FXpansion BFD 3 Drum Instrument Software

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Build beats with 55 GB of detailed drum sounds! The 3rd-gen BFD gives you 7 new kits recorded in two locations, great groove-construction tools and more.

BFD3 is the third generation of FXpansion's flagship software acoustic drum studio: levels of realism and ground-breaking features in an intuitive redesigned engine.

With stunning kits with mix-ready presets and modeling technology for tom resonance and cymbal swells, BFD3's audio engine delivers uncompromising detail. The revamped interface has a mixer and sound browser for the easiest BFD experience yet.

BFD3's library is recorded in two fantastic rooms by engineers including Andrew Scheps, Rail Jon Rogut and John Emrich, giving you a diverse palette of drum tones out of the box. The sounds include a brushed kit and processed drum presets for fast custom kit-building. BFD3 also contains a powerful built-in environment for pattern creation and editing, complete with a range of performances by legendary drummers for effortless production of drum tracks indistinguishable from the real thing.

BFD3: Instant results with unlimited depth

BFD3's interface lets you easily browse for entire presets or compile great-sounding kits while also providing the depth to truly sculpt any drum sound you desire. Presets can be moulded into shapes by retuning, damping and changing the velocity response and many other aspects of the kit and also by processing the hyper-detailed multi-microphone sounds in BFD3's internal mixing engine. The built-in Groove section offers a versatile range of session drummer performances alongside pattern editing and Groove creation functions. Select from a wide read more range of musical drum rudiments and simply paint your own realistic parts.

A varied library

The BFD3 library was recorded in 2 locations for varied room ambience and allowing as many diverse sounds as possible. Kits 1-4, recorded in LA's Ocean Studios, feature additional mono room and hardware-compressed channels in addition to stereo overhead and room mics. Kits 5-7 are stick, brush and mallet versions of a custom Mapleworks kit recorded in a clean and tight but vibrant room at Omega Studios in Rockville, Maryland. With detail levels of up to 80 velocity layers, rim-clicks and rim-shots for toms and bells and splashes for hihats, BFD3's sounds are more expressive than ever before.

Efficient engine with intelligent modeling

BFD3's features reduce the impact of this high detail on your system resources. The library makes use of zero-loss compression for audio data stored on disk resulting in less strain on your hard disk, with decompression while streaming incurring minimal overhead. The audio engine is more efficient and introduces modelled tom resonance and bleed for even more realism without using any memory-hungry audio data. The modelling augments and blends the kit together with a natural-sounding 'glue' which varies depending on the characteristics and tuning of any combination of drums, something that cannot be achieved only by using samples.

Mix as deeply as you want to

The internal mixing engine has DCAM-modelled compression, filtering and other effects alongside great-sounding EQ and algorithmic reverbs. External signals can be used as compression sidechains, ambient channels for individual drums can be isolated and processed separately. BFD3's workflow enhancements even let you hide multiple drum and ambient mics for adopting simpler mixing approaches.

Exporting audio and using external processing

BFD3 makes it easy to route multiple channels to discrete outputs for processing with other plugins or outboard gear. It even provides multi-channel audio export direct to disk. Grooves can be exported using drag and drop - perfect for compiling loops. BFD3 is a complete workstation usable for any production styles that demand stunningly realistic mix-ready acoustic drums.

Features:

- 7 kits recorded in 2 locations
- Includes dedicated rock, metal, jazz and brush kits
- More detail in less disk space
- Tom resonance and cymbal swell modelling
- Redesigned browser, streamlined workflow
- Faster, more efficient audio engine
- Extendable interface for larger screens
- Effects including reverb and DCAM EnvShaper
- Wide range of mix-ready presets with accompanying grooves
- Fully editable, improved groove engine
- Rudiments tool for easy groove construction
- Grooves by Steve Ferrone, Brooks Wackerman, Bobby Jarzombek, Peter Erskine & Stanton Moore courtesy of Platinum Samples
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Minimum requirements:
- Core2Duo 2.0ghz (or equivalent)
- 2GB DDR3 RAM
- 7200rpm mechanical hard disk or fast SSD
- Windows 7 or later (Windows)
- OSX 10.6.8 or later (Mac)
- Internet connection for authorization and downloads
- USB 2.0 port for installation
- 1280x800 screen resolution

Recommended for high detail settings:
- Quad-core processor or faster (Core2Quad, i3, i5, and i7, or equivalent)
- 3GB DDR3 RAM or higher
- Dedicated drive for audio content

For support or warranty questions, please contact the manufacturer:
Phone: 805-258-1465

Reviewers gave this product an overall rating of 5 out of 5 stars. (1 ratings)
Submitted May 27, 2014 by Will Stratton in Lorton, VA

"Slight curve but worth the climb!"

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
As producers, sound engineers, and drummers - we want one thing. A variety of drum sounds and groves that "sound" like we recorded them ourselves. This collection takes the best kits with the best players in the best rooms recording on the best gear. I have used this against a professionally mic'ed kit in the studio. It sounds better, it grooves better, and saves the client hundreds of dollars. Get a MIDI drum kist and save your real kit for your live shows. BFD is better than your kit. :-)

Musical Background:

25 years play drums and guitar. 15 years producing music on a laptop in Iraq and Afghanistan

Musical Style:

Rock, Pop, Country, Instrumental.
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