SoFtDrum Manual

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Overview
Introduction
SoFtDrum is a VST plugin designed to use Soundfonts as its sample source. Offeri
ng the ability to have as many velocity split samples as required, multi sample
drums can be packaged into a single file making loading of multi sample drums an
d maintaining a drum library very simple. Plus the fact that creating and editin
g a soundfont for drums is very easy using even freeware or donationware it take
s just minutes to make a drum soundfont.
Three versions are included in the SoFtDrum.exe package SoFtDrumUlt, SoFtDrumLt
and SoFtDrum. The only difference between them is the way that polyphony works.
Polyphony work a bit different in SoFtDrum compared to most drum plugins in that
each pads polyphony works independent, meaning that the only way a pad can be c
utoff because of reached polyphony is from itself. On the up side that means no
crash will ever be cutoff by a tom roll :-) On the downside it means that the fu
ll sixteen voice version of SoFtDrum can ask your CPU to play 192 voices at full
polyphony :-(
The three versions work as follows:
* SoFtDrumUlt - 1 voice polyphony per pad = 12 voice polyphony total
* SoFtDrumLt - 6 voice polyphony per pad = 72 voice polyphony total
* SoFtDrum - 16 voice polyphony per pad = 192 voice polyphony total
All three versions can share the same VST presets and banks (.FXB/.FXP files). U
se the Ult or Lt versions while tracking to conserve CPU and use the full versio
n for final mixing and rendering of the song. Hopefully in the future I can make
the polyphony a global control on the plugin requiring only one plugin? Jeff ha
s said he is working on making polyphony selectable for SynthEdit v1.1 ?
SoFtDrum is not designed to use standard soundfont banks or presets as it would
require far too much RAM. It requires a single drum soundfont per pad to work pr
operly. No control is provided for soundfont bank or presets selection for this
reason.
Installation
Run the SoFtDrum.exe installer program to copy the 3 DLLs to the VSTplugin direc
tory of your host.
For now the "SoFtDrum Library" folder must be placed in "C:\Program Files" for t
he default.fxb to load the drum samples. Again, hopefully in future versions of
SynthEdit I can change this to be selectable. You may place the "SoFtDrum Librar
y" folder anywhere you want, your .FXB/.FXP files and host projects will save fi
ne, but you will have to load your own kits one drum at a time and sharing of pr
eset kits would be difficult.

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Controls
About the GUI controls
All knobs move by linear mouse movement (up and down). Fine adjustments of the c
ontrols can be made by holding the Ctrl key on your computer keyboard while movi
ng the control.
Controls for each of the 12 drum pads:

LOAD
Opens a window to select a soundfont, The loaded soundfonts name
will appear in the display below the LOAD button.
NOTE: SoFtDrum is setup for mono samples/soundfonts it will play a stereo sample
\soundfonts but it will be played as mono. Use the pan control to possition the
drum
SOURCE Used for coarse tuning the sample, C3 (MIDI note 60) is the root
note of the sample. Can be transposed a little over two octaves up and down. Th
e controls range is A0 to G#5, MIDI note 33 - 92.
FINE
Used for fine tuning the sample, one half semitone up and down.
VELOCITY
Adjusts how the amp will respond to MIDI velocity input,
0 = No tracking 10 = full tracking.
NOTE: Sample velocity splits saved with the soundfont are always active "VELOCIT
Y" only effects the amp response.
ATK
Adjusts the attack time of the amp 0-10 milliseconds
REL
Adjusts the release time of the amp 0-10 seconds.
PAN
Adjusts the pan position left to right.
ASSIGN Adjusts the trigger note of the pad C-2 to G8. (MIDI note 0 - 12
7)
VOLUME Adjusts the output level of the pad.
TRIGGER PAD
Can be used to audition a loaded sample/soundfont.
OUTPUT Select from one of six stereo VST outputs or from one of two gro
ups, each group can then select one of the six VST outputs.
A note about groups: Two groups are provided for more accurate emulation of the
hihat and many other percussion instruments. When a pad is assigned to a group i
t will be cutoff or stop playing when another pad assigned to the same group is
played
Each pad may be given a title with the tape stripe at the bottom of each pad, cl
ick and type the name using your computer keyboard. The names are saved in the .
FXB/.FXP and host project files.
Global controls:
MIDI CHANNEL
OUTPUT GROUP
x stereo VST outputs.

Global setting for the MIDI recieve channel.

Used to set the two group outputs, select from one of si

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Making a drum soundfont for SoFtDrum
As mentioned above creating a drum soundfont for SoFtDrum is very simple. Most s
oundfont editors default to a root note of C3 when loading a .wav/sample, so not
hing needs to be changed. Most editors also give a note range of MIDI note 0-127
so nothing needs to be changed there either.
The only required setting you must make is if you make a velocity split sample/s
oundfont. You must than define the velocity range for each .wav/sample included.
You must also name the soundfont internally and create the soundfont instrument
and preset.
A small library of soundfont drums is distributed with SoFtDrum as an example of
how to create single drum soundfonts for SoFtDrum.
NOTE: The "SoFtDrum Library" folder must be placed in "C:\Program Files" for the
default.fxb to load the drum samples.
Soundfont range:
Root note - C3 MIDI note 60
Note range - A0 to G#5, MIDI note 33 - 92 may be left at a default 0 - 127 in th
e soundfont.

Velocity range - 0 to 127 as many velocity split samples as required, will not p
lay sample layers.
For sample layers assign two pads to the same MIDI trigger note on SoFtDrum.

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About & Credits
Known Limitations
Bugs: This plugin was made in SynthEdit but as you can see Jeff has put his all
into quality. I am limited to only repairing bugs with the structure not SE itse
lf. Should any errors occur I would, of course, try to see if fixes could be mad
e.
Credits
VST Plugin and ASIO by Steinberg Media Technologies AG
2006 Fretted Synth Audio
Graphics by Vera Kinter (ArtVera) www.artvera-music.com
Special thanks to Jeff McClintock for SynthEdit
Thanks also for custom SynthEdit modules used in this plugin to:
David Haupt for SE modules
Chris Kerry for SE modules
Thanks to asseca for the webhosting, webpages and manual design www.asseca.com
Thanks also to Simon Watson (Watto) for file hosting and support
License
The Software is provided as-is, without warranty of any kind. Fretted Synth (the
Author) disclaims all warranties relating to the Software, whether express or i
mplied, including but not limited to any implied warranties of merchantability a
nd fitness for a particular purpose, and all such warranties are expressly and s
pecifically disclaimed. The Author shall not be liable for any indirect, consequ
ential or incidental damages arising out of the use or inability to use the Soft
ware even if the Author has been advised of the possibility of such damages or c
laims. The user of the Software bears all risk as to the quality and performance
of the Software.
The Software is Copyright 2007 Fretted Synth Audio. The Software is not public do
main, and is protected by the copyright laws. You may not sell, sublicense, dist
ribute, rent, lease, modify, translate, convert to another programming language,
decompile, or disassemble the Software for any purpose.

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