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To fully utilize Grooves within BFD3, they must be loaded into Palette slots or directly to the Drum Track from the Browser. While it is possible to preview Grooves in sync with the transport and even to export them as MIDI or audio using only the Browser, they must be loaded into the Palette to fully control them, trigger them via MIDI or arrange them within the Drum Track.
The Palette and Drum Track are shown on the same page as the Groove Editor - click the Groove Editor button in BFD3's navigation bar to display it. It replaces the Key Map panel or mixer/Kit display/Effects Editor/Drum Editor if they were previously visible. |
The Grooves Browser is part of the main BFD3 Browser - it is accessed by clicking the Grooves tab button at the top of the Browser panel.
If the Palette is empty or no Groove is selected, a button is also shown in the middle of the screen which opens the Grooves Browser.
Selecting and previewing Palettes and Grooves
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There are 2 main areas in the Grooves Browser. The upper area displays a listing of all available Palettes. Click a Palette in the listing to display its constituent Grooves in the lower part of the Browser. Grooves shown in the lower section can be selected in the same way as Palettes. Information about each Palette or Groove can be seen by clicking the Info display button at the lower-left corner of the Grooves Browser.
Previewing Grooves Each Palette and Groove displays an Audition preview button with the mouse cursor hovered above it. Click the button to start previewing the Palette or Groove; click it again to stop the preview. If any Grooves are already being previewed (or if there are Grooves already loaded and playing in the Palette), they are muted when using the Audition preview function. When previewing a Palette, playback steps through each of its contained Grooves sequentially. You can also click another Palette or Groove's Audition preview button to preview it instead. Auditioned grooves play at the current tempo through the Drums currently loaded into BFD3. Note that if the previewed Groove contains events for currently empty Drum slots, they do not produce any sound. If no Drums are loaded at all, previewing the Groove results in silence. The Hold mouse button to preview setting in the Options menu results in auditions only playing back while the mouse button is held down on the audition preview buttons.
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Automatic previews on selection Using the Preview when clicking groove function in the Options menu, Grooves are automatically previewed when selected in the Groove Browser, without having to click its Audition preview button. |
When Palettes are selected, playback steps through each of its constituent Grooves sequentially.
Previewed Grooves are looped and synchronized to your host tempo and transport.
Loading by drag & drop to the Palette
To load Palettes and Grooves into the Palette via drag & drop, the Palette panel at the right of the Groove Editor page must be visible. Click the Palette button at the top-right of the Groove Editor page to display it if it is currently hidden.
Palettes
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To load a Palette, drag it from the Browser to the Palette at the right of the Groove Editor page. Any previous contents in the Palette and Drum Track are replaced. |
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Grooves
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To load a single Groove, drag it to the desired slot in the Palette. This can also be achieved with multiple selections: the Grooves are assigned to sequential slots starting from the destination. Any previous contents in destination slots are replaced. |
The loaded Groove |
Using drag and drop to export Grooves directly from the Browser
This method can be used to export Grooves or a Palette as MIDI or audio directly to your host/DAW or to an operating system file window or desktop. This function is described later in this chapter.
Loading using double-click
Palettes
Double-click any Palette to load it (replacing all currently loaded Grooves). Any previous contents within the destination are replaced.
Grooves
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•First, click the desired destination Groove slot in the Palette to select it. |
•Then, double-click the required Groove in the Browser. |
•The Groove is loaded to the selected slot in the Palette. |
Loading using drag & drop to the Drum Track
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Grooves or Palettes can be dropped directly from the Browser onto the desired position in the Drum Track. |
•The Groove(s)/Palette is also loaded to the next free slot(s) starting from slot 60 in the Palette. |
When dragging an entire Palette (or a multiple selection of Grooves) in this way, the Grooves within it are arranged sequentially in the Drum Track.
Loading multiple Grooves
To select multiple Grooves in the listing:
• CTRL-click on a Groove (Windows)
• COMMAND-click (Mac)
Adds the Groove to the current selection. If the Groove is already selected, it is de-selected.
• SHIFT-click
Selects all Grooves between the currently selected Groove and the lowest or highest selected Groove (a contiguous selection).
With the desired Grooves selected, click and drag the selection to the required destination slot in the Palette. The Grooves are loaded into sequential slots starting from the destination slot, overwriting any previous contents of these slots.
A warning is displayed if the end of the Palette is reached and it is not possible to load all the selected Grooves.
Searching and filtering the Groove library
Using the Search, Filters and Favourites functions in the Grooves Browser involves exactly the same processes as the other Browser tabs - see the Browser Reference section for a guide to using these functions.
The following Filter categories are available in the Grooves Browser:
•Favourites: show only specific Favourites groups
•Library: show BFD1, BFD2, BFD3 or other libraries
•Genre: filter Grooves by musical genres
•BPM: filter Grooves by original tempo range
•Time signature: filter Grooves by specific time signatures
•Author: filter Grooves by specific authors
Other Groove Browser functions
Groove/Fill Filter
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An additional filtering function exists for the lower part of the Groove Browser which shows a Palette's constituent Grooves. Using the Groove/Fill Filter menu, this part of the Browser can be set to show All (Grooves and Fills), Fills (only Fills) or No Fills (only Grooves). |
Groove Browser context menu
Right-click on any Palette or Groove in the Browser listing to display the Groove Browser context menu.
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Filters These functions are described in the Browser Reference section. |
In the Grooves Browser, the Filters sub-menu shows the Library, Genre, BPM, Time Sig and Author fields for the Palette or Groove.
The Change Library function is only usable with user-generated Grooves and Palettes.
Remove from database
This function removes the Groove/Palette from the listing. No files are deleted - instead, the item is hidden until the next time the content location which includes them is rescanned.
To remove items permanently, their files must be deleted from disk. The location of each file can be seen using the Info display panel (see below) or the Show in Finder / Show in Explorer functions.
Also load: Associated Track
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Palette files also store a Drum Track if it existed when the Palette was originally saved. If the Also load Track button is deactivated, when a Palette is loaded, the Drum Track is initialized to an empty state. |
Info display
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Click the Info display button at the lower-left of the Grooves Browser to show a panel displaying information about the currently selected Palette or Groove. The fields that are shown are identical to those in the Palette panel's Info display - see the next section for details of each field. The border between the Info display and the Palette/Groove listing can be clicked and dragged up/down to adjust the visible area of each section. The Info display panel can be hidden again by clicking the Info display button.
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Options menu
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Preview when clicking Groove If this setting is activated, Grooves are automatically previewed when selected in the Groove Browser, without its Audition preview button needing to be clicked. Previewed Grooves are looped and synchronized to your host tempo and transport. |
Hold mouse button to preview
This setting changes the behaviour of preview buttons in the Grooves Browser and Palette. With the setting activated, Groove previews play while the mouse button is held down on its preview button. When the setting is deactivated, clicking a preview button starts playing the Groove, and clicking it again stops it.
Drag exports Audio not MIDI
This function relates to exporting Palettes and Grooves directly from the Browser and is identical to that in the Groove Editor's Tools menu - see the Saving and Exporting Grooves section for more details.
Loading Groove sets Tempo
When running BFD3 in standalone mode, activate this setting to set the current tempo to that of a Groove or Palette when it is loaded.
When the setting is disabled, Grooves are always auditioned and loaded at the current tempo.
Double-click loads Groove into free Slot
This setting is provided in order to make it easier to compile Palettes from individual Grooves. With the setting activated, double-clicking a Groove in the Browser listing results in loading it to the next free Slot in the Palette. With the setting deactivated, double-clicking a Groove loads it in to the currently selected Slot, overwriting the Slot's previous contents.
Sort by
This sub-menu offers various sorting options for the Groove Browser display: items can be sorted by Name, Folder, BPM (tempo), Time Signature or Date Modified. The Folder setting is particularly useful if user Grooves are arranged within sub-folders in the user location or if factory or expansion pack Grooves have been manually rearranged into sub-folders in the factory location.
Additional Groove functions in the BFD3 File menu
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Load Groove(s) from file This function displays a system file open dialog allowing you to browse to and load Palettes or Groove(s) from any location that may not already exist in the database. This may be useful after downloading a Palette made by another user. For the loaded Palette(s) or Groove(s) to be accessible in the Groove Browser in future, they must be saved after it is loaded into the current session. If the file type extension is changed to *.MID in the open dialog, this function imports a MIDI file instead, as when using the Import functions described below. Batch Import BFD1 Grooves or MIDI... This function is used for converting MIDI files or BFD 1.x Grooves into BFD3 Grooves - see below. |
Importing MIDI files and BFD 1.x Grooves
The Groove Browser displays BFD 1.x format Grooves in the Browser if they are found in the scanned content locations. There are several other ways of getting BFD 1.x format Grooves and other MIDI files into BFD3 such using the File menu while the Groove Browser is visible.
When they are imported, a Key Map needs to be consulted in order to determine which MIDI notes to assign to which BFD3 Drum articulations - this is specified using the Import MIDI Key Map setting in the Preferences (it can also be set in the MIDI Import panel which appears when using the File menu import functions).
See the Importing MIDI section later in this chapter for more detailed information on these functions.