Drum Question

I've seen this term thrown around allot, but I'm not sure what it means.

What is a "triggered drum sound"?

Can someone explain it to me in simple terms? I have no musical ability and big words make my brain hurt.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I've seen this term thrown around allot, but I'm not sure what it means.

What is a "triggered drum sound"?

Can someone explain it to me in simple terms? I have no musical ability and big words make my brain hurt.

It's a term that describes effects you can add in the studio. You select an effect, then you assign it to a specific drum track (snare, kick, etc), each time the drummer hits that particular piece, it "triggers" the effect.

The 80's practice of kick drums sounding like canons going off is done this way...part of the sound is the actual drum (the dry sound)...part of the sound is the effect (the wet sound)...unfortunately in the 80's they tended to lean heavily on the wet sound so it ended up sounding like ass.

A kick drum should actually be more "felt" than heard, a snare drum shouldn't sound like it's in the middle of the Grand Canyon, a cymbal doesn't naturally have flange on it, etc.

Well, that makes sense. Sort of. I understand the theory and mechanics of it, but I doubt I'd be able to pick up on it listening to an album. I don't have much of an ear for that sort of thing. But thanks for that explaination.

Is it standard practice for every band or engineer to do this when recording drums or is it something used sparingly for effect?

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Is it standard practice for every band or engineer to do this when recording drums or is it something used sparingly for effect?

It really depends on the engineer. Drums are usually equalized going to tape (usually the only instrument that is), what effects are used and how they are applied is probably done differently by everyone.

It is standard practice to put reverb on a snare drum...but that's not a "triggered effect", it's on the entire time. It's usually most noticeable on kick drums...they'll find a sampled sound (like a drum machine type sound), then everytime the kick drum hits you hear the sound of the drum and the sound of the effect simultaneously...but the effect only kicks on it detects a drum hit.

Listen to albums like "Under Lock & Key" or "Hysteria" for examples of this practice being over-used.

If the effect is mixed correctly, it should be imperceptible as an effect.