Drum augmentation, part II

Yesterday we talked about using Trigger¹ to augment drum sounds.

And here’s something I didn’t mention yesterday that might blow your mind a little:

I routinely use Trigger to augment — or completely replace — drum machine sounds that Shannon or I have ourselves programmed.

What?! Why on earth would I do that! Why wouldn’t I just change the drum machine sound??

Because: Trigger is much faster, much easier, and is a much better laboratory for experimentation and honing in on the feeling I want in the sound at hand.

Replacing drum machine sounds is a bit onerous. Especially if you’ve tweaked the initial sound! Whereas with Trigger, you can leave the initial sound alone, and just load up candidate samples for augmentation or replacement.

Trigger has eight sample banks, each with tuning / envelopes / volume / etc — so you can load up a bunch of possibilities and then just play with the sliders until you’ve arrived somewhere you like. Waaaayyyy easier than doing it with the drum machine.

Embracing workflows — jamie

1. I’ve bought a bunch of different drum-replacement plugins over the years. I believe I own four? I believe strongly in questioning my own workflows, and I’m always looking for something better. That said, Trigger is the one that I (vastly) prefer, and which I would wholeheartedly recommend.