Do you guys trigger your drumset or the kicks? How is it compared to regular pads? What triggering equipment do you use?








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I went to see many other bands play metal with a bunch of cool double bass work only to hear almost none of it because it wasn't triggered. So, I decided to trigger my bassdrum at shows with a cheap $20 pintech trigger. The module I use is a Yamaha DTX V.2 from about 1996 that I am borrowing from a friend. I have aspirations to get a Alesis DM5 when I am not so freaking poor. I've had it on for about 6 months and there haven't been any problems.

Its about 3 inches in from the shell on the far right corner of the drum. I messed around with other triggers for a couple of years with lots of problems of double triggering and missed beats, but this one's been good to me.

Compared to regular pads...I love playing my BD instead of a mesh or rubber pad. Mesh pads bounce way too much for me and I accidentally get ghostbeats once in a while. The rubber pads are better but its hard to get constant volume out of them with two beaters on it.

I trigger my snare and bass with ROland acoustic triggers. Have been able to tweak in some very dependable settings, and they seem to perform quite smoothly. Just got one of the new generation ROland triggers, trying it on a tom; I'd like to trigger everything eventually, as I had been gigging with all E-toms lately. I'm sending it to a Roland TD20 module.

Have previously triggered all my cymbals too, using Hart, Roland, and Smartrigger E-cymbals. These went to a Roland Tmc6 which triggered acoustic cymbal samples from an EMU E5000. This setup worked pretty reliably also. And it let me trigger non-percussion sounds too, like bass guitar notes, etc...

I'm hoping to go all acoustic for our next tour, but want to have triggers on everything too. We'll see how it goes.








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analog missionary
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what is triggering?








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whee, my socks are older than you!

It means attaching an electronic pickup to your acoustic drum, which is connected to a module that can produce whatever sounds you program for it. There are many ways of doing this

electronic pads- 'trigger' or piezo element/pickup is already built in to a pad.

'acoustic triggers'- small transducer/pickup that attaches to an acoustic drum and sends its signal to a module, software or drum machine.

roland trigger page, for examples








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analog missionary
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I have been known to trigger my entire kit except for my Snare. We played alot of small clubs that just didnt have the mics or board for my kit.

I use Axis Ekits on my bass drum pedals. DDrum Redshots on the toms with a DM5 in the commander seat.








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Aeternal wrote:

I use Axis Ekits on my bass drum pedals.

Are they better than normal triggers?








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Tama drums!

looks quite fugitive...


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Carter wrote:

Aeternal wrote:

I use Axis Ekits on my bass drum pedals.

Are they better than normal triggers?

yes..very much better.

I dont have to muffle my kick...dont worry about my head tension and my Ekits never double trigger








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Aeternal wrote:

yes..very much better.

I dont have to muffle my kick...dont worry about my head tension and my Ekits never double trigger

Sounds really cool. How much are they?








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Tama drums!

Carter wrote:

Aeternal wrote:

yes..very much better.

I dont have to muffle my kick...dont worry about my head tension and my Ekits never double trigger

Sounds really cool. How much are they?

usually the same price as normal DDrum Kick triggers, but they mount on an Axis pedal. I am currently making an adapter so I can use them on my Pearl Elims and my Axis








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I'm new to triggering (I actually know nothing about them except what I've read in this thread). Do they work like mics, except you can program them to sound like something other than your drum? Can you just make them sound like the drum, or do you have to find a preset on whatever module you're using? Do you run them through a PA for a show, or does the module act like a speaker in itself (I'm assuming you'd need a speaker to get out whatever sound the trigger is picking up)?








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Fo' sho' son!

It's all about the module. All tones come from the module. You can tweak many parameters of whatever 'sounds' already loaded into the module. IF you use a sampler, then you can make your own sounds.

Triggers are like electric guitar pickups. If the pickups aren't plugged into something, you don't hear any signal.

The module is going to need to send its audio signal to an amp, PA, headphones, whatever- in order for you to be able to hear it.

MULTIPADs consist of several triggers mounted together on some sort of playing surface. Some of these have 'modules' built in and all you have to do is plug the unit into an amp or PA to hear it. Examples would be the higher end DrumKats or Roland's Handsonic or SPDs unit...








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analog missionary
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So, would I be able to just plug it into a guitar amp? I've looked at some, and they all use quarter-inch cables, so it should work. I had some ideas with this one weird amp that I have . . . do rolls on the snare and make them sound really weird . . .

Also, how would a trigger work with a cymbal? Like if I had the top of the stand sticking up really high, would I be able to attach a trigger to that? I know that's not how they're normally used, but know I could find a way to attach it - I'm resourceful. Haha. I just don't know exactly how they work, so I didn't know if they'd even pick up the cymbal sounds, or if they'd bounce off the cymbal a lot and cause some other problems. Do they work like mics? Or is it something else? Just curious. Still new to triggers, so my mind's going crazy with random ideas.








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Fo' sho' son!

I'm oldschool. For what I do, triggers are completely superfluous.
~B








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ok..im totally stupid. but what do you mean by the term "trigger"

your not dumb or stupid quite alot of drummers dont know what they are.( i only found out last year) a trigger is simply a signal! you would attach a trigger reciever to the skin of your drums and once you hit the drum the trigger picks up the signal and it travels to a module with soundfiles on it, this is then attach to the PA. fun thing to do is record your own sounds and use them on the drums!! hehe. good luck.








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I Trigger my how Rocket shells kit and i use pads,right now im running 1 Alesis DM5 1 Alesis midiverb4 and a yamaha dtx 3 powered by 2 nady power suplys rack mounts everythings all rack mounted followed by buttkicker system.and 3 pads, i play alot of Industrial progressive metal and i use everthing i have i wouldnt have it any other way so much cool shit you can do with drum brains and prossesers you just got to use it to your needs,i can get a "john bonham" kit without even trying and all the dimensions on the kit is totally diffrent








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http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Alesis-SR16-Stereo-Drum-Machine?sku=705531

So if i wanted to use that drum machine to trigger my bass, could I?

Okay, I've got to chime in on this one, I recently purchased an Alesis DM5 and some pintech trigers along with some HQ trigger guards. I am hoping that I can "supplement" my live sound.
I have a Tama Starclassic and love the sound, but want to getter some bigger sounds out of it. I'm just putting it together so I am unsure if I will continue to mic my drums or just use the triggers.

To those of those that use triggers on an acoustic drum, my question is do you still mic your drum to get the natural sound out of it and then layer in triggered sound or do you just go with the triggered sound through the PA?








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"I'll live while I'm alive and sleep when I'm dead"

I have just recently triggerd my kick drums and now you can hear each hit. Though speeds above 200 bpm is usually when there best used for. 240 bpm, the kick drums without triggers just sound messy and like a constant noise. SO triggersm well you can imagine the type of lushness you will hear.


I only use the triggers, I don't layer the acoustic sound over it. But this is only kick drums, you shouldn't spend more ontriggering everything..... why would you have a top of teh range kit if u don't use the sound from it lol.....


If you have a very loose kick drum head... where it practically sounds like a slowmotion duck then double triggering and all that shit can happen.. I've got mine about the same tention as my e kit so i don't get this problem...








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Pure Deaththrash

i love my triggers.....i have ddrum triggers and alexis dm5 module....i only trigger my bass drum.....its nice being able to get the perfect sound from your bass drum...especially using the heel-toe method...picks up everything

I trigger all of my toms and my snare, with Roland triggers and sound module, but I mic my bass drum with either a Shure Beta 52 in the hole, and a boundary mic on the pillow inside, or a Yamaha Subkick outside, and a Shure SM 57 in the hole, aimed at the beater impact point. If I want any funky effects, or to just tweak the sound, I'll just run it through an effects processor and my own board before it goes to the main mixer. I, too got tired of double triggering and missed beats, some of which I didn't notice until the playback. Hope this helps.

Well im have drilled my kit to use the May Microphone System, which is a mic inside of every tom. There is just a XLR plug on the outside of the drum. DW has them on there web site.
But from there i go to a splitter box that turns mic cable comeing out of my drum into an XLR and a 1/4 jack. That 1/4" jack goes to my sound module, the XLR goes to the main board along with the output from my sound module. But I only use this set up for the larger venues we play and in the recording studio from time to time. It has really worked well and depending on what sound source im using I just have to make sure to eliminate any cross talk and false triggering. But man it really, really sounds good comeing out of the mains, huge and fat and it saves me a ton of time.

My biggest problem with triggers has always been keeping them stuck on the head
The adhesive never seems to stick
Then I started to experiment with silicone gel
First, it is cheap ($3 a tube)
Second, it is very maleable, you can sculpt it and even go as far as to completely bury the trigger in gel
This isolates the trigger from extraneous vibrations and lets it concentrate on the direct contact with the head
Third, it is very easy to remove once it has dried
You can just peel it off like a big clear rubbery booger

First, apply a dot to the trigger and move it around the spot a bit to evenly spread a thin layer of gel to the area of contact
Then apply a bead around the outer edge of the trigger
Let that dry for a bit and then decide for yourself if you wanna leave it like that or glop a bunch on it and completely encase it
You can do this over and over until you find that "sweet spot" because it peels right off and is cheap as hell

Not only that, but I have applied the same principal to a practice pad kit with the same results
A $1000 for an electronic kit?
WHY?
Make it yourself








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You say irritant, I say catalyst

Recommendations for triggering my snare with a roland SPDS???

I've been told the pintech inexpensive one is a great trigger when you mount it on the outside of the shell or the top head, not sure if i was told correctly or if i'm better off using either a ddrum trigger on the rim or a roland. Its for the akira jimbo sig snare with wood hoops in case that might complicate rim mounting.

Ideas?

I use an SPDS and use both extension triggers for sampling
The fact that you can place the triggers in a different part of the drumkit helps me to separate parts in my head
Plus, the SPDS tends to be a bit confusing because the pads are all together
Just make sure that you designate what kind of trigger you are using when selecting trigger assignments
Some triggers are different and require a different assignment
Please feel free to contact me with any more specific questions








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You say irritant, I say catalyst

i use a roland rt-10k trigger on my kick and the roland td-3 module
it took me a little time calibrating and messing with the sensitivity on my module but after that it plays great

Ok here's the clincher, anyone know of a good dependable trigger to use with vintage hooped snare drums? The ddrum's won't fit it, doesn't look like the roland will either, and the pintech isn't as consistent as i'd like.

Ideas?

I was in a country band that played lots of small rooms. We put triggers on my acoustic drum heads, and filled the shells with foam, like from a couch, leaving about 2" of air between the foam and the head. That gave me a real feel and a whisper quiet drumkit.
we could hear peoples conversations from the dance floor! I can't remember what system was used, but I had 5 different drumkit sounds I used. The pads that came with the system were just too hard. Electronic drumming is hard on the wrist.








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Quote:

Ok here's the clincher, anyone know of a good dependable trigger to use with vintage hooped snare drums? The ddrum's won't fit it, doesn't look like the roland will either, and the pintech isn't as consistent as i'd like.

Ideas?

Johnfixious- Not sure what you mean by Vintage. You have a pic of your hoop? They DDrum red shots work with my 60's equipment.








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HEVY KEVY wrote:

I was in a country band that played lots of small rooms. We put triggers on my acoustic drum heads, and filled the shells with foam, like from a couch, leaving about 2" of air between the foam and the head. That gave me a real feel and a whisper quiet drumkit.
we could hear peoples conversations from the dance floor! I can't remember what system was used, but I had 5 different drumkit sounds I used. The pads that came with the system were just too hard. Electronic drumming is hard on the wrist.

I bet soundmen are lining up to give you a big wet kiss
They all want to kick my ass








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You say irritant, I say catalyst

HEVY KEVY wrote:

The pads that came with the system were just too hard. Electronic drumming is hard on the wrist.

that's where mesh heads excel. I think they're even better on the wrists than standard drumheads.








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analog missionary
M=yspace

there's nothing better than blending the triggered sound and a good kick mic like an audix d6 for metal i reckon. I use the trigger to get the attack and presence, and the mic for the bottom end and a bit of warmth.








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Abuses Meinl cymbals, Pearl drums, DW Pedals, Roland and Pintech Electronics and Vic Firth.

triggering is cheating








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word

can you trigger practice pads?








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After I funked my drumset at 11 o'clock, i rocked it all night long, and then we swung til the early morning, where I jazzed all over it. The next day my drumset and i did a little reggae, then shuffled, made a little salsa, and then waltzed.

druming=life wrote:

can you trigger practice pads?

yea man, of course, there was a guy early on the forum who said he used a practice pad kit to make an electronic set. all your triggers are doing is picking up the vibrations, so there is no reason why you couldn't trigger a practice pad... hell that's all an electronic pad is.

i've been looking into triggering my kit for quite some time (now it's just a matter of gathering funds) Honestly, i just want to sample my kick into a module so that all my bass drums hits are full and powerful and don't get covered up by resonance (for my double kick work that is) I never liked the fuzziness that came from my kick with whatever mics these asshole soundguys are using down here (i guess this town just wasn't meant for metal!) I NEED A KICK LIKE A FRIGGIN TANK!!!!








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<br>

truthkidkyle wrote:

triggering is cheating

why do you feel that way?








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analog missionary
M=yspace

m wrote:

truthkidkyle wrote:

triggering is cheating

why do you feel that way?

I agree with him in a way, triggering to get a constant volume (e.g. Death metal drummers triggering their kicks), I would consider cheating to a degree.... Although using triggers to create new sounds wouldn't be cheating in my eyes.








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Pearl snare

The Alien Drummer wrote:

Quote:

Ok here's the clincher, anyone know of a good dependable trigger to use with vintage hooped snare drums? The ddrum's won't fit it, doesn't look like the roland will either, and the pintech isn't as consistent as i'd like.

Ideas?

Johnfixious- Not sure what you mean by Vintage. You have a pic of your hoop? They DDrum red shots work with my 60's equipment.

Sorry it took me a sec to see your response, I'm referring to the Yamaha Wood Hoops for snares, They simply call they "vintage hoops"
They're actually 19ply maple hoops that are much thicker

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.drumcentral.com/images_yam_snare_drums/yam_wsd13aj.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.drumcentral.com/snaredrumpics90.htm&h=451&w=650&sz=61&hl=en&sig2=x4pFFng7i5xm1nr8ULBdXA&start=2&um=1&tbnid=9BNWfg-qXnbwsM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=137&ei=oRsTRvrGF5uwhATbyPm4CA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dakira%2Bjimbo%2Bsignature%2Bsnare%2Bdrum%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN



sorry for the long link, but thats it, also available on the anton fig signature yamaha snare drum.

Normal triggers just won't fit it quite well enough, i've tried ddrum's, rolands, and pintech triggers, none worked like i need them too, the pintech was inconsistent, and the ddrum and roland don't make models to fit such wide hoops.

Sounds like you've tried most of the options out there. Also sounds like you know what you're doing. I would just continue to mess with the threshold and sensitivity settings and try to make a pintech type trigger work.








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Starclassic Birch -- Mapex Pro- M Rock -- Ludwig Rocker -- Roland SPD-S -- Pearl ICON Rack -- Zildjian, Sabian, Paiste, Saluda & Wuhon Cymbals -- Yamaha PTX8

druming=life wrote:

can you trigger practice pads?

Yes
I just use silicone gel to stick the trigger to the pad
Don't use too much in between the trigger and the pad
Just enough to make it stick
Then use the gel on the outsideedges to add to the amount that is holdting it to the pad
The great thing is that you can experiment over and over because silicone gel peels off very easily when it is dry








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You say irritant, I say catalyst

The Alien Drummer wrote:

Sounds like you've tried most of the options out there. Also sounds like you know what you're doing. I would just continue to mess with the threshold and sensitivity settings and try to make a pintech type trigger work.

Yeah i've probably made every mistake you can possibly have made in drumming so i've learned a good bit, and i've got some good resources for help too.

From what i can figure, until I can actually design one myself and pitch it to a company I may have to continue doing what you were saying, messing with the sensitivity and such.

But here's a little gem i picked up, for those of you drummers out there that trigger your actual drum heads with those adhesive triggers like the pintech or yamaha's,
Try picking up a set of Promark's "Drum Gum"
It's great for use as muffling because you can use it on the under side of the head, but what i did with my pintech trigger is I stuck the adhesive to the top of a shortened piece of that drum gum, that way it's easy to get it on and off when you change out heads, plus you get a little added dampening, so that when your beefing up your snare or whatever drum, say in a small setting, it will give a better mix of the sound of your original snare and your snare sound because its not so overbearing.

well after reading this i want to go get some triggers! i do alot of single pedal bass flourishes and rolls, so it might be a good option. i would proably trigger my 8"x7" (first) tom, and my 14"x14" (last) floor tom, and my kick.... 2 questions:::::


1-- My bassdrum sounds like a cannon. if i trigger, do i have to use the module's bass drum samples, or can i keep my bass drum's sound and just enhance the sensitivity/threshhold so its more pronouced?

2-- triggers are around $20? i thing i might get dome ddrum triggers.... but how much are the modules? my church uses a roland TD-6 kit that is crap, but being poor, i could see if theyll let me use that when we get the new kit (a roland TD-20S). if that doesnt work out, how much are the modules?








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I don'T trigger my drum but I have the intention to do it with alesis Trigger iO www.alesis.com

The Wes wrote:

1-- My bassdrum sounds like a cannon. if i trigger, do i have to use the module's bass drum samples, or can i keep my bass drum's sound and just enhance the sensitivity/threshhold so its more pronouced?
2-- triggers are around $20? i thing i might get dome ddrum triggers.... but how much are the modules? my church uses a roland TD-6 kit that is crap, but being poor, i could see if theyll let me use that when we get the new kit (a roland TD-20S). if that doesnt work out, how much are the modules?

I've been learning a great deal about the use of hybrid kits and you are right on for assuming u can beef up the sound of your natural kick by triggering it. Very few drummers use a trigger alone in lieu of a Mic. I have one of the DDrum triggers and its great, very durable and responsive, sturdy mounting too.

Also you might want to research the new roland triggers endorsed by travis barker and thomas lang. I'm blanking on the model, RT somethings?

Depends on your budget and needs.

Modules are pricey, but make sure you only want to trigger before getting one. I wanted the best of both worlds, triggering and sampling, which the Roland SPDS is keen on. However without the use of an added midi triggering device it only supports the use of 2 triggers on top of the nine sample pads built into the thing.

Any specific drum questions are welcome seeing as I work at one of the world's premier 5 star drum shops.

info@memphisdrumshop.com

www.memphisdrumshop.com
www.mycymbal.com

OK ive read threads till my eyeballs pop out you guys know alot im sure but you all say so can dial uip nice sounds you can stop cross triggering you can get the sensativity right but no one says how lol.. ok im a complete noob i know i have a td20 brain and a mix of roland the old rts for my toms and aDdrum duel for my snare all for my pearl custom masters but the cross talk omg we ended up gating each drum to cut cross triggering also i luve my accoubstic sound but ill be dammed if i can make the td20 sound even close to it so my onstage sound is not blending that well with FOH....yes ive been back to the peeps that sold me the brain and they know less than i do ( which is nothing) so is there a help guild or somthing for complete noobs anywhere? or at this piont im sooo desperate that if one of you guys with the knowledge wanted to make a few dollars im happy to pay for some time even if its over the phone...so in s