What is a Drum VST?

First things first, what is a Drum VST?

VST stands for Virtual Studio Technology, an audio plugin that can be used in your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) or on its own to replicate a specific instrument.

This can range from bespoke piano tones and synthesizers to drum machines and drum kits.

BFD have been making VST drum kits and sounds since 2003.

These allow you to load a drum kit into your DAW and trigger it using MIDI notation to play BFD’s meticulously recorded acoustic samples.

The samples have been recorded at varying velocities (how hard the instrument is hit) so you can get accurate, dynamic, and incredibly real-sounding drums.

Why are VSTs so popular?

VSTs are now standard in contemporary music production across all genres and stylistics.

There’s a wealth of huge benefits in having a drum VST, let alone a free VST like the one included in the Alesis Surge Special Edition and the Alesis Command Special Edition.

The most obvious reason to use a VST is the sounds.

BFD have crafted genre-specific packs, giving you the choice of expansive rock kits from the ’70s, with monster 26” kicks drenched in natural room reverb, funkier disco kits with sharp snares, heavily processed toms for total groove, and more.

Each shell, cymbal, microphone, and room in these packs was chosen and crafted specifically with a sound in mind. You can choose one free expansion pack when purchasing an Alesis Command Surge Special Edition.

Secondly, the BFD player sound samples have been recorded in a world-class studio, with vintage and contemporary microphones, and produced by professional engineers and producers with decades of experience.

You don’t have to worry about phasing issues, gain stage problems, or peaks and pops. If you want a wider stereo overhead, you have the option to do that. If you want to make the room size smaller, you can. All the details are of pristine quality, made to enhance your productions.

Finally, adaptability. Not only do you get incredible drum sounds, but various effect plugins are built into the interface, specifically tailored to each drum pack sound. These are incredibly easy to use, with just a single knob to control things such as compression, room ambience, kit reverb, delays, envelope, attack, and sustain, amongst a host of other effects.

What can I do with a VST?

The first thing you’re able to do with the free BFD player is plug your new Surge SE or Command SE into your laptop or computer via a single USB cable.

You’ll then have your BFD sound mapped perfectly to your Alesis kit.

Mapping your VST instruments to hardware can sometimes be a very fiddly process. The BFD player has solved this issue.

It’s mapped with all Alesis kits, so all you need to do is plug in and your Alesis drum kit will trigger the exact sounds it’s meant to.

So, immediately alongside the hundreds of sounds included in the module, you have an additional suite of world-class drum sounds to play with!

BFD player can also be used as a standalone tool. You’re no longer forced to open a DAW, go through your channels, and assign a BFD plugin to play; you can just open the player, connect your USB cable, and you’re ready to jam out!

But if you do want to open BFD in your DAW, you can play your kit directly into the DAW and track your real-time movements.

And that’s not all.

You can also program your drums via MIDI. If you’re on the move and need to make some edits, just open a MIDI roll, tap in your drums, and make amendments to the MIDI you’ve already recorded, all without having to plug the Alesis kit into your computer!

So, what’s next?

Well, we don’t know yet. This is the first time we’ve seen Alesis and BFD collaborate, and it’s a phenomenal start to a, hopefully, blossoming relationship.

Will we see more BFD players for all Alesis kits or will we see BFD sounds directly imported into Alesis modules? With the incredible Alesis hardware and triggering combined with BFD’s wonderfully deep and powerful sounds, the idea is very exciting!