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How To: Setting up the Behringer BCF2000 for Logic Express 7.2

I just got both the Behringer BCF2000 and Logic Express 7.2. This is, after a fair bit of consideration and contemplation, what I consider to be the first step up from GarageBand and: a Powerwave (for people who don’t have bands with drums) or a Firepod (for people who do have bands with drums).

Behringer makes decent gear at a great price. They save their money on documentation. You might as well put their manuals in the WC for better use. Which brings us to the How-To.
How to set up the BCF2000 to work well with Logic Express 7.2
Goal:

Make the BCF2000 do it’s best to emulate the Logic Control MIDI controller to the best of the BCF2000’s ability and as quickly as possible.

Before you proceed: This article is not for you if you have rotary knob BCR2000, but here’s a link

Got a BCR2000 (the one with knobs instead of faders)? Check out this link and maybe it will help you. I don’t have a BCR2000 so best to just comment over at the link for best results.

The system used to make this BCF2000/Logic Express How-To

  • Computer: G4 867mhz Powerbook (presumably “or better” but this is the machine I used).
  • OS: Mac OSX AKA Mac 10.4 AKA Tiger
  • Controller: BCF2000 running firmware 1.10 or better (this is what shipped with mine, ordered only a few days before this posting).
  • Software: Logic Express 7.2.0 (presumably “or better” I didn’t bother with software update so maybe there’s more fun to be had).

Other software/hardware configurations are at your own risk. Always backup. Give my lawyer a donut. Etc. etc.

The Meat: Set up the Behringer BCF2000 to emulate the Logic Control surface in Logic Express 7.2

The following steps are made as stupid-simple as possible. I will improve the list to include any information gleaned from comments so that this list will always be as bullet-proof as I can make it. If you are insulted by how stupid-simple I make the instructions: please keep in mind that I only write in English while for some readers English is not their native language. Please help me make these How-To articles even simpler and stupider (if you speak a non-English language check the article in a machine translator and report back, even). Then we can all get on with the business of making fun:

Set your Behringer BCF2000 to Logic Control Emulation mode

  1. Assure normal operations of your computer (switched on, all firewire and usb ports work etc).
  2. Plug in your Behringer BCF2000. Do not power it up.
  3. On the Behringer BCF2000 there is a row of knobs on the top, immediately below this row of knobs are two rows of buttons. In the top row (closest to the knobs) press and hold the third-from-the-left button.
  4. While continuing to hold the third-from-the-left button (just below the row of knobs), press the power-on button on the back of the Behringer BCF2000
  5. As the Behringer BCF2000 boots up you should see “LC” in the LED panel. This stands for “Logic Control” and is a good sign. Your faders might move around a bit because they have that flying fader motorized control thing going. Don’t sweat. You’re halfway there.

Set up Audio/MIDI so you have the right ports to connect your Behringer BCF2000 to Logic Express 7.2

  1. Now it’s time to check cabling. Make sure your Behringer BCF2000 is plugged into a USB port on your Macintosh.
  2. All set? Great! Open the Audio/Midi Application and select the bar that says “Midi Devices”
  3. Your Behringer BCF2000 should be showing up, give it a name: BCF2000, give it a manufacturer: Behringer, give it a device: BCF2000
  4. Set the MIDI in and out to port 1
  5. You’re set with Audio/Midi, get some coffee, tea, beer, water. etc.

Set up Logic Express 7.2 to use your Behringer BCF2000 as if it were a Logic Control

  1. Fire up Logic Express 7.2 (if this is the first time you launch Logic Express just follow through and hopefully everything will work, if not, no worries, just continue on to the next step).
  2. Go to the File>Preferences>Control Surfaces>Setup
  3. From that bity-tiny menu choose New>Install
  4. Choose “Scan”
  5. Your “Logic Control” should be visible in that window.
  6. You’ve set it all up. Rock on!

But wait, the Behringer BCF2000 is not really a Logic Control by a mile, what do the buttons and knobs do?

  1. Download this document: Behringer BCF2000 Emulation Modes
  2. Skip the standard foul and crummy documentation provided by Behringer, just go to Page 4. There you will see how to re-map the “Logic Control” surface parameters to the Behringer BCF2000. Please note the shift keys especially.

En Summa

The Behringer BCF2000 is not a Logic Control. You have to jump through some hoops to make it work, it won’t emulate all the features. But it will get you a good way there at way below the price. The documentation of the Behringer BCF2000 is crap. But if you follow the above How-To then you will at least get set up and going.

Someday you will want to get a real Logic Control. At which point eBay is there to take your Behringer BCF2000 from you (feel free to reference this How-To when you sell). Meanwhile you can make some great mixes.

Good luck and please comment with any mistakes/upgrades in my documentation above. I will keep it as up-to-date as I can so long as I own my Behringer BCF2000.

I made this How-To fairly quickly, would it help if I include Screenshots and photographs?

Further Links related to Logic Express and the Behringer BCF2000 Control Surface

Google search for “Buy BCF2000”

6 page review of the Behringer BCF2000 fom Sonic State

The surface that you wish you were really buying.

Related Wikipedia articles

Wikipedia article on Logic Express

Wikipedia article on the Behringer BCF2000

Please let me know of other pages that review this gear and I will link them so others can make an informed decsion.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 16th, 2007 at 11:36 am and is filed under Behringer BCF2000, Hardware, How To, Logic Express, Music, Software. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

12 Responses to “How To: Setting up the Behringer BCF2000 for Logic Express 7.2”

  1. Baroni Says:
    July 8th, 2007 at 12:18 pm

    thanks a lot for this tutorial. works perfect!

  2. Gahlord Says:
    July 24th, 2007 at 11:56 am

    Glad you liked it. It was fun to do and I hope to do more as I learn about it.

  3. Evan Says:
    October 20th, 2007 at 4:46 am

    Hi. Finding this is an indication of how frustrating it is to set up the BCF. I bought one last year to use with Final Cut. It did a little jerk or two and that’s about as far as I got in linking it. Ok, I’m talking about FCP instead of Logic, but the frustration level is the same I’m sure. I spent days playing around and finally gave up. Now having read your simple steps, and the fact that I just upgraded to FCP studio 2, gives me renewed energy to try again. So now to the point, have you bumped into anyone who has any insights into FCP on the BCF? I’m not at my fcp system right now so this might be a bit premature. The most trouble I’ve had is in the mapping, so hard to figure out how to do it. What are the magic codes for different fcp functions, etc. Anyway thanks for the post.

  4. Gahlord Says:
    October 20th, 2007 at 8:40 pm

    Hey Evan,

    I use a bit of FCP too. How do you want to use the BCF with Final Cut? Maybe we can work together and make a sweet tutorial on this?

    There’s all kinds of magic codes. The first step is to figure out what you want the thing to do for you, what hardware knobs do you wish you had at hand. Then figure it out how to make the hardware do your bidding. Post back and I’d be glad to help work out a tutorial for FCP as well (because it will help me in my animation editing too!)

  5. Evan Says:
    October 21st, 2007 at 9:01 am

    You do animation? That’s what I do! That and visual fx. Not sure I have the time to work this out with you. Not that I don’t want to, it’s just that that’s why I was looking for a tutorial in the first place. I just don’t have time to wonk around with it too much. But I’d certainly be willing to be the guinea pig if that would help.
    To answer your question, as a minimum I want to use the sliders for the sound mix. If I remember correctly I think I kinda sorta got that working. Not sure. Then for the knobs I was hoping to experiment a bit to see how I could make them useful. I have a bella editing keyboard and so most shortcuts are already there. To be honest a lot of the excitement in using the BCF is more of a geeky cool thing that I would hope would work into an efficiency thing once I got to know the ins and outs.

  6. Roman Says:
    October 23rd, 2007 at 10:54 am

    Hi Evan and Gahlord,

    I am really glad I found your messages on the web… I just bought a bcf2000 for use with FCP, and am totally stuck with getting it to work! I would VERY MUCH appreciate kind of a tutorial for setting up the bcf2000 with FCP! Any chance you will be able to do this in the near future?

    Thanks for your help!

  7. Jason Bussell Says:
    December 6th, 2007 at 5:20 pm

    Have you any experience with logic studio? I set my BCF 2000 up as a LC controller (hitting the “par” button while powering up,) but when I scan for devices, logic does not find the bcf2000. It has presets for roland, yamaha, and mackie models, but does not recognize the bcf. It works somewhat. The faders fly to reflect the automation in logic, but moving the faders does not alter the automation. I can turn down the volume, but at the next node, the fader will jump back up to its original position. It reads automation but does not write it, even in touch or latch mode. I can’t believe that logic 7 would recognize the bcf but not logic 8. Do you think I’m missing something?

  8. Gahlord Says:
    December 9th, 2007 at 8:28 pm

    Hey friends,

    Sorry that I haven’t had time to work the BCF in FCP or Logic Pro.

    Jason:
    I don’t have a copy of Logic Pro so, Jason I don’t think I can help you much right now. But Maybe I’ll work up some haptics stuff in the future. I had a similar problem when I was first testing the BCF2000 with Logic Express. I bet with some restart and all that you’ll be fine. Please let me know if not. I would like to upgrade to the next version of Logic (and cross-upgrade to Logic Pro 8) so when I get the cash I’ll do a revamp of the tutorial and let you know. But meanwhile, I’m sure it’s possible.

    FCP users:
    I’ll give that a try when I get to work on my upcoming animation project. If you all let me know what you’d like to map the machine to, then I’ll be able to make a better BCF-as-FCP controller article. Otherwise I’ll just write what I want to.

  9. bart Says:
    February 6th, 2008 at 2:28 pm

    Hi,

    nice tutorial, but maybe I’m too stupid to understand it. It doesn’t work for me. First of all. When I press button nr 3 on the first row and push the ON button … nothing happens. No LC mode, only P- 1. That’s it. Maybe that has something to do with my firmware, but I can’t seem to find out which version I have. I downloaded and opened every support download on their website but most of them are XP only and the edit doesn’t seem to have a firmware upgrade function. So upgrading to a possible higher firmware is a task too difficult for me. Can’t seem to find any support for mac on their website.
    But the BCF is recognized by my computer in the audio/midi application so there is a connection with my Mac. (A MacPro with 5Gb Ram, so that couldn’t be the problem.)
    Okay, let’s try the >controller surfaces>setup. I can’t seem to find a Behringer controller in there. OK that’s possible. So it uses the “motormix” instead. But nothing happens when I try to map it. Let’s try the Mackie Logic Controller then? No, also dead german crap on my table, but no working Behringer.
    I know I am doing something wrong here, because it seems to work on your Macs, but what? Maybe you can help me? Can you find the flaws in my trial and error process?
    I am a producer in a studio for quite some time now, but this is the first time I try to use a controller surface.
    Doesn’t it work with Logic Pro (8) on a mac? Based on their website it should work with mac. Is it the upgrade to OSX10.5 leopard? Is that the problem? What am I missing here?
    Thanx for any help you can provide.

  10. Gahlord Says:
    February 14th, 2008 at 4:33 pm

    Hi Bart,

    Sorry I haven’t tried this process out on 10.5 yet (no intel boxes in my studio yet, sadly). But I will revisit my process again just to be sure I have it perfect correct. There may be differences in our versions of Logic as well (I am using Express) but I doubt that’s it.

    I’ll try and get some pictures as well. I know I had the exact problem you are describing when I first started (which is what inspired me to write this post in the first place).

    Thanks for stopping by.

  11. ???? ?????????????? Says:
    June 21st, 2008 at 11:52 am

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  12. Andreas Says:
    July 3rd, 2008 at 9:13 am

    Thanks for your tutorial !
    I am currently working in Logic Pro 8 and recently got a Behringer BCR 2000, could you please send me the link for the appropriate tutorial, I know you mention you’re providing a link for it, but I just can’t see it anywhere !!!
    Cheers

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