
Drum triggers trigger interesting conversations about the originality of music and if they’re considered cheating or not. We won’t go into detail about this 50-year-old post-modern discussion, but instead, we’ll discuss what can be achieved with drum triggers in your drumming career. Transforming acoustic sound waves to electronic signals can give you a lot more options, save money, and makes it easy to curate and mix the music, overall. In this article, we’ll explain how drum triggers work and what makes them popular in addition to reviewing the best drum triggers on the market today with their pros and cons.
Drum Triggers Basics
First things first, what are drum triggers ? Acoustic drum triggers are sensors that can be attached to different parts of your drums, which depends on the type of trigger used to pick up the vibrations produced when a tom, snare, or kick is struck. Those sensors are velocity-sensitive and can detect how hard drums are hit, and transfer that signal to a pad that can allow you to trigger a simultaneous sound of your choosing or even convert the whole signal to a different sound completely.
1. Roland RT-30HR
This list has a few Roland drum triggers, we’ll be starting with the Roland RT-30HR Dual Zone. This trigger made an impact 4 years ago when it was launched and it’s still being heavily used to this day. It’s considered practical and mobile because it can fit most drum hoop designs due to its small and compact size. High-quality materials make this trigger well-built and able to sustain intensive action without needing to worry about its location, since it’s small, it won’t come into your crosshairs often anyway, Roland recommends placing it on the snare for ease of access and to make use of its dual function. The reason it’s called Dual Zone is because it can sense and differentiate between rim and head sounds, this helps in simplifying your setup since you won’t need 2 different drum triggers to pick up those sounds. While this trigger can be used with any drum trigger interface and module, but it’s best compatible with Roland’s modules. The RT-30HR may be more expensive than most single triggers but the dual trigger action helps give you a plethora of options to make use of it.
2. Pintech Percussion RS-5
3. Roland RT-30K
4. DDRUM Acoustic Pro Set
5. Yamaha DT-50K
6. Aquarian Kickzone Bass Drum Trigger
Choosing the Best Drum Triggers
Once you decide that you’d like to have a taste of the electronic —without becoming a cyborg— you should focus on a few aspects to make sure you get the best drum trigger for you. Durability is one of the most important features in a good drum trigger which can make durable drum triggers expensive, also make sure to know the type of cables you need; whether they use XLR to ¼ or ¼ is important. Always make sure that your triggers don’t end up muffling or killing the sound of your drum kit, going with adjustable triggers is the wisest path. Drums are expensive instruments, so when you shop for drum triggers you shouldn’t muffle your kit for the sake of saving an extra 50$, if you’re on a tight budget you need to do enough research to know the best drum triggers for your budget that will also produce a good sound.