Triggering an acoustic kit

[Marsman365]

I was hoping to bring this up at drum night, but I'm not going to be able to make it.

I've been thinking about triggering my kit and was wondering if anyone had any experiences to share. Good, bad, whatever. I was considering either an Alesis DM5 or DM Pro as the source. I was undecided on the actual triggers and was hoping for some advice.

Please share your thoughts...

[redawg]

I've been using triggers on my acoustic drums for a few months. The cheap ddrum triggers are fine as far as the toms and snare are concerned. I've been having problems with my kick trigger. I'm actually ready to smash the damn thing. After I FINALLY got it tweaked, the solder connection broke. I fixed it right before my most recent show and I had to play my last song of the night without it. I'm planning on trying to put thicker wires on it to see if that helps. If that does not help, I'm gonna buy one of the more expensive ddrum triggers for it or one of the new Roland triggers. The sound is AWSOME. I have two speakers on each side of me pointed at me. I have a 1000 watts driving them. Every time I hit my kick drum, my teeth rattle. I hate playing without it now. One thing you have to remember is, if you are gonna trigger your toms, the triggered sounds have to be exactly in tune with the acoustic drums or you're gonna hear some funky sounds (like 2 guitar strings out of tune). I use a TD-8 V-drum brain. The problem with tom triggers is that you beat the hell out of your toms and knock them out of tune with the triggered sounds. You just ate up your break time by having to retune your triggered sounds to match the actual drum sounds. If each individual drum is out of tune with itself, the triggered sound won't match it and you are screwed anyway. You have to know how to tune drums really well to use triggers. Would you believe I still use them? The sound is worth it to me. I only trigger my snare for two songs. Pour some sugar on me by Def Lepard and the song Kiss by Prince. Good Luck.


http://www.drumweb.com/profsound.shtml

[redawg]

Sorry to double post. That addy I posted on my last post is the Drum Tuning Bible.

[str8h8]

Back when the DM5 was brand new I dabbled with triggering my acoustic kit for a while. As you heard from red's earlier post, it is A LOT of work to get and maintain the results that you want. I used to use the Yamaha DT-10 triggers and I liked them, but I had the same issue wih solder connections becoming loose or disconnected. I also used Simmons Hexabug tiggers, cheaper in cost, also more difficult to get the sensitivity adjusted.

The thing I liked most about triggering was the ability to get a FAT kick sound and just being able to change my kick sound, so after a year or so of messing around with the triggering I built my own kick pedal with a Simmons trigger stick attached and an inverted wood beater and if I want a different kick sound I just use that pedal.

I am not sure what you're trying to accomplish through triggering, but that was my experience.

[vlus]

Hello. I am also considering trying triggers on my kit. I'm thinking it will be easier to set up and maintain rather than all those open mics, noise gates, EQ's etc. I previously ran 3 separate EQs for snare, kick, and toms. Everything gated and to a pre-mixer, then to main board.

Since I don't know anything about triggers yet, I am assuming I will no longer need to EQ or gate everything because I would be dealing with a digital sound, right?

Also, I understand there is a controller that all these triggers plug into. Does that stay up at the kit or down at the main board? Is there just a single cable that runs from the controller to the board?

Also, I saw someone mention they trigger on and off for certain songs... I was wondering about that... how is that achieved? By the drummer or sound man? Also, can I assume that means they have their snare mic'd as well?

Also, can I set different samples for the same trigger and just switch them as needed per the song? Say, for example.... my regular snare sound, a fat long sustain snare, and a marching tight snare.

I saw tuning mentioned, however, I am confused... since the stage sound is much lower than the front sound, how would the acoustic drums ever be heard over the sampled sound of the triggers.

I see a lot about solder connections failing... is that because the ddrum triggers are inherently bad, or is it because they are the cheaper ones without the protective cover getting hit with sticks?

Guess thats it thanks in advance for any light shed!!!!

PS... anyone in NEPA (Hazleton, Bloomsburg, Wilks-Barre Area) have a kit set up with triggers that wouldn't mind a visit, email me!

Thanks!
Vic
http://www.heavensonfire.com

[redawg]

Vic, sorry it took so long for me to respond. My set up is on your new topic post. If you muffle your toms, you don't have to worry if the triggered sounds match the acoustic sounds. If you don't want to muffle your toms and not mic them I don't know if it matters or not. I get my unmuffeled toms mic'd so I have to match the two sounds.

[redawg]

I bumped this one up for you too rreihart.