Can I plug my ddrum drum trigger kit directly into my interface to record midi drums?

[jrp]

might work with some kind of drum exchanger plugin. Te triggers will send a short click to the interface when hit, the stronger you hit them the louder the click will be. You could also build a analog trigger to midi converter, or use a drumcomputer that has trigger ins and midi out.

[recordinghopkins]

Connecting drum triggers directly to preamps as if they were mics, then using the blip they produce with drum replacement software is the way to go. It's so easy, and they pocket with the other drums more easily, since you don't have to commit a midi sound to a new audio track before editing for time.

[jrp]

and timing is better since no serial slow midi handling...

[nickolai252]

Thanks guys! I'll show you my results!

[recordinghopkins]

Triggers are useful right alongside acoustic mics in any studio session.

For instance:

(a) That little blip makes it easier for automatic beat sensing/editing operations because it has zero bleed. I know you use Logic, but I'll refer to Pro Tools functions. Using it as a reference for beat detective, elastic audio, or tab to transient manual editing can cut your time in half.

(b) You can use a plugin like sound replacer or drumagog to ADD drum samples to your acoustic recording. This is a very popular technique right now, layering several snare sounds or a couple of different kicks.

(c) Use it to trigger a tambo!

(d) Use it to key a gate. Fun times here.... Gate the snare verb, top mic, bottom mic, crotch mic (for rim knocks - sometimes coming in up under the ride or between toms), the room mics, or use the one on the kick to duck the bass guitar's compressor or gate the cymbals from the outside kick mic.

(e) solo the triggers and play them back with a click track to keep the drummer's ego in check. This is similar to tuning the vocals with the lead singer in the room. Proceed with caution, this can really ruin someone's day!

[nickolai252]

Just did a test run during band practice. It came out better than expected and I wasn't even trying too hard. Thanks hopkins for your input! I'm a little confused how you would key gate those things. I'm still somewhat of a newbie on some things.

Thanks again!
Nick

[recordinghopkins]

"Keying" is slang for using the sidechain input on a gate or compressor. This extra input option gives the user the ability to hijack the detection circuit and make it "think" you're trying to compress or gate a different signal altogether. In reality the actual gain control circuit still has your proper input signal passing through to the output, it just no longer looks to it for instructions on what to do. You've replaced that information with whatever you've got on the sidechain.

Insert a gate on the drum room mics. Send the trigger signal to it's sidechain input (known as "key input" in some places) the gate now opens only when the trigger tells it to, and depending on your envelope settings. You are literally triggering a gate open and closed (which allows the room mics to be heard or silenced) with the sensor you've attached to the snare. Mix your gated room mics to taste in parallel with the originals for a little extra sumthin' on the snare.

Using a trigger on the sidechain is also useful in a live scenario for clean kick and snare gating, because like before, there's no bleed to fool the gate into opening at the wrong time. (Although sometimes a lot of low end energy on stage can cause false trigger signals. You need pro quality triggers for this application)

[nickolai252]

updates, I used my triggers and DI'd directly to my interface and used SPL Drum Trigger to sample my sounds, although I couldn't record and hear the samples at the same time (which was a pain), I think it turned out alright for demo purposed. This song is just a rough idea to test the gear and the song structure, no way is this anywhere close to complete, so please don't judge that, anyway, this is a song we ran through at band practice in one take, I couldn't record more than one overhead/room mic b/c of the triggers and guitars, there is also no bass, going to have to record that as well. The vocals were roughly done a couple days ago, for reference. Thanks again guys for the tips! Soon I'll be posting actual versions of the songs in a different forum for mixing critiques!

ESL-NEWSONGDEMO-nobass by nickandrewsdesign on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

[recordinghopkins]

why can't you monitor the DAW return with plugins engaged while you track?

[nickolai252]

I think it's the triggering plugin I use. It disables it when recording or monitoring for some reason, only when those are turned off do I hear the samples to the triggered drum hits. When recording all I hear for drums is the actual "blip" of the trigger.