Help needed making dsnd files with BFD2

[ytchi]

I've successfully made some good tom sounds with SD2.0 so I thought I'd have a try with BFD2 using the same method. I've only just got BFD so I'm still finding my way around the program but it seemed reasonably intuitive and works in much the same way as SD2.0. So, I set up my graduated velocity midi file and recorded the output which sounded fine as it played with the hits gradually decreasing in velocity but when I made the dsnd file using dsoundtool the hits were all over place - some loud hits down at what should have been quiet end and vice versa.

I created the same dsnd using the 2box app with same result except with the 2box tool you can see the dB rating of a particular sample and sure enough they all graduated down nicely from top to bottom, the only problem being that they don't sound as though they do. In other words, there's clearly some hits from the top of the velocity layers, i.e., a hard hit, mixed in with the ghost notes.

I did this a number of times with various options altered in BFD2 but nothing I did fixed the problem. I even did the recording using BFD as a plugin within ableton instead of using the built-in recorder but the effect was the same.

Any ideas what might be happening here?

[Slap the drummer]

I've been making files recently and they seem okay.

I think I may be using a different method to you.... maybe.....  I've been right-clicking
the "groove" and using the "Export Audio" function.  This works much quicker than
real time.

Is that what you're doing?

[ytchi]

Yes, same thing but slightly different I think. In the mixer screen there is an export tab in the bottom right - this is what I used. I selected 16 bit int wav as the format.

I'll have a look at the exported wav later today to see what it looks like, i.e., is there an obvious even graduation from quiet to loud across all the separate hits.

[ytchi]

OK, I spent a bit more time with BFD this evening. I wasn't doing the audio export how you suggest but I've tried it now and the result is the same. However, when I checked the output wavs in an editor I noticed that the majority of the hits were at the maximum amplitude with only the softest one showing a graduated amplitude. With this in mind I lowered the master fader in the mixer to reduce the overall output volume and this improved things a lot.

I've made a few snare dsnd's now and a couple were fine but one still showed the odd hard hit in the wrong place. Maybe that particular snare is sampled louder than the others in BFD and I need to knock the fader down a little bit more to compensate, I don't know. It's progress anyway but I've still to make a snare that sounds anywhere near as good as the 2box Dave Weckl one, I really like that snare.

[Slap the drummer]

Yeah, you really have to watch the volume - I've ended up pulling the master fader down
to -12db on some pieces.

SD is better in this respect because it's so much easier to manage the levels.

[ytchi]

Yeah, I'm not sure I really worried about levels in SD2.0 - I just dived straight in using the guidance on here and it worked perfectly first time. I may have adjusted the master fader a bit to stop hits going into the red but nothing more involved than that. Seems like BFD needs a bit more work to get the best out of it.

[Jman]

You guys are making me jealous doing BFD now .... can't afford it right now ... spent all my money on SD2 packs and SD memory cards

[RockStarGate]

So I dusted off the ol' BFD2 and re-installed this weekend hoping to make some dsnds..........and I got nowhere with it.
My dsnds from Superior work great but I want to make a couple 3-zone crashes that BFD have.
Anyone feel like typing out a tutorial on it like the SD tutorial in the other thread?
Many thanks in advance! 

[digitalDrummer]

Like ytchi , I too find that BFD produces some messy DSNDs. I have done a few kit pieces now and each one has had some odd hits - either two ore more joined, long or short decays, etc which need to be removed manually.
I have tired pushing Velocity to Amp to 100% and Vel to Rnd to O.
Are other finding the same thing?