.

1:4. BFD Eco compatibility changes

BFD 2.2 introduces cross-compatibility functionality for BFD Eco. The Load menu and Save menu now feature additional functions for importing and exporting BFD Eco files. Please make sure you scan BFD2s data paths for new files (or Trash and rebuild all databases) in the Preferences so that BFD Eco files become visible to BFD2. Likewise, you must rescan the BFD Eco database within BFD Eco before exported files from BFD2 become visible to BFD Eco. Load menu
Load BFD Eco Preset

Imports a BFD Eco format preset. Everything within the BFD Eco Preset is loaded, including the keymap BFD2 switches to 18-piece kit size since BFD Eco features a kit size of 12  Most kit-pieces are assigned to the same slot types as those in BFD Eco, while the Perc2 and Perc3 slot contents are loaded into Kick2 and Snare2 in BFD2 In the Mixer page, the kick and snare slots are represented by single aux channels rather than individual channels for all available mics Mixer channels are created even for unused kit-piece slots If the full BFD2 version of a kit-piece is loaded (see section 1:3 above), any additional direct mics are muted and the Amb3 channel is not created Note that any uninstantiated ambient bus can be created by adding an new aux channel and renaming it to OH, Room or Amb3
Load BFD Eco Kit

Imports a BFD Eco format kit. BFD2 switches to 18-piece kit size since BFD Eco features a kit size of 12  Most kit-pieces are assigned to the same slot types as those in BFD Eco, while the Perc2 and Perc3 slot contents are loaded into Kick2 and Snare2 in BFD2
Load BFD Eco Mixer

Imports a BFD Eco format mixer preset. In the Mixer page, the kick and snare slots are represented by single aux channels rather than individual channels for all available mics Mixer channels are created even for unused kit-piece slots
Load BFD Eco Keymap

Imports a BFD Eco format key map. Save menu

Save BFD Eco Preset

Exports a BFD Eco-compatible Preset. BFD2s state must meet the BFD Eco compatibility criteria (see below) The entire state of BFD2 is saved, including the key map and Drum Track, except the following: Grooves page palette (only the Drum Track is exported, so drag any Grooves you want to the Drum Track first) Automation map BFD2 session-based preferences

If a BFD Eco preset folder cannot be found the user documents folder is the default save location
Save BFD Eco Kit

Exports a BFD Eco-compatible kit. The kit-piece types in each slots must meet the BFD Eco compatibility criteria (see below) Only 12 slots are saved If a BFD Eco kit folder cannot be found the user documents folder is the default save location
Save BFD Eco Mixer

Exports a BFD Eco-compatible mixer preset. BFD2s mixer state must meet the BFD Eco compatibility criteria (see below) If a BFD Eco mixer folder cannot be found the user documents folder is the default save location

Save BFD Eco Keymap

Exports a BFD Eco-compatible key map. Unsupported slots and articulations are removed If a BFD Eco key map folder cannot be found the user documents folder is the default save location
BFD Eco Filter: ON/OFF Make preset Eco-compatible

These functions relate to BFD Eco compatibility criteria for creating BFD Eco-compatible files. See below for more details. BFD Eco compatibility criteria Because BFD Ecos architecture is more limited than that of BFD2, it is necessary to limit the functions you use within BFD2 when creating presets for BFD Eco. Note that the Save menu contains two functions to make this easier BFD Eco Filter and Make Preset Eco-compatible (see below).
Kit-piece slots and contents

Only the first 12 kit-piece slots can be used and only the following kit-piece types can be loaded into the slots:
1: Kick 2: Snare 3: Hihat 4: Tom 5: Tom 6: Tom 7: Cymbal 8: Cymbal 9: Cymbal 10: Percussion / Cymbal / Tom 11: Percussion / Cymbal / Tom 12: Percussion / Cymbal / Tom

Mixer requirements

The following channels must be present in the mixer:

Kick In (direct) Kick Out (direct) Kick (aux) (Kick In and Kick Out must be routed to an aux channel named Kick) Snare Top (direct) Snare Bottom (direct) Snare (aux) (Snare Top and Snare Bottom must be routed to an aux channel named Snare) Hihat (direct) Floor Tom (direct) Mid Tom (direct) High Tom (direct) Crash (direct) Cymbal (direct) Ride (direct) Perc1 (direct) Perc2 (direct) Perc3 (direct) OH (ambience) Room (ambience) Aux1 (aux) Aux2 (aux)

Any additional direct mics must be muted The Amb3 ambience channel must be muted Direct channels can be routed directly to Aux1 or Aux2, or Sends can be set up to these aux channels. Sends 1 and 2 must be routed to Aux1 and Aux2 respectively.
FX requirements:

Each channels FX slots must be created as follows: 1 EQ + 2 other FX devices per channel (in that order, in the first 3 FX slots on each channel) Only FX devices available in BFD Eco can be present (Chorus, Freq Shifter, Breverb Room, Breverb Hall, Breverb Plate, Vintage Warmer Lite) FX cannot be inserted on the individual Kick In/Kick Out/Snare Top/Snare Bottom channels.

BFD Eco Filter: ON/OFF (Save menu)

Enabling this setting in the Save menu results in additional interface overlays which visually represent the BFD Eco compatibility critera. It can be used during operation in order to manually ensure that BFD2s state meets the BFD Eco compatibility criteria.
Make preset Eco-compatible (Save menu)

This function in the Save menu automatically forces BFD2 to meet the BFD Eco compatibility criteria. Note that settings can be lost during this operation you are prompted to save the current state as a BFD2 Preset before the operation is performed.

2. BFD 2.1 Summary of changes

2:1 Important note about backwards-compatibility
BFD 2.1 Presets are NOT backwards compatible with 2.0.x versions. Once a session has been saved with BFD 2.1, you cannot revert to 2.0.x and reload the settings contained within the session. This is due to architectural changes between versions, which are discussed below.

2:2 Load menu

Reset BFD2 The Load menu now has a Reset function, which resets the entire state of BFD2 to factory initialized settings. Note that it does not revert to your default BFD2 Preset if you have specified one in the BFD2 preferences it resets BFD2 to an entirely blank state. Load Program Change Playlist... This entry is for the new Program Change Playlist feature, discussed in section 6:2.

2:3 Save menu

Save Program Change Playlist... This entry is for the new Program Change Playlist feature, discussed in section 6:2.

2:4 Help menu additions

Check for Updates This function checks the fxpansion.com website for newer versions. Launch Whats New PDF This entry launches this PDF document in your systems default PDF reader.

2:5 Chooser panels

All chooser panels now feature a new view mode, called Flow, which can be accessed using the View Size drop-down menu. This view shows a very large, high-resolution image for each item shown in the choosers.

2:6 Variable mic channels

BFD 2.1 is not limited to the default mic channel layout configuration it now supports arbitrary channel configurations, up to a maximum of 16 channels. This allows more versatile types of recordings, with different types of direct and ambient mic channels. Various third-party vendors are preparing a range of expansion packs to take advantage of this new feature. When BFD 2.1 performs a database scan, it automatically sets itself up to handle as many channels as necessary to support all available kit-pieces. When a kit-piece with a special channel layout is loaded, its channels become available in the BFD 2.1 mixer. For example, if a kit-piece possesses 4 ambience channels, youll see 4 ambience channels in the mixer. If a kit-piece features an ambience channel with the same name as another kit-piece, the signals for this ambience are mixed into the same channel. Therefore, if more than 1 kit-piece features an overhead stereo pair, their overhead signals are mixed into the same overhead ambience channel. Limitations in the Kit page All the variable ambience functionality occurs only in the Mixer page. Variable ambience channels are not represented in the Kit page. Therefore, the following limitations apply: Ambience send/level controls can only be applied to the standard ambience channels Overhead, Room and Amb3. The Mini-mixer can only control the levels of Overhead, Room and Amb3 channels and the Direct bus. Limitations in the Mixer page The Distance and Width controls in the Mic tools panel (in the Utility panel) can only be applied to the standard ambience channels Overhead, Room and Amb3.

2:7 New standard articulation for toms

Toms now have 3 standard articulations hit, alt (alternative) and rim (rim shot). Note that this articulation is only usable with kit-pieces from expansion packs that support it!

2:8 Special articulations

Another major architectural improvement in BFD 2.1 is support for special articulations new articulation types that are not part of the standard range of articulations. This feature is intended to allow greater diversity in future expansion packs by allowing a greater range of expressive articulations. Special articulations, MIDI mapping and the Groove engine Special articulations are not covered in the default key map they must be mapped before they can be used as MIDI notes! These articulations can, of course, be used in the Groove engine without mapping them to MIDI notes. It is important to note the following points when considering special articulations, mapping and Grooves: 1. Special articulations can only be mapped after a kit-piece containing them has been loaded. 2.  The Groove engine cannot substitute between special articulations a special articulation with a certain name from one expansion pack vendor is not automatically substituted for an articulation with the same name from another expansion pack if a new kit-piece is loaded. Any fall-through substitution that occurs is always to the default articulation (hit, or closed tip for hihats). Because of the above, if you load a Groove designed for kit-pieces from a certain expansion pack that features special articulations, it will not necessarily translate well when used with kit-pieces from other packs. See section 6:1 for details of how to map special articulations in the Mapping page.

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3. Kit page
3:1 Kit-piece slot context menu
Right-clicking on a kit-piece slot window displays the kit-piece slot context menu, used for kit-piece management and other Kit page functions. The menu is available while using the Select, Note Learn and Move tools. Kit-pieces This menu item is used for loading kit-pieces without opening the kit-piece chooser panel. The item opens a sub-menu that displays the available kit-pieces in the database, arranged into sub-menus according to their parent library. Navigate to the required kit-piece and click on it to load it. Swap with Move to Copy to These menu items allow you to swap, move and copy kit-pieces between slots. All slots in the current kit size are shown in a submenu for each function, with details of their contents if applicable. Navigate to the required slot in the list and click on it to perform the swap, move or copy operation. It is also possible to conduct these operations with the Move tool, located in the Kit page toolbar. If a move or copy operation is attempted on an occupied slot, a warning is shown and asks for confirmation in order to continue. It is important to consider slot articulation mappings when rearranging kit-pieces using these functions. Many slots, such as toms and cymbals, only feature 2 or 3 articulation mappings for the slot. Therefore, moving a snare to such a slot means that only the first 2 or 3 snare articulations can be triggered until the other articulations are mapped to MIDI notes. Generally, during conventional kit-oriented usage, these functions should generally be used for rearranging toms and cymbals. Avoid doing this with the snare and hihat slots, as these are fairly specialized in terms of articulation mappings. Link to This context menu item performs the same function as the Link tool in the Kit page toolbar, using a list of slots in a sub-menu instead of dragging one slot on top of another. Unlink from This function allows you to unlink slots without using the Link tool. Bring up the context menu for the source slot any links that exist are shown as items on the Unlink from sub-menu. Click the item to remove the link. Start MIDI Learn This function starts the MIDI Note Learn wizard from the slot. Functionally, this produces the same result as using the Note Learn tool and clicking on a slot. Clear slot This performs the same function as the Clear kit-piece button on each slot the slot is cleared of any kit-piece it contains. Next kit-piece Clicking this item loads the next kit-piece from the available kit-pieces in the database. Previous kit-piece Clicking this item loads the previous kit-piece from the available kit-pieces in the database. Unload artic This sub-menu displays all the articulations present within the slots kit-piece. Unloading any articulation(s) that you dont need frees up RAM resources, as the associated precached chunks of audio are unloaded from RAM.

3:2 Kit-piece slot Prev/Next

The Next/Previous buttons appear on slots containing kit-pieces while it is selected. They perform the same function as the Next/Previous kit-piece functions in the kit-piece slot context menu and in the kit-piece inspector. This function can be disabled and enabled in the GUI preferences.

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3:3 Toolbar
Info button Enabling the Info button in the toolbar overlays the details of each kit-piece on its slot. These details are the same as those seen in the Info display within the kit-piece chooser. All kit-piece and slot management can still be conducted while this mode is enabled. MIDI Select button This function operates in a similar way to the MIDI Select button in the Key mapping page. If the button is enabled, when any keys that are mapped to kit-piece articulations are played, the relevant kit-piece becomes selected in the Kit page. The MIDI notes selects slots setting in the GUI preferences specifies the default state of this button. Move tool This tool provides an alternative way of moving, copying and swapping kit-pieces between slots. With the tool enabled, simply drag and drop a kit-piece from one slot to another to move it. Hold down the ALT key while performing this operation in order to copy the kit-piece. If the destination slot already contains a kit-piece, a warning is issued and asks for confirmation before the move/copy operation is performed. If you hold down the ALT and SHIFT keys when you drag and drop a kit-piece between slots, the contents of the slots are swapped.

3:4 Improvements to Kit-piece presets

There is now a facility for default kit-piece presets. These can be used in 2 ways: Kit-piece class presets Each kit-piece class kicks, snares, hihats, toms, cymbals and percussion can possess a default kit-piece preset which applies its settings whenever a kit-piece of that class is loaded. The default preset should be saved with a specific filename: default.kppreset Individual kit-piece presets If no default kit-piece preset is found within the kit-piece preset locations (sub-folders within <user location>/FXpansion/BFD2/Kit Pieces), BFD2 tries to locate one next to the kit-pieces info.xml file, within the audio data paths. This is primarily for 3rd-party expansion pack vendors to place a preset called default.kppreset next to each kit-piece so that each kit-piece loads with the vendors intended settings. However, users can also take advantage of this feature for saving their own favourite settings for each kit-piece. In order to do so, navigate to the relevant folder within the data path when using the file save dialog to save a kit-piece preset:. For example: BFD2/Audio/Manufacturer/KitPiece/ Maker sure you are in the correct folder it should contain a file called info.xml which is unique for the kit-piece. Save the kit-piece preset with this specific filename: default.kppreset

3:5 Kit-piece in-place preview (preview-in-context)

The kit-piece chooser panel now features an in-place preview feature, allowing you to hear a kit-piece playing in a sequence before you load it. With the Groove engine or an incoming MIDI stream playing, open the kit-piece chooser for a slot which is being triggered. Selecting a kit-piece in the chooser results in the selected kit-piece playing in place of the loaded contents of the slot. This preview is a single velocity layer that is amplitude scaled according to velocity.

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3:6 Load-on-demand
This feature is enabled with the Load on demand setting in the Engine preferences. It is intended for conserving RAM by only loading the velocity layers that you need as they are played. Before any notes are played, a single velocity layer is cached. When you play a certain velocity layer, the single layer is played with amplitude scaling while the actual velocity layer is loaded and cached from disk. The next time this velocity layer is triggered, the actual velocity layer is played. As more velocity layers are triggered (with different note input velocities), more layers are loaded and cached from disk, and RAM usage increases. During this ongoing process, when a new layer is played, BFD2 plays the closest layer with amplitude scaling while the actual layer is loaded. If you are using any of the following functions, a greater variety of layers are used, therefore increasing the amount of RAM used: Kit page Humanize function Groove page Humanize velocity FX Anti-machinegun mode If you can live with the approximated audio the first time a layer is triggered, the Load-on-demand feature can save a lot of RAM even if you eventually play all layers for an articulation, there are other articulations and kit-pieces which arent played as frequently so will not occupy much RAM. Using Load-on-demand in the studio Using Load-on-demand may be problematic during composition, because the sound will differ between the first and subsequent times that a note velocity is played. It may be more useful after a drum track is programmed and you wish to free up RAM for other tasks in your host. You should ensure that you play the song fully from beginning to end, in order to load all required velocities. Once this is done, the velocity layers that are played are consistent upon repeated playback, until further layers are played. Using Load-on-demand during live performance This feature can be useful during live performance, when the differences between the initial amplitude-scaled and eventually loaded velocity layers may not be such a concern because of noisy, distorted PA systems and less-than-ideal acoustics and listening conditions. It is also a very fast way of changing kits during live performance you dont have to wait 20-30 seconds or more for a kit to load.

3:7 Summary of added preferences

Load on demand (Engine prefs) MIDI notes select slots (GUI prefs) Use Next/Last buttons (GUI prefs)

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4. Mixer page
4:1 Variable mic channels
As discussed in section 2:6, the mixer can now handle different mic channel configurations, for both direct and ambience signals.

4:2 New FX
BFD 2.1 introduces several new effects for use in the mixer. See chapter 8 of this document for further details on these effects and their controls.

4:3 EQ changes
The EQs graphical editable display now features individual, coloured, frequency response curves for each EQ band, shown in yellow (LO), blue (LM), green (HM) and red (HI). These are displayed in addition to the overall 4-band EQ curve, which is coloured black.

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5. Groove page
5:1 Undo improvements
Redo functions There is now a Redo button to complement the Grooves page toolbars Undo function. Clicking it allows you to reverse Undo operations. Preserved selections Event and Groove selections are now maintained during undo and redo operations.

5:2 Loading, importing and exporting

Loading Grooves and Palettes via drag & drop You can now load Groove and Palette files by dragging and dropping them to the Palette on the BFD2 interface. Fills in the Groove and Palette choosers Any Palette containing only fills is now denoted by a (fills only) suffix to its name within the Palette and Grooves choosers. This is primarily to differentiate between BFD1-format Groove Bundles which feature the same name for both the Groove and Fill Bundles. New category filters The following new category filters now exist in order to make it easier to locate Fills or Grooves.
Single Grooves Palettes

Fill Groove

Fills only Grooves only Both Fills and Grooves

Importing MIDI files

MIDI Import panel

The MIDI import panel now shows the MIDI import map preference which allows you to change the import key map conveniently whenever importing MIDI files. Note that when the preference is changed in the MIDI import panel, it is also changed in the preferences. See section 10:3 of the BFD2 manual for further details of this preference.
Importing MIDI files via drag & drop

You can now drag and drop multiple MIDI files to the Palette to import them. While this brings up the MIDI import panel, all controls are inaccessible except for the MIDI import map preference (described above).

5:3 Toolbar edit mode functions

Select tool improvements Clicking in an empty area of the Editor grid while holding down the ALT key (Windows) or Option key (Mac) creates a new event. Draw tool improvements With the ALT key (Windows) or Option key (Mac) held down, you can draw a selection box by clicking and dragging on an empty area of the Editor grid. New Roll tool This new tool allows you to paint continuous notes into the editor at the current grid resolution. It is very useful for inserting hihat lines and drum rolls. With the Roll tool selected, click on an empty area of the Editor grid and keep the mouse button held down. Drag up/down with the mouse button held down to set the velocity of the first event. Drag right with the mouse button held down to create a series of continuous events at the current grid resolution Drag up/down to increase/decrease the event velocities over the course of the roll.  Drag up/down while holding down the ALT (Windows) or Option (Mac) keys to increase/decrease the velocity of each second event. Tool selections saved between sessions The left and right mouse button tool selections are now saved between sessions when BFD2 is reinitialized, the tools in use in the previous session are still selected.

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5:4 Drum Track changes

Changes to the ruler and setting position (blue)/start (white) markers  Click in the ruler (outside any loop indicator) to set the blue position marker if the Drum Track is currently playing, the playback position jumps to this new position. This also results in disconnecting host sync when playing in sync with a host while running BFD2 as a plugin.  This is a change in behaviour since 2.0.x versions previously, clicking in the ruler resulted in changing the white start marker position.  To change the white start marker position in 2.1.x versions, click in the ruler while holding down the ALT (Windows) or Option (Mac) keys. Loop start and end markers Both the loop start and end markers can now be moved simultaneously by click-dragging the red area in the ruler between the markers. Part context menu additions
Create variation of Parts

This function creates duplicates of Grooves in the Palette based on the currently selected Drum Track Parts, and changes the selected Parts to reference the duplicated Grooves. The duplicated Grooves are created sequentially in the next available Palette slots higher than the original Groove. If multiple selected Parts reference the same original Groove, only one duplicate Groove will be created and all relevant parts are changed to reference this Groove. This functionality is intended to make the creation of variations easier, by avoiding the need to delete Parts and drag new Grooves back into the Drum Track to replace them. After performing this operation, simply edit the duplicated Grooves as desired to create the variations you need.
Repeat selected parts

When one or more Grooves are selected, performing this operation results in inserting copies of the selected Parts immediately after the selection. If there is an insufficient gap to accomodate the copied Parts between the last selected Part and any subsequent Parts, all Parts after the selection are moved back by the length of the Groove selection.

5:5 Added keyboard shortcuts

Transport Return to start Return to loop start Grid Editor: Snap on/off Follow on/off Focus on/off Metronome on/off Mute selected events

5:6 Preferences relevant to the Groove engine

Move/copy slot actions with grooves If this setting is enabled, a Palette slots fill status and start/end actions are transferred with its contained Groove when it is swapped with or moved/copied to another Palette slot.

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6. Mapping page
6:1 Mapping special articulations
As discussed in section 2:8, BFD 2.1 now supports additional special articulations. Once a kit-piece containing special articulations is loaded, these articulations become available for mapping in the key mapping system. When a kit-piece is dragged onto a key, the pop-up list of articulations is structured as follows: Slot choke note Standard articulations Special articulations All articulations Each of these groups of articulation types is displayed in separated sections on the list.

6:2 Program Change Playlist view

BFD 2.1 introduces a new view in the Mapping page that allows you to use MIDI program change messages to switch through a playlist of BFD2 Presets and kits. Switch to this view using the Prog button in the Mapping page toolbar. This view contains a table split into 3 columns that represents the playlist. Prog ID This column displays the MIDI program change ID. 128 IDs are available, each of which can be assigned to a kit or Preset. A program change ID cannot be assigned to both a kit and a Preset at the same time. Kit Name Preset Name Clicking in either of these columns for any Prog ID results in displaying a drop-down menu of all available kits or BFD2 Presets in the database. Assigning a Prog ID to a kit or Preset is as simple as clicking the desired kit or Preset in the drop-down list that appears. Each Prog ID can only be assigned to a kit or a Preset not both at the same time. Using the Playlist To change between different Prog IDs, you will need a MIDI controller capable of transmitting program change messages. A good solution is a footswitch board these are quite easy to source and are commonly used to send program change messages. Other possibilities include the preset inc/dec buttons on many keyboards, which often transmit program change messages from the MIDI output. Loading and saving Program Change Playlists Playlists can be loaded and saved in the same way as key and automation maps, using the Load and Save menus in the BFD2 control bar.

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7. Preferences
7:1 Hihat preferences moved to Session preferences
The following hihat-related preferences have been moved to the Session preferences category: Base Hihat tip tighten Hihat re-open threshold Hihat tip tighten amount Hihat transition fade time (seconds) Base Hihat shank tighten All hihats variable Hihat shank tighten amount This change is to enable you to set these preferences on a per-session basis. Note that you can configure a set of session preferences to use as defaults on new sessions. See sections 10:6 and 9:4 in the BFD2 manual for details of these settings. More information on session preference defaults can be found in section 10:4 of the BFD2 manual.

7:2 Grooves preferences

Move/copy slot actions with grooves preference

See section 5:6 for details of this setting.

7:3 MIDI preferences

Use Midi numbers rather than notes Enabling this preference results in displaying MIDI note numbers rather than note/octave labels in the Mapping page. Octave numbering scheme This drop-down menu replaces the -2 octave numbering and -1 octave numbering preferences.

7:4 Engine preferences

Load on demand See section 3:6 for details of this setting.

7:5 GUI preferences

MIDI notes select slots Use Next/Last buttons See sections 3:2 and 3:3 for details of this setting. Keep selections in sync Enabling this preference synchronizes the selected kit-piece in the Kit and Mixer page the last selected kit-piece is selected in the Kit page, and vice versa. Keyboard shortcuts The range of keyboard shortcuts has been expanded. Note that no shortcuts are defined by default, to avoid conflicts with host applications own keyboard shortcuts. The following listing summarizes all possible keyboard shortcuts in BFD 2.1: Redo (Grooves) Kit page Left tool: Select (Grooves) Mixer page Grooves page Left tool: Draw (Grooves) MIDI page Left tool: Erase (Grooves) Prefs page Left tool: Mute (Grooves) Save Preset Left tool: Vel (Grooves) Right tool: Select (Grooves) Load Preset Play / Stop Right tool: Draw (Grooves) Restart Right tool: Erase (Grooves) Return to Loop Start Right tool: Mute (Grooves) Right tool: Vel (Grooves) Select All Cut Snap on/off (Grooves) Follow on/off (Grooves) Copy Paste Focus on/off (Grooves) Delete Metronome on/off (Grooves) Mute Selected Events (Grooves) Undo (Grooves)

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8. New effects
8:1 Env Shaper
The Envelope Shaper allows you to adjust transients and change the dynamic shape of a signal in a different way to using a compressor.
Sensitivity

This sets the sensivity of the Env Shapers peak detection circuit. Detected peaks are affected by the Attack and Sustain transient processing.
Attack

This control adjusts the intensity of the attack phase of transients in the audio. Increase the control to intensify attack transients, to make drum sounds punch through the mix harder. Decrease it to soften transients. This can sound particularly good on percussion sounds and on one of two linked kit-pieces.
Sustain

The sustain control adjusts the intensity of release portions of transients in the audio, which increases or decreases the apparent sustain of sounds in the signal. Turning up the control for more sustain is good for intensifying the natural reverb in BFD2s sounds. It is particularly suited to making room ambience sound huge. Decrease the control for less sustain and making ambience more dry. At higher settings it can produce damping effects for drum sounds.
Gain

Use this control to adjust the gain of the signal after the Env Shapers dynamic processing.

8:2 Overloud Breverb BFD2 edition

This adapted version of Overlouds Breverb provides high-end artificial reverberation effects within the BFD 2.1 mixer. The controls are cut down from those available in the full Breverb product, but all 4 algorithms are present with their most important controls. Breverb Hall
Time (Sec)

Sets the duration of the reverberation tail. It is also influenced by the Size parameter.
Size

Sets the rate of build-up diffusion after the initial period, which is controlled by the Diffusion parameter. It also acts as a master control for Time and Spread. Despite its name, the apparent size of the space created is actually a combination of the settings of the Size, Shape and Spread controls.
Diffusion

Controls the degree to which the initial echo density increases over time.
Shape

Works together with the Spread parameter to control the overall ambience of the reverberation created by the Breverb Room algorithm. It specifically determines the contour of the reverberation envelope. With the Shape control all the way down, reverberation builds explosively and decays very quickly. As the control is is increased, reverberation builds up more slowly and sustains for the time set by the Spread parameter.
Spread

Controls the duration of the initial contour of the reverberation envelope. Low Spread settings result in a rapid onset of reverberation at the beginning of the envelope, with little or no sustain, while higher settings spread out both the build-up and sustain.
Predelay (Sec)

Sets the amount of time that elapses between the input signal and the onset of reverberation. It can be used to create a sense of distance and volume within an acoustic space.
Low, High

The Low and High parameters can be used to tweak the frequency response of the reverb. Low (kHz) Sets the frequency under which the reverberation is attenuated. High (kHz) Sets the frequency over which the reverberation is attenuated.

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 Breverb Room
Time (Sec)

Sets the duration of the reverberation tail. It is also influenced by the Size parameter.
Size

Sets the apparent size of the acoustic space being emulated by the algorithm. Values from minimum to half way up are typical of the ambience of a recording studio.
Diffusion

Controls the degree to which the initial echo density increases over time.
Decay

Balances between the late reverberation and the early reflections. When the Decay control is turned down fully, only the early reflections are present. When it is increased, late reverberations are gradually added.
Predelay (Sec)

Sets the amount of time that elapses between the input signal and the onset of reverberation. It can be used to create a sense of distance and volume within an acoustic space.
Low, High

The Low and High parameters can be used to tweak the frequency response of the reverb. Low (kHz) Sets the frequency under which the reverberation is attenuated. High (kHz) Sets the frequency over which the reverberation is attenuated. Breverb Plate
Time (Sec)

Sets the duration of the reverberation tail. It is also influenced by the Size parameter.
Size

Sets the apparent size of the plate emulated by the algorithm.

Diffusion

Controls the degree to which the initial echo density increases over time.
Predelay (Sec)

Sets the amount of time that elapses between the input signal and the onset of reverberation. It can be used to create a sense of distance and volume within an acoustic space.
Shape

Determines the contour of the reverberation envelope. With the Shape control turned all the way down, reverberation builds explosively and decays very quickly. As the control is raised, reverberation builds up more gradually and sustains longer.
Low, High

The Low and High parameters can be used to tweak the frequency response of the reverb. Low (kHz) Sets the frequency under which the reverberation is attenuated. High (kHz) Sets the frequency over which the reverberation is attenuated.

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 Breverb Inverse
Time (Sec)

Sets the duration of the reverberation. This time, added to the Predelay time, is the time that elapses from the direct sound to the end of the reverberation process.
Diffusion

Controls the degree to which the initial echo density increases over time.
Predelay (Sec)

Sets the amount of time that elapses between the input signal and the onset of reverberation. It can be used to create a sense of distance and volume within an acoustic space.
Low, High

The Low and High parameters can be used to tweak the frequency response of the reverb. Low (kHz) Sets the frequency under which the reverberation is attenuated. High (kHz) Sets the frequency over which the reverberation is attenuated.

7:3 PSP Vintage Warmer Lite

Vintage Warmer Lite by PSP is an emulation of an analog-style compressor/limiter. It is designed for warm dynamic limiting, compression and tape saturation effects. Processing latency This effect adds 64 samples of processing latency.
In

This control sets the gain of the signal going into the effect. It ranges from -18dB to +18dB.
Drive

Sets the input level for the limiter. It can range from -24dB to +24dB. The default value is 0dB.
Knee

Sets the knee range of the limiter. The default value is 50%. The 0% setting indicates that the knee is bent at 0dB, (hard knee) which is suitable for hard limiting. Mid range settings can be used to create analog tape-style effects. The 100% setting provides a wide-range soft knee for deep and fast compression.
Speed

Sets the compressors attack and release times. The default value is 50%. A setting of 0 emulates a very slow tape speed or a slow limiter/compressor setting. A setting of 100 simulates a high tape speed or a fast limiter/compressor setting.
Release

This is a multiplier control that sets the release time of the compressor relative to the Speed setting. The default value is x1.
Link (stereo only)

This button enables and disables linking of Vintage Warmer Lites left and right channels. When enabled, each channel is processed identically. When disabled, each channel is processed independently. Unless the signal requires correction, the Linked setting produces better results for stereo processing.
Low

Adjusts the low shelving or the low-band pre-limiter gain. The default value is 0dB.
High

Adjusts the high shelving or the high-band pre-limiter gain. The default value is 0dB.
Out

This control sets the gain of the signal after being processed by the effect. It ranges from -18dB to +18dB.

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