Having used BFD3.5 for some time, I’ve noticed a few issues that need addressing yesterday, not next year.
When you import a sample, fine, you can assign a Snare to a Snare, a Kick to a Kick, a Cymbal to a Cymbal, a Tom to a Tom (though not high, mid, or low). But why, despite the manual claiming otherwise, is there still no way to assign articulations properly? Snare hits, rimshots, flams, side sticks, these should all land on the same snare, not float around in limbo. It shouldn’t be some massive “developer priority” to let users map articulations logically, it’s basic functionality.
The same logic applies to everything else: kicks (regular hits, flams), cymbals (hit, bell, choke), toms (hit, rimshot, flam, choke), and so on. Hi-hats are the worst offender: open, closed, ¼, ¾, pedal, choke… yet importing a hi-hat still dumps it into the “percussion” category, even though hi-hat is literally already its own category. Madness.
And here’s the kicker: every imported sample already shows up with “choke” as an articulation. Brilliant. So why not just make it actually work?
That one fix alone would let percussion-assigned hi-hats function properly, open hat chokes on a closed hat hit, giving a natural open/close feel. Revolutionary concept, I know.
Then there’s the image import fiasco since the last update. Before, images were assigned in a consistent format. Now it’s PNGs only, and every time I import an image it has to be backwards and upside down just to appear the right way up. Why should I have to run a gymnastics routine with every drum image just so I can see what I’m playing?
Slight gripe aside, BFD3 is still the most realistic drum software out there. I just need to remind myself, as a guitarist and keys player, that drummers can’t actually play four cymbals, a hi-hat, a kick, and a cowbell simultaneously. Sadly.
Oh I didn’t mention the occasional your “audio software is having a spasm reload or close” messages, which seems to have become part of the glory of using BFD3. Please make that stop!