BFD Player is a free drum program for Mac and PC, and the simplest way to enjoy the power of BFD. In this article, we look at how to get started with this wonderfully detailed virtual drum instrument. 


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Registration


BFD Player is currently available to users who have purchased Alesis products that include the software. In order to obtain BFD player, first, register your product by logging into your account at www.alesis.com (If you have not already made one, please make a profile first.) 


Once logged in, click on your name in the upper right-hand corner and choose Register Product as seen below: 



Next, be sure to choose the correct product, and enter your serial exactly as it is written on your device including the (21), followed by 15 digits with no spaces. Then click Register My Product.



Once the product has been successfully registered, you will be brought to My Products. This can also be found by clicking your name in the top right-hand corner and clicking My Products.



The product that has been registered should now be displayed on the screen.


Download the Program


Next, download the program.  Currently, kits that are accompanied by BFD Player also receive a free library called Dark Mahogany. BFD Player has no audio content built-in, so it is important to download and install Dark Mahogany after you have installed BFD Player. 


These downloads will be found as they are below: 



BFD Player is a free instrument, but the content will need to be authorized using your new inMusic Profile. 


This will be covered later in the article, for now, download the correct version of BFD Player for your operating system. 


This will be downloaded to your system's Downloads folder by default. 



Once the file has been located, double-click to run it. Note: that you may be asked if you would like to allow this program to make changes to your system, click yes. Mac users may be asked to allow third-party developer access and/or enter their password depending on system settings, this is normal. 



You will be prompted to choose an installation location, it is recommended to install BFD Player directly to your computer. This will be selected by default when you run the installer. The BFD Player program is not a large file, it is the content that will require more free space, so the content is recommended to be installed on an external SSD if possible. This will be covered at a later point in the article. 



Note: Windows users should be sure to take note of the plugin path. This will be the folder scanned by your DAW when the program is used as a plugin (seen below). 



Once installation is finished, you will see this: 



Now, the BFD Player can be opened. However, there will be no content until we download and install Dark Mahogany.



Installing the Content


Next, download and install the content, Dark Mahogany. Return to your account and download the Dark Mahogany Sound Pack for your operating system. 



The content in Dark Mahogany is 12.3 Gb (compressed), so it may take some time to download. This will need to be extracted. We recommend using the built-in Windows extractor. Mac users only need to double-click the zipped folder itself.



Once it has been extracted, double-click on the installer to begin installation Note: you may be asked if you would like to allow this program to make changes to your system, click yes. Mac users may be asked to allow third-party developer access and/or enter their password depending on system settings, this is normal:



Follow the installation instructions. Data Location is where the content will live. We recommend clicking Browse... and creating a new folder on an external drive called BFD Content or something to that effect. Install the content to that folder.



The operating system may ask for permission to create a new folder to install the content. This will create a subfolder for the specific expansion being installed. Click OK.




Authorizing the Content


Once the installation is completed restart BFD Player.


In order to use the program, users need to have an inMusic profile. Navigate to www.bfddrums.com to make an inMusic profile if you don't already have one. BFD Player will require you to sign in when you start the program. So the preceding step is necessary. 




If you already have an inMusic Profile simply click on log in to Profile and follow the prompts. 

 



Once logged in, return to  www.alesis.com and retrieve the BFD Dark Mahogany Sound Pack Authorization Code:


Copy the authorization code to a clipboard and return to BFD Player:



To authorize Dark Mahogany, click the arrow next to Preset and choose Register Serial.


 

Paste the Authorization code into the fields seen below and click Register



Next, a confirmation will appear showing that the Sound Pack or Expansion has been authorized.


There should not be a new entry found under Presets, click the down arrow to explore the presets. 



Double-click on a preset to load it: