[chavhunter]

This may well be a personal thing, but I want to get some more opinions from people who know what's what in the world of METAL. I absolutely hate people using drum triggers, I think its basically cheating, and they often sound completely artificial. There we go, I said it.

I totally understand why people use them for high speed double bass, but I think being able to hit consistently with full power at speed is just part of being a good drummer. Im not saying I can do it, but there are guys I know of who dont use triggers, so its evidently possible. I see it as: dont put something on the album if you cant deliver it live. This goes for doing double bass blast beats then having to fall back on triggers live, as much as it goes for dragonforce and their shred-tastic live failings. Am I on my own on this, or does anyone else dislike triggers?

[JJ Rodriguez]

i dislike triggers for everything but bass and snare. For bass, it IS possible to play high speed without them, but it's a lot easier to get note separation with triggers. Snare is okay, it doesn't sound TOO bad, but toms/cymbals sound like ass triggered. I say cymbals triggered but I mean electronic cymbals. This is from someone who owns/plays electronic drums too. As for the "cheating" thing, sure, there are some guys out there who use triggers to feather hits at a billion bpm, then there are guys who use it for convenience in micing their drums. Instead of fucking with mics, and getting 2 bass drums to sound the same, and muffling the head, you just run a cord to the mixing board, and boom, you've got your bass drum sound.

[7 Dying Trees]

Actually, triggers are good. There's a lot of weird techniques and jazzy things when done at speed that you just can't pick up, and just won't punch through, and for those sounds when it dips, you need triggers.

However, snare+kick only really, nothing else, AND you should always have the natural sound mixed with the trigger sound, so when it does go quieter (at speed) the trigger is more dominant, but when hitting like a mofo the natural sound is more dominant.

Also, triggering isn't cheating, you still have to hit it at the right time, otherwise it'll be out, there's no correction, and it is still played. But for some things, you just need triggers if you are playing extreme fast stuff.

But you need that blend to be right, fully triggered kits are just a bit, well, meh sounding.

[halsinden]

to be honest i've found that badly played / poorly chosen triggers (ie. most mayhem live work, i'm sorry to say) can make a band sound awful, not just the use of triggers themselves.

people like nick barker should be canonised for what he's done for that sort of sound.

as james says, it's really down to whether you can play them or not. most drummers thinking they'll have an easier ride playing warp-speed kicks because they can twitch-flex against their grandmother's spare bed frame with their newly bought iron cobras are in for a horrible surprise when they hear their shoddy, uncontrolled and out of time spatterings cutting through a live mix louder than they've ever heard the rest of their kit.

H

[stuh84]

How many times you been to a live venue and have not been able to hear the kick drum?

Nearly every time I've been able to hear it, its either an AMAZING sound guy, or its triggered.

Personally I couldn't even care in the slightest as long as it sounds good, and hearing ALL the kit is essential for me to hear a good sound. If that involves having to trigger things, so what?

[Thrashmanzac]

yes...

[halsinden]

Originally Posted by stuh84

How many times you been to a live venue and have not been able to hear the kick drum?

Nearly every time I've been able to hear it, its either an AMAZING sound guy, or its triggered.

Personally I couldn't even care in the slightest as long as it sounds good, and hearing ALL the kit is essential for me to hear a good sound. If that involves having to trigger things, so what?

i absolutely agree. and / but it's normally those sorts of situations that are finishing schools for most up and coming metal drummers. triggers can really bring out the worst (and best) in drummers.

triggered plectrums however, are my choice of kings.

H

[All_¥our_Bass]

I don't hate them, but I dislike when triggering is abused and/or mixed with the original sound poorly.

[zimbloth]

Triggers are absolutely fucking crucial for metal in my opinion. If it's cheating, so are electric guitar amplifiers. I could list a thousand reasons why they're awesome, but I won't. I think the posters above have summed it up well enough.

Now, obviously if every venue we went to, we could be ensured the entire kit would be mic'd up with state of the art shit and then put in the hands of a competent engineer, maybe they wouldn't be necessary. But since we live in the real world, trigger modules allow my drummer to pre-mix things the way he wants, and all we need from the sound guy is to plug in the xlr cable and do some basic shit and he's done.

Triggers = my best friend.

[kristallin]

Originally Posted by zimbloth

Triggers are absolutely fucking crucial for metal in my opinion. If it's cheating, so are electric guitar amplifiers. I could list a thousand reasons why they're awesome, but I won't. I think the posters above have summed it up well enough.

Now, obviously if every venue we went to, we could be ensured the entire kit would be mic'd up with state of the art shit and then put in the hands of a competent engineer, maybe they wouldn't be necessary. But since we live in the real world, trigger modules allow my drummer to pre-mix things the way he wants, and all we need from the sound guy is to plug in the xlr cable and do some basic shit and he's done.

Triggers = my best friend.

A-fucking-men, brother. When I was still a touring drummer triggers were my insurance policy that I'd be heard loud and clear - not just that, by having my own mixer I'd give the sound bloke a stereo lead and say "crank it, my good fellow." Triggers aren't cheating, they're just another form of amplification.