Playing Smart: A Drummers Guide to Modern Technology
By Dross
Triggers: Appendix I
Terms & Troubleshooting
Hopefully by now you've read my article on triggers in issue number six of SDM. The article in issue six was somewhat of an introductory piece on what triggers are and what they do. I didn't have the space to cover everything I wanted to cover and therefore you can think of this as the appendix to that article. Here we'll cover common problems you might run into while using triggers as well as the terms you should know and how to go about fixing these common problems.
Remember that triggers are sensors that ultimately translate vibration into an electrical charge that is then sent to your sound module or trigger to midi converter to process. Therefore if you are getting false triggers you need to eliminate excessive vibration your triggers are experiencing and/or adjust certain parameters on your module/converter so that it ignores lower level vibrations. Below you'll find a list of the most common terms within the trigger/edrum world as well as some suggestions for solving those problems.
False Triggering – The phenomenon that occurs when you hear your sound source "firing" sounds for things you did not play.
Crosstalk – This is a subcategory of false triggering that occurs from vibrations that travel through the mounting hardware. For instance you might have several tom toms on a rack and when you hit tom #1 you can faintly hear tom #2 firing. Crosstalk is relatively easy to eliminate. There are several parameters on most module/converters that will let you adjust things like "sensitivity" and the "threshold" to help eliminate crosstalk (see explanations from these and other terms below). If you have a cage or rack that you mount your toms and cymbals on you can also fill it with packaging peanuts or insulation foam to help "deaden" it. I personally used insulating foam in my cage (see photos) because it doesn't add any real weight to the cage and it really limits the vibrations from traveling from one trigger to another.
Retriggering – This is another subcategory of false triggers that generally occurs because of the resonation between heads when striking an acoustic drum or from the swinging motion of cymbals. You'll know if you are experiencing this if you strike a percussive device and it fires as it should but then adds a second fire immediately thereafter. The parameters that the module/converter manufactures have developed to deal with this issue is called "Mask Time." You can read more about what this parameter does below. The mask time parameter can be unusable on some of your instruments if you play at extremely fast tempos. It might be a better idea to adjust your threshold parameter instead. It might take a little experimenting to fine tune adjustments to get everything dialed in right.
Misfires – The phenomenon that occurs when you strike a drum but you don't hear your sound source fire. Misfires are normally caused by not mounting your triggers properly or because your triggers are worn out. They can also be caused by setting your "threshold" too high or by setting your "mask time" parameter too long. I've found the most common cases of "misfires" are on the snare drum and the bass drums. Typically I've found that when your snare starts misfiring, your trigger is probably just getting worn out and needs to be repaired or replaced. Most bass drum misfires I've found happen to guys that play a single bass acoustic kit with a double pedal. As you know the right beater is typically hitting in the center of the drum and the left is hitting off-center. You can try to adjust where you are mounting the trigger itself so it is closer to the left beater, but the absolute best way to handle the situation is to use the Axis Percussion EKit triggers system. The Axis system virtually eliminates all false triggers and misfires. The Axis triggers system is about the same price as most high quality triggers however they only work on Axis Pedals.
Drum Module & Trigger to MIDI Converter Parameters:
Sensitivity – This parameter essentially works like the "gain" knob on your mixer or PA. This parameter boosts or lowers the level of the electrical charge received by your triggers.
Threshold – This parameter essentially works like a gate on your mixer or PA. It will allow you to adjust at what point your sound module or trigger to midi converter will begin to recognize the signal coming from you triggers.
Mask Time – You should think of this parameter as a gate on the back end of a signal. Once you strike a drum, the module or converter will let that note through and then automatically close off, letting a second note through for a specified amount of time.
Keep your eyes peeled for our Issue #7 of SDM coming out in July. We'll be discussing Sound Modules in the next PLAYING SMART article. I'll be playing the Roland TD4, TD9 & TD20 as well as the Alesis DM5 all throughout May. I will let you know what I think of the sounds and parameters and let you know how much they are going for on the streets and in stores. As always, your questions, suggestions, accolades, and hate mail can be sent to: Dross [at] SickDrummerMagazine.com
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