ElmerJFudd Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 inMusic has announced the acquisition of BFD from London-based tech company, FXpansion. About InMusic InMusic (inMusic) is a family of 16 premier brands that includes AIR Music Technology®, Akai Professional®, Alesis®, Alto Professional®, Denon DJ®, Denon Professional®, HeadRush®, ION Audio®, MAudio ®, Marantz Professional®, MARQ Lighting®, MixMeister®, Numark®, Rane®, SONiVOX® and SoundSwitchâ¢. About FXpansion FXpansion is one of the world's leading developers of audio instruments and effects for software platforms, winning numerous awards and inspiring a devoted userbase. Its mission is to push the boundaries of audio software, introducing fresh and innovative new ideas that are musically useful. Quote Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam CA Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 Yeah, I received that news letter too. BFD 1 was my first drum library. I skipped BFD 2 and upgraded to BFD 3 later. Sadly, my drumming techniques are still as bad as day 1. With all the software piracy going on, it's interesting how small software-only pro audio companies managed to stick around this long. Quote www.youtube.com/c/InTheMixReviews Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElmerJFudd Posted April 21, 2020 Author Share Posted April 21, 2020 Yeah, I received that news letter too. BFD 1 was my first drum library. I skipped BFD 2 and upgraded to BFD 3 later. Sadly, my drumming techniques are still as bad as day 1. With all the software piracy going on, it's interesting how small software-only pro audio companies managed to stick around this long. I'm guessing since InMusic has hardware under their umbrella, the BFD acquisition gets them some added value for some of their beat making boxes - like Akai MPC and the like. Quote Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Grace Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 I too am a longtime BFD user. FXpansion was acquired by Roli back in 2016, and there has yet to be a BFD 4 release. This statement from today's FXpansion email offers a little room for optimism: "Together with inMusic, the core BFD development team will continue to develop our flagship products. They"re looking forward to this next phase and the opportunities to make BFD even better." BFD 3 is still a top-notch product, but it hasn't kept pace with Superior Drummer in recent years. I'm in no rush to jump ship, but my patience is wearing thin. I have no interest in a hardware version of BFD. If BFD doesn't make much progress before the next Toontrack sale, I may give Superior Drummer 3 a try. Best, Geoff Quote My Blue Someday appears on Apple Music | Spotify | YouTube | Amazon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Grace Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 In the meantime, what's up with Roli? They've sold off both BFD and Juce. Are they becoming an economic casualty of the pandemic? I hope they manage to stay solvent during this tough time. Best, Geoff Quote My Blue Someday appears on Apple Music | Spotify | YouTube | Amazon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 Yeah, I was about to post this news but wasn't sure it would be of interest here. Glad to see the feedback so far, and also I didn't mention the JUCE sale as I doubted this forum has interest there. I sold my BFD ecosystem last year as Superior Drummer 3 has finally MOSTLY caught up (it's artificial sounding if you re-pitch or de-resonate the drums; whereas BFD is flawless in this regard, so now I just pick a Superior kit that already has the pitch and resonance that I want), and in most aspects is now WAY ahead of BFD (usability, ease of finding stuff in a large collection, knowing what you've actually selected and having a good notion of how it will work in context, lots of articulations and intuitive mappings, great miking techniques for the libraries, etc.). Now that Drum Drops is active again with a new website, they might actually respond to a transfer request, so if anyone wants my remaining BFD libraries, which are the Drum Drops ones (excellent and unique, such as the Reggae/Dub 70's drums), send me a PM and we can see if this time they respond (they didn't last year to an earlier request; nor to anything on their KVR-hosted "support" forum). BFD did put out some better kits in the past two years, that use great miking techniques, but once Al Schmidt's Decades came out for Superior Drummer, it was game over from my point of view. I see InMusic as a place where brands and products go to die. Quote Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Hughes Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 I think it's far too soon to be able to blame any kind of thing like this on the pandemic. Deals between two companies take a long time to work out, so this stuff was most likely in the works for some time before it was announced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 This sell-off is not pandemic related; ROLI and fxpansion made it clear a while back that their main interest at this point is in synthesis and more organic human interaction with same. So they want to focus on their core business, which is where they are somewhat uniquely positioned in the industry. It's a smart business move overall. Quote Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Grace Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Thanks, Jonathan and Mark. I'm glad to hear that the pandemic isn't a factor. once Al Schmidt's Decades came out for Superior Drummer, it was game over from my point of view. This would be my first purchase after buying Superior Drummer 3. Ross Garfield's involvement doesn't hurt either. Best, Geoff Quote My Blue Someday appears on Apple Music | Spotify | YouTube | Amazon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Geoff, FWIW, I sold all but two of my SD and EZ expansions after reviewing every music project, even ones that are somewhat inactive or temporarily shelved, and concluding that only two other expansions match the miking quality and mix flexibility (and ease) of Decades while still covering different ground (some other expansions are now fairly redundant): Rock Warehouse, and Metal Machinery. And I may even end up tossing those and making Decades my "only" drum library. It has so many kits for so many purposes! I use Soniccouture's MoonKits for more ambient material where I need lightly played drums to cut through. Quote Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathanael_I Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Wow. I have a lot of gear. I don't have anything from InMusic's portfolio. Clearly not pursuing the spaces they support or markets they serve! I do remember when Roli gave me the fxexpansion synth plugins as part of my "authorized software". I never even opened them, and just deleted them after a while. I was already drowning in soft synths and more VA stuff was just a giant yawn. I'm sure that others find them very useful and rightfully so. My comment is not about the quality of their work, just that it was free, and I treated it like an unwanted "free gift". Roli's own Equator is quite nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zalman Stern Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 I see InMusic as a place where brands and products go to die. I have an Alesis Strike Multipad and the relatively new Alesis Strike Pro SE electronic drum set. I'll defend both as quite credible products vs. what Roland and others are putting out at significantly higher price points. It's sort of like Apple vs. others. With Roland, you buy what Roland wants to sell. It will be very polished in certain ways, but it will be positively backwards in others. And the product will be proscibed in a narrow fashion by a marketing plan designed to force numerous upgrades. (I was forced down the electronic drum path, but it has proven very worthwhile given shelter in place now.) In comparison, the Alesis stuff is great value and works really well, but is definitely lacking in polish and consistent quality across the entire product. Notably some samples are really good and others are... well they exist. They're gradually upping their game however and I hope the parent company laying their hands one of the best VST-ish sample libraries out there will bring big benefits. As in a really productive marriage of an electronic drum hardware vendor and a software oriented sample/synthesis company. (Pearl and Slate have sort of done this with the Mimic, but it's hard to characterize that as wide ranging and amazing. ATV was also heading in that direction, but.... that proposition hasn't really panned out. The ATV AFrame instrument is quite something however...) Maybe I'm just grasping at straws, but my hope is the far ranging effects of COVID-19 on the economy will force the tech industry to get stronger and deliver better products. BFD + Alesis/Akai is a great opportunity for some good stuff to happen. -Z- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Grace Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Geoff, FWIW, I sold all but two of my SD and EZ expansions after reviewing every music project, even ones that are somewhat inactive or temporarily shelved, and concluding that only two other expansions match the miking quality and mix flexibility (and ease) of Decades while still covering different ground (some other expansions are now fairly redundant): Rock Warehouse, and Metal Machinery. And I may even end up tossing those and making Decades my "only" drum library. It has so many kits for so many purposes! I use Soniccouture's MoonKits for more ambient material where I need lightly played drums to cut through. Thanks, Mark. That's good to know. Best, Geoff Quote My Blue Someday appears on Apple Music | Spotify | YouTube | Amazon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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