www.megadrum.info

Could someone using Megadrum with BFD2 please give me some advice.

To begin with, I don't quite get Megadrum's HiHat Pedal settings. If "HiHat Pedal" settings are for the controller (and channel 02 "HiHatB/HiHatE" for the actual pad), how come HiHat Pedal settings have parameters like BowHO and BowCL? The controller can't differentiate between bow, edge or bell hits on the pad.

BFD2 only requires three MIDI notes for variable hi-hats: variable tip, variable shank and pedal. So I guess I must set only 3 MIDI notes in Megadrum also? Would the right configuration look something like this (with a 3-zone Yamaha hi-hat pad):

HiHat Pedal
BowHO & BowCL: F#2 (mapped "variable tip" in BFD2)
EdgHO & EdgCL: A#2 (mapped "variable shank" in BFD2)
BellHO & BellCL: ?? (BFD2 doesn't seem to include hi-hat bell articulations)
Chick & Splash: B2 (mapped "pedal" in BFD2)

HiHatB (channel 2)
F#2 (same note as "variable tip" in HiHat Pedal)

HiHatE (channel 2)
A#2 (same note as "variable shank" in HiHat Pedal)

anttipi wrote:Could someone using Megadrum with BFD2 please give me some advice.

To begin with, I don't quite get Megadrum's HH Pedal settings. If "HH Pedal" settings are for the controller (and channel 02 "HiHatB/HiHatE" for the actual pad), how come HH Pedal settings have parameters like BowHO and BowCL? The controller can't differentiate between bow, edge or bell hits on the pad.

When the pedal is fully open and you hit the HiHat pad, MegaDrum sends notes taken from HiHat pad input settings.
When the pedal is half open and you hit the HiHat pad, MegaDrum sends notes taken from BowHO in pedal settings.
When the pedal is fully closed and you hit the HiHat pad, MegaDrum sends notes taken from BowCL in pedal settings.

dmitri wrote:When the pedal is fully open and you hit the HiHat pad, MegaDrum sends notes taken from HiHat pad input settings.
When the pedal is half open and you hit the HiHat pad, MegaDrum sends notes taken from BowHO in pedal settings.
When the pedal is fully closed and you hit the HiHat pad, MegaDrum sends notes taken from BowCL in pedal settings.

OK, thanks. I see all bow and edge sounds in HiHat Pedal are set to F#2 by default but bell sounds for some reason have different notes dedicated for open and closed (G2/G#2)? I'm wondering why they aren't F#2 also.

anttipi wrote:

dmitri wrote:When the pedal is fully open and you hit the HiHat pad, MegaDrum sends notes taken from HiHat pad input settings.
When the pedal is half open and you hit the HiHat pad, MegaDrum sends notes taken from BowHO in pedal settings.
When the pedal is fully closed and you hit the HiHat pad, MegaDrum sends notes taken from BowCL in pedal settings.

OK, thanks. I see all bow and edge sounds in HiHat Pedal are set to F#2 by default but bell sounds for some reason have different notes dedicated for open and closed (G2/G#2)? I'm wondering why they aren't F#2 also.

Just because I didn't now what notes assign to bow/edge sounds.

One more thing regarding BFD2: in BFD2, it is possible to choose up to 256 velocity layers. However, the MIDI velocity signals in MIDIOX or MCT only range from 1 to 127.

Does this mean it is pointless to choose any extra velocity layers above 127? I am asking this because I could save some precious HD space if I didn't go to 256 (the second best option in BFD2 is 128 layers).

I guess these 256 velocity layers are there only if you create the drum part entirely on a PC so you're not limited by the MIDI velocity range. MIDI note velocity can only be between 1 and 127.

So no-one is using Megadrum with BFD2?!

In FXpansion's video tutorial they say you only need to assign MIDI notes for variable tip, variable shank and pedal (with a variable hi-hat). I've done this but all I get is open tip, open shank and pedal chick sounds - no closed or half-open sounds! Which MIDI notes should I assign to Megadrum's different hi-hat settings (e.g. half open sounds) to get the variable tip/shank/pedal configuration to work in BFD2?

One more strange thing: all MIDI notes sent from Megadrum are recognized as one octave lower by BFD2 (e.g. C3 -> C2).

I don't use BFD2 but here are my hi-hat pedal/pad settings.
I also had to configure S2.0 settings so everything works together, but I get the full range of hi-hat open/half/closed/chick/splash sounds.

anttipi wrote:One more strange thing: all MIDI notes sent from Megadrum are recognized as one octave lower by BFD2 (e.g. C3 -> C2).

I've noticed something like this is S2.0 as well, but haven't investigated it thoroughly enough to bring it to anyones attention yet.
It is also very easy to work around...

Sabre wrote:I don't use BFD2 but here are my hi-hat pedal/pad settings.

Thanks for the info, but I still can get nothing but open sounds and a chick. Looks like CC messages aren't getting into BFD2 from Megadrum properly (?). The MIDI log shows "CC [004]" only when I make a hard chick.

Regarding the settings you posted, one thing I don't understand is how splash and bow can be assigned to the same MIDI note when they are different sounds?

anttipi wrote:Thanks for the info, but I still can get nothing but open sounds and a chick. Looks like CC messages aren't getting into BFD2 from Megadrum properly (?). The MIDI log shows "CC [004]" only when I make a hard chick.

I assume from your initial post that you've followed this procedure: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Uu45pQT5DY

anttipi wrote:Regarding the settings you posted, one thing I don't understand is how splash and bow can be assigned to the same MIDI note when they are different sounds?

I think it is the same sound, just processed differently.