I use it so much in stand-alone and there is already so much right about the product.
1 - tap tempo
2 - time signature changes in song mode
3 - full screen groove editor option
4 - flexible gui that can work well in full screen
5 - backward compatibility with older packs
6 - tight integration with vdrum/edrums
7 - commitment from InMusic
-A GUI that has you choose the size of your kit before opening. For instance, it’ll show you classic shell pack configs–two up/two down, one up/one down, etc etc. Then, you go on to choose double or single kick. If you choose double, the samples will alternate differently to accommodate for the physical realities of playing double kicks. Then, you choose between a couple different cymbal setups, like “Simple” (two crashes and a ride) or “Pro” (for those kitchen-sink setups)
There should also be a lock function, once you have it set where you want it.
-modelling of different types of drum heads (like I wanna be able to switch from clear and coated ambassadors to hydraulics to EMADS to powerstrokes, black dot, etc). IK Multimedia touched on it with their drum software, but it didn’t go all the way. Take us ALL THE WAY.
-No more distorted samples. BFD2 had a few too many drums that sounded crunchy and muddy.
-any kit that gets modeled must have a minimum of two rack toms and two floor toms to choose from. I hate really digging the sound of a kit, only to be locked in to having to load up the same sample and pitch it up or down to approximate what the next size would sound like.
-totally revamped and organized midi groove selection. As it stands now, that area of BFD needs some cleaning up, plus, there were so many midi grooves in the legacy BFD library that were…head-scratching. They didn’t even sound like a drummer played those grooves–it was as if someone finger-drummed them because some articulations and samples were totally unnatural.
-keep the single kit expansions coming (ala oak custom etc), priced accordingly. I’m not spending 75-99 bucks on one kit. $40-60? Now were talkin’! As someone who owns over 10 BFD expansions, I don’t wanna see BFD go under the radar for so long again. It’s too good of software to just let fall off. So if it means less huge expansions to mitigate how difficult it is to make these things, by all means, cut the workload and give us like 1 really dope kit every season from here on.
-More cymbal expansions!
-Bring back XFL for those of that missed it!
-a MONO button!!! I usually check my drum mixes in mono to make sure everything sits right and I hate having to use the mid/side thing on the master bus. We need a true mono function right there on the mixer
–someone please tell me why, why NO ONE has done an Alex Van Halen VH I to Fair Warning kit on software yet? Like jeezus, not even the snare…There’s no reason for this. BFD…here’s where you get to step up and fill in a gap that has existed for waaay too long
–better presets. I’ve never been happy with most presets in ANY drum library, and honestly, I’d love to opportunity to volunteer to do BFD4s since I love making my own and I feel like I’d be able to give people something really usable to start off with.
Here’s hoping BFD 4 ends up being at least a 500gb library!
You could still do that with the existing libraries, test the waters and see how many users give you the thumbs up. The old fxpansion forum used to have a user preset sticky which was interesting.
Steve
How about native Apple silicon compatibility?? M1 has been released almost 3 years now, and BFD is no where closer to achieving native compatibility than it was three years ago. What will happen to those users that have an M2 mac?? They’ll have to wait 6 years??? Such an awesome tool, being left in the dust, and holding users hostage in a rosetta layer hell, when the DAW, and every other plug in became native well over a year ago! I wish I hadn’t spent so much $$ on the expansions, I would have gone to Superior Drummer. It may still be on the agenda if these devs don’t get their s&%* together. Great work…but that’s all in the distant past. What is the excuse now? The article BFD posted back in 2022 hasn’t changed. Working hard…my butt. Such a shame. Sorry for the rant…It’s super frustrating that I can’t take advantage of great updates with my DAW because BFD won’t work with it since it is Apple silicon native.
Please send me the Beta version!?!?!??!? I use BFD in 90% of my productions, and the fact it is still not M1 native is holding me back from great DAW updates, as well as OS stabilizations. Please, please, please!?!?
I’d like to present to the forum a small preset pack for your enjoyment!
Maybe I should share some with you guys some of the players that inspired my pack: Ponta Murakami, Tony Williams, Jerry Shirley (Humble Pie), Philty Animal (Motorhead), Pete Gill (Saxon’s Wheels of Steel Album!), Neil Peart’s “Chromey” kit…hopefully you kinda get a picture here. I don’t like super washed out drums. Also, A lot of these kits can easily go from funk to metal to latin in a heartbeat. Eventually, I’d update this pack with more cymbals on each kit.
Important to note–you have to have a few expansions to make use of these: BFD 1,2,3, Dunnett Ti, Horsepower and BFD Deluxe. A lot of the presets are using 2 expansions…usually one for the shells and the other for cymbals.
Mickemowse BFD Presets.zip (117.4 KB)
Thanks for sharing, I love those drummers you mentioned, will check these out later and give you some feedback \m/
I’d like to see a really supercharged importing of samples in BFD4,
Adding:
If I add a kick, then add a snare, sometimes (more often than not) the kick totally disappears and has to be loaded again…and again.
Id love excellent integration with Electric drums. I’ve noticed with some expansions BFD3 is amazing with electronic drums and works much better than SD3 in those… But with other expansions the dynamics are really strange, so it would be great to ensure realistic feel is consistently kept for all BFD4 expansions.
With all that being said, id love support for positional sensing and all the features now supported with the newer digital pads for example
i’d pay 2X for a robust rock solid “pro version” focused solely on integrating samples into a daw.
key features being the tech/model panels and somewhat the fx and mixer. could get by without any fx, but tbh, find them useful for “engineering” presets for a project.
no grooves, groove editor, automation, jukebox, electronic kit integration, pretty bitmaps, whatever…
and no drm requirements that would put my work at risk in the event of an “external business event” beyond my control.
For these ‘troubles’ I have been using the Default Folder program since time immemorial. irreplaceable.
I fully agree on this point!
I think two things:
M3 is about to be born, bfd3 can’t support apple sillicon yet, it’s really helpless，，，
Are you able to get hold of the M1 compatible beta version?
If not you should contact @exBFD_Drew to see if he can let you have one.
I’m a PC user so don’t have to stuffer Apples continual updates but from what I’ve heard it’s running well with the exception of a few DAWS and it should run fine on the M2.
Is there sand M3 in the pipeline?
Steve
To break the monotony of complaining I have an actual feature request… I had to go back to a session from 20 years ago and noticed it was using DFHSuperior. Seeing that’s a PPC plugin I instead loaded the library into Superior 2 and noticed immediately the drum/hit smoothing engine doing wonders for those samples.
So yeah, I would love it if BFD4 had some kind of smoothing for repeated hits on drums (the cymbal swell feature is great already and I use it all the time). Especially since some libraries, even when sampled with hundreds of RRs, can sound robotic without messing with the volume envelope and meticulously hand drawing every velocity for a bit snare or tom roll/fill.
I’d like to see kits put together, that sound like certain famous sounds - a ‘Sting’s Greatest Drummers’ compilation expansion, for example.
To include such family favourites as:
and
and of course:
All artists welcomed:
Excuse me…Just whiling away my Sunday, before braving a completely new BFD install 
What I want in BFD4? If I had to summarize everything in one word, it would be COHESION. The sound and sampling depth in the articulations and dynamics of BFD3 are still unmatched even to this day. I believe the only thing left to say to the developers is to maintain that level of quality. However, there is one thing regarding the expansions that I think will be very difficult to address but should be taken into account for future expansions, and that is sound cohesion. There are notable variations in volume, velocities, and articulations between different expansions. This becomes evident when comparing, for example, to the main competitor, Superior Drummer 3. While many of its expansions sound quite similar (I think for others reason too), there is a compatibility and coherence between them, allowing for better mixing and pleasant sounds by simply browsing the presets. I don’t feel the same level of consistency in BFD3, and from my perspective, most of the presets are not useful, even though I work with many genres and styles. It’s great for building from scratch, no doubt about it. But in order to make BFD more accessible to all types of users, I believe you should work on offering presets that are more sonically appealing. I think this is intrinsically linked to the coherence and the way you have been sampling each library. Although I’m sure you have established certain recording standards for each one, beyond the particularities of what you want to capture, I believe it’s something that needs to be perfected.
Another thing, although many people ask for a GUI as attractive as EZdrummer or Superior Drummer, which I think is nice to have a high-quality reference like those libraries, I would still prefer something more technical like BFD3, with vector graphics. So, if you include a more graphical view, please don’t dismiss the possibility of offering and even further improving the current view. However, I would reconsider the way the elements are organized. BFD is a powerful tool that includes modeling and sampling, along with various parameters, effects, mixing, sends, and more. It’s challenging to achieve an interface that doesn’t overwhelm the user, but even for the biggest enthusiasts of these aspects, it can be a bit confusing. I believe you can work on improving the distribution of the different elements. Here, I would opt for a more modern style, like what Superior Drummer has, to continue mentioning the competition. Although BFD surpasses it in many aspects, I think they have the advantage in this regard, and something more modern and ergonomic GUI is needed. Think about a new vectorial and user expandable GUI refresh
Another aspect to consider is the inclusion of electronic elements. Almost all genres today use them, and it would be great to have the ability to combine them with slots for electronic elements and/or triggers for the snare and kick drum. That would be excellent. One thing I really like about BFD is the ability for users to create their own instruments, not just one-shots. This feature alone sets it apart from the competition. I have created many electronic elements and layered drums using this functionality. However, it would be good to have it organized by default by you, with a dedicated slot for this purpose. I don’t like that when adding a trigger or a layer element, it becomes part of the visual drum set. I would prefer it to be separate, not necessarily displayed as another snare or kick drum. There should be an option to add an element either as another drum piece or as a SONIC ENHANCEMENT ELEMENT (LAYER).