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11:4 Layering
Introduction to layering
This technique is widely used in modern production, whereby a sampled snare and kick are layered over the original drum track’s
kicks and snares, doubling them up. The usual method for this production trick, called ‘drum replacement’, is fairly cumbersome
- you need to isolate the kicks and snares from any bleed in their tracks, and use the transients to trigger the required sounds in a
sampler. When using BFD2, it’s far easier.
Simple layering using the Link function
If you want to layer two snares in BFD2, load the first into the Snare1 slot as normal and then load another into the Snare2 slot.
Then, using the Link function in the Kit page, link the two slots. This results in Snare2 being triggered whenever Snare1 is trig-
gered.
BFD2’s user sample import function allows you to use any samples for this purpose, including stereo samples from specialized
drum replacement sample libraries.
Layering individual articulations in the Mapping page
You may want to layer specific articulations, for example Snare1’s main hit with an imported kit-piece in one slot, and its sidestick
with a separate imported kit-piece in another slot.
In order to do this, load the kit-pieces, and drag and drop the relevant kit-piece articulations onto an empty key in the Mapping
page key mapping view. Play this key whenever you want the layered effect.
Creative and experimental layering
There is a lot of room for creativity when using layering techniques. For instance, you can use different amounts of ambience and
damping for each snare, and use the tuning controls to adjust the sound further. This is even before using processing to take it
even further.
You can use similar methods on kicks to make them huge with thunderous low-end.
You don’t need to restrict layering to drum replacement applications – it’s also great for designing strange and experimental kits,
especially when used with more esoteric libraries such as BFD Percussion and 8 Bit Kit.
