TRIGGER 2 OVERVIEW – Industry-Standard drum replacement and augmentation – requires no MIDI. – Three latency modes in addition to LIVE MODE, which operates as low as 4ms. – 2 detection modes, MIDI In/Out, automation of all parameters. I’ve had the new Steven Slate samples for 2 weeks now, and when I open Drumagog and look for. This plug-in has super low latency, and the samples are top notch. With the tweakability of the samples, and the ability to layer samples to create your own sounds, Slate Digital Trigger Platinum is extremely powerful. Plus you get the most expansive library of samples from Steven Slate available for Trigger.
Slate Digital's original Trigger plugin already represented the state of the art, enabling a high degree of accuracy in triggering samples from recorded drum tracks - a common studio technique used to embolden the sound of acoustic drums by mixing them with sampled ones (or even to replace them altogether). Trigger 2 (VST/AU/RTAS/AAX) builds on the precision and features of its predecessor and is a free upgrade for existing users.
Trigger 2 comes in EX and Platinum editions, the only difference being that the former includes a much reduced sample library. You use the plugin by inserting it onto a channel in your DAW and feeding it a drum track containing a single close-mic'ed drum kit element - so, kick, snare or tom mics - that you want to replace. The replacement samples come either from the supplied library or your own collection, and you can now load up to eight of them for velocity layering or simultaneous triggering, rather than the six of v1.
Initial setup tweaking begins with the Detail knob, which should really be called 'Threshold', as it sets the input level at which the triggering takes place. The Leakage Suppression feature is handled by feeding the target track into Trigger 2's left input and the source(s) of the problem bleed into the right input - useful in ensuring that strong snare hits coming through the kick drum mic don't get misinterpreted as kick hits, for example. The engine intelligently analyses the difference between the two to suppress the bleed on the target signal.
Leakage Suppression isn't new to version 2, but the engine has been improved to make triggering more accurate, and the Sensitivity knob can be used to make even greater distinction between grace notes and bleed. It's a resoundingly successful system - in our testing, it handled a snare track on which the hi-hat spill seemed louder than the delicate snare detail with aplomb.
Take aim...
The trigger signal can be further refined using the low- and high-pass filters, which are useful for rolling off general boom and rumble from loose toms and kicks, or for cutting out top-end transients from bleeding hi-hats on the snare, thus tightening the triggering accuracy. With a range up to 100ms, Retrigger is the final refinement tool, setting the minimum time that needs to pass before the next trigger event is allowed through, thus preventing unintended flamming and stray double hits.
Once you've got your triggering set up, you can focus on the dynamics. As mentioned, each of the eight sound slots can be assigned a velocity range for grading softer and harder sounds. Each slot also has an ASR envelope and a knob for scaling the dynamic range of the replacement sound relative to the level of the trigger signal. It takes time to set all of this up, but the quality of results are absolutely amazing.
There's also an impressive new noise gate feature, driven by the detected hits but applied to the dry, mic'ed signal (which can be blended in with the triggered sound with a dry/wet mix control), enabling incredibly tight and accurate gating when set up correctly. Also new for v2 is MIDI input/output.
While Trigger 2 might not be the most radical update ever (it is a free one, after all), it's on the inside that the big changes have been made. The precision with which it defines, captures and replaces drum tracks is intelligent and effective to the point of feeling magical.
Trigger is an advanced drum replacement plug-in. At the heart of Trigger is a new triggering engine with Slate Digital's Advanced Algorithms. The engine also contains the AMG humanization algorithm. AMG is a physically modeled triggering algorithm that allows the triggered drums to play with an extremely realistic and natural response. Even ghost notes and complex drum fills can now be retriggered with ease, naturally.
Features Trigger has a multi-layered triggering engine with 6 stereo channels. This means in one instance of the plug-in, you can trigger a close mic'd sample, a stereo overhead sample, and a stereo room mic sample, all at once from a single drum track. This allows the user to recreate the sound of natural drums with real multi-tracked samples. Each sample layer has parameters for customization such as velocity, tune, pan, dynamic control, sustain, and independent levels. Other features include positional sensing, automation for all parameters, MIDI in/out, visual hit detector, and 127 different articulations per sample layer. Aside from using multi-tracked samples, Trigger allows you to stack samples however you'd like to create custom drum sounds.
For The Mixer In All Of Us Got a really heavy mix and need an aggressive and punchy drum sound that cuts like a knife? Simply enable Trigger's aggro mode, which forces it to use only the loudest sample velocities. Got a mix that you need easy soft drum sounds? Enable the soft mode, and instantly all the aggressive rimshot samples are muted. Trigger sample pools contain numerous presets that can cater towards any mix, just the way you like it.
Sample Accurate Triggering When using Trigger, you will hear tight, sample accurate drum triggering without unwanted mis-triggers, flamming, or phasing. Kick samples line up tight with the original kick drums, snare drum transients align perfectly, and tom fills come out exactly like the original tracks. The Trigger algorithm uses advanced transient detection DSP modules and will produce accurate results from even complex snare rolls and fills, without hours of tweaking or having to manually move around hits.
Two Modes Trigger comes with two modes, Live and Accurate. Live mode is geared for live on-stage triggering and has a no-latency engine. Accurate mode is the professional studio setting, which enables Trigger's advanced engine to replicate the original drum track with the most precise detail and natural velocity response.
Steven Slate Drums Trigger comes with a library of the Steven Slate Drums drum samples. Mixers such as Chris Lord Alge, Mike Shipley, Dave Way, Jeff Juliano, Jay Baumgardner, Ben Grosse, David Kahn, and many more top names have relied on Steven Slate Drums to help enhance the drum sounds in their mixes for years. All the samples in Steven Slate Drums are recorded to 2 inch tape and processed with the finest in vintage and modern analog gear. Steven Slate Drums include three sample layers including stereo room mic samples from the famous NRG Recording in North Hollywood, California.
Steven Slate Drums 'Deluxe' Included in Trigger Platinum are drum samples from the new Steven Slate Drums 'Deluxe' series. The Deluxe series of samples are recorded with an extreme attention to detail with multiple articulations, and include mono direct mics, stereo overheads, stereo room mics from NRG Recording, and stereo reverb samples from the Bricasti M7 digital reverb. With Slate Digital's Trigger, you can trigger all of these layers from one drum track, with one instance of the plug-in.