BFD 3 Preorder

[stein67]

Oh....I should also ask when I'm here. Is there a program similar to BFD3 that is aimed more towards R&B, Pop etc.,? I would like to compliment BFD3 with something aimed more for the above as my style of songwriting varies. Again, it would need to have the same core kits, loops and fills etc., as BFD3 all in one quality package.

[don1thedon]

stein67 I think BFD3 absolutely fits with what you want to do and will do so admirably. I think your reference to "loops" might confuse the question though. BFD3 contains loads of midi files in the style you mention that when used with the kits will indeed generate "loops" but if you are looking for something with predefined audio loops (loop samples) then maybe Stylus RMX might be a suitable alternative.

[stein67]

Thanks for replying mate.

No that's exactly what I'm looking for - the term loops, as you say, can sometimes confuse matters. I just want quality kits with a large database of midi styles and fills that I can place in Cubase and playback using my chosen kit. I'll probably match it up with groovemonkee to increase the choice further but it would be great if there were loads to begin with in BFD

[BERFAB]

Thanks for replying mate.

No that's exactly what I'm looking for - the term loops, as you say, can sometimes confuse matters. I just want quality kits with a large database of midi styles and fills that I can place in Cubase and playback using my chosen kit. I'll probably match it up with groovemonkee to increase the choice further but it would be great if there were loads to begin with in BFD

I've not had time to explore it thoroughly, but BFD3, so far, seems to have everything you're asking for.

If you're looking for an alternative that's a bit less expensive, Addictive Drums hits all the marks you're looking for. Tons of available kits (and IIRC, some freebie kit presets available as well) and a shedload of MIDI loops, many in song format. Easy drag 'n drop interface, sounds great, and very tweakable.

Also, if the MIDI loop libraries for any of these still fall short for you, check out Groovemonkee.com which has great specialty libraries in all formats.

Cheers
-B

[stein67]

Thanks mate.

[Platinum Samples]

Thanks for replying mate.

No that's exactly what I'm looking for - the term loops, as you say, can sometimes confuse matters. I just want quality kits with a large database of midi styles and fills that I can place in Cubase and playback using my chosen kit. I'll probably match it up with groovemonkee to increase the choice further but it would be great if there were loads to begin with in BFD

BFD3 includes a large sampling of our MIDI groove libraries... And also supports all our sample libraries as well.

Rail

[hibidy]

Most grooves and midi clips are WAY too velocity/timing quantized. BFD3 looks/sounds good at this.

Hopefully next month I can look more seriously at it, I'm broke this month but the examples really sound good.

[Amberience]

Just in case anyone never saw this, I did a bounce through BFD3 with some of the Platinum Samples' Wackerman grooves:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/630 ... Song06.mp3

[hibidy]

Still broke after buying the new computer but thought I'd ask here for those who have had it as maybe next month I can swing it.

The PT expert video looks nice and I think it shows fairly well what it can do. But I do have a couple of questions:

-is the stick that come with it meant to be plugged in like a dongle and that is the drive? If so, how is that working for those that have it?
-overall performance?
-please tell me about the new kits. Are they clearly separate or do you have to search hard for them?
-is working in the groove area cool? I think this is one of the things that really appeals to me as I pretty much suck at drum grooves.

thanks in advance.

[paterpeter]

-is the stick that come with it meant to be plugged in like a dongle and that is the drive? If so, how is that working for those that have it?

I have the download version, so I can't say anything official. But I'm quite certain the stick is for installation only. FXpansion use C/R, so I don't see the need for an extra dongle.

-overall performance?

I can't really complain, but it's relative, of course. It sure does feel like a "heavy" plugin, but in the end, that's what it is, right? Loading times are a bit long for my taste.

-please tell me about the new kits. Are they clearly separate or do you have to search hard for them?

The new browsers are nice. You can filter by library. Very nice if you have many expansions, too:


Oh, and by the way: the new kits sound really good. There are also much better presets included now. BFD has always been known for featuring mostly unprocessed samples. If you want to tweak your drums, BFD is the way to go.

-is working in the groove area cool? I think this is one of the things that really appeals to me as I pretty much suck at drum grooves.

I haven't used the Groove Editor very much, to be honest. So far I've mostly played them in with my MIDI key board and edited the drums in my DAW's piano roll. That's not to say the Groove Editor is bad. It has some nice tricks up its sleeve, like drawing rudiments. But I think it can get a bit static if you loop the same groove over and over again. Recently, I've started using Jamstix to spice up the drum tracks - pretty cool stuff once you understand how it works. But in the end you can combine different approaches. For example: create a nice basic groove in BFD's groove editor, export it as MIDI, import it as a style in Jamstix, then add a drummer and maybe add elements from other styles to spice the groove up and make it more human.


[edit]
I checked the manual and you definitively need to install the library content to another drive, much like Komplete Ultimate.

[mrobbo]

I purchased BFD3 after trying the mac demo and loved it. Purchase was straight forward, but after downloading BFD3 and installing i tried opening the License Manager and added the download ticket for the core library. It got to around 83% then crashed and NOTHING i do now will bring the license manager back to life. Crash after crash. So i've bought a $400 app I've been unable to use for the last week. Frustrating.
I've created a support ticket 3 days ago but have yet to hear any thing from them. Guess i'll just keep waiting. Really looking forward to getting this working.

[hibidy]

-is the stick that come with it meant to be plugged in like a dongle and that is the drive? If so, how is that working for those that have it?

I have the download version, so I can't say anything official. But I'm quite certain the stick is for installation only. FXpansion use C/R, so I don't see the need for an extra dongle.

-overall performance?

I can't really complain, but it's relative, of course. It sure does feel like a "heavy" plugin, but in the end, that's what it is, right? Loading times are a bit long for my taste.

-please tell me about the new kits. Are they clearly separate or do you have to search hard for them?

The new browsers are nice. You can filter by library. Very nice if you have many expansions, too:


Oh, and by the way: the new kits sound really good. There are also much better presets included now. BFD has always been known for featuring mostly unprocessed samples. If you want to tweak your drums, BFD is the way to go.

-is working in the groove area cool? I think this is one of the things that really appeals to me as I pretty much suck at drum grooves.

I haven't used the Groove Editor very much, to be honest. So far I've mostly played them in with my MIDI key board and edited the drums in my DAW's piano roll. That's not to say the Groove Editor is bad. It has some nice tricks up its sleeve, like drawing rudiments. But I think it can get a bit static if you loop the same groove over and over again. Recently, I've started using Jamstix to spice up the drum tracks - pretty cool stuff once you understand how it works. But in the end you can combine different approaches. For example: create a nice basic groove in BFD's groove editor, export it as MIDI, import it as a style in Jamstix, then add a drummer and maybe add elements from other styles to spice the groove up and make it more human.


[edit]
I checked the manual and you definitively need to install the library content to another drive, much like Komplete Ultimate.

Thanks for the info!

[hibidy]

I purchased BFD3 after trying the mac demo and loved it. Purchase was straight forward, but after downloading BFD3 and installing i tried opening the License Manager and added the download ticket for the core library. It got to around 83% then crashed and NOTHING i do now will bring the license manager back to life. Crash after crash. So i've bought a $400 app I've been unable to use for the last week. Frustrating.
I've created a support ticket 3 days ago but have yet to hear any thing from them. Guess i'll just keep waiting. Really looking forward to getting this working.

Hope you get it sorted.

[don1thedon]

I purchased BFD3 after trying the mac demo and loved it. Purchase was straight forward, but after downloading BFD3 and installing i tried opening the License Manager and added the download ticket for the core library. It got to around 83% then crashed and NOTHING i do now will bring the license manager back to life. Crash after crash. So i've bought a $400 app I've been unable to use for the last week. Frustrating.
I've created a support ticket 3 days ago but have yet to hear any thing from them. Guess i'll just keep waiting. Really looking forward to getting this working.

Wow, not nice and not good support! I assume you've been on their forum looking assistance and tried reinstalls and such like?
Good luck with that ...

[Angus_FX]

mrobbo what's your support ticket number? We have some ill health in the support team at the moment (mostly just usual winter bugs) so they're a bit behind, but let me know the ticket number & I'll ensure somebody gets on the case.

[Edit: Found the ticket. Andrew Vernon replied to you around noon today]