Do You Need Triggers? Pros and Cons for Live Drummers

Guitars, Music
June 1, 2025

Do You Need Triggers? Pros and Cons for Live Drummers

By Kristian

In today’s world, bands are continuously blurring the lines between acoustic and digital, not only in recordings but also in live scenarios. While technology is creating a massive shift in the quality and accessibility of professional production in the studio and on stage, there is still a bit of concern as to the negative effects of using technology. Things like autotune on vocals tend to take away the natural ability of singers, and post-production editing makes it less important for us to nail our drum parts.

But what about drum triggers? Are they considered cheating, or are they necessary in certain scenarios? In this article, I will explore the pros and cons of live drummers considering using this technology during their shows.

What are Drum Triggers?

If you’re not enthusiastic about electronics or metal drumming, then you’re probably not too familiar with drum triggers. Drum triggers are essentially a small electronic pad that attaches to your drums, which converts the vibration into a digital signal. These small pads are typically attached to a larger module (or brain) that can alter the volume, sounds and sensitivity of the pads and then send the signal to monitors or the front of house.

Drum triggers can be used on pretty much any part of the drum kit, such as the toms, snare or bass drums. In some cases, cymbals can also be triggered, but this usually happens with low-volume cymbals that don’t produce much sound. In metal drumming, usually the kick drums are the only parts that are triggered. This is because when you’re playing fast metal, it can be hard to distinguish the kick drums, and things can get a bit muddy when you’re competing with the rest of the band. In some cases, for rock and other genres, snare drums are also triggered, but it depends largely on the preference of the drummer.

The Pros of Drum Triggers

So let’s look at some of the advantages of drum triggers, because at the end of the day, triggers were created to solve problems that live musicians had with sound. But also they can be used as a creative tool for exploration between a range of genres and styles. Anyway, here are the biggest pros and use cases for triggers.

Better Consistency in Sound

Now, the most important use case for triggers lies in the consistency of sound it can create in a live scenario. If you’re playing different venues all the time, you know that things can be a matter of luck; the room setup, microphones, sound guy, and mixer can have a significant impact on the sound of your drums. But luckily, with triggers, you know that the sound is going to be consistent no matter where you play.

When we talk about consistency, it can also refer to our playing as well. This is particularly true for metal drummers. I’ve heard many metal bands that are focused on speed and technical ability struggle with keeping drum parts loud and impactful when hitting faster speeds. It can be due to the drummer’s skill level or endurance, coupled with the gear situation at any given venue. But the advantage to triggers is that you can get that quality, punchy sound consistently, and this is one of my favourite uses for triggers.

I wouldn’t say that I’m the loudest drummer, but I do hit the drums hard, and even I’ve played some venues where most of the fans can’t even hear my kick drum. It’s usually because my kicks are getting drowned out by the guitars and the bass, which were cranked pretty loud. In this situation, triggers helped.

Custom Sounds and Samples

When you’re using drum triggers, you can essentially program any sound you want into the module, and away you go. No longer will you be limited by the kind of gear that you’re using or the quality of your drums. If your kick can’t be tuned to get that definition you love, then you can replicate that perfect sound with your triggers. This is another one of the major advantages of drum triggering.

You’re also not just limited to improving the tones of instruments but also trying different sounds or instruments altogether, such as in more experimental and electronic music. In these genres, it’s quite popular to get auxiliary drums and components that can be programmed and incorporated into your music. This can be anything from bells, tambourines, percussion or even tonal instruments that can be programmed to play melodies. The possibilities are endless, and if you’re into experimentation, this is another advantage to triggers.

Better Control for Sound Engineers

We mentioned better consistency in sound when it comes to playing different venues, and a large reason for this is that sound engineers can easily control the sound regardless of the environment. This control is a massive advantage for engineers because with two sound sources, they are better equipped to change the sound and fill in any gaps with the samples coming from the triggers.

I have gotten countless compliments from FOH engineers and audience members about the sound of my kicks after using triggers and blending a little bit of live microphone and samples. Because my natural kick sound is quite loud and punchy, adding in the sampled kick and mixing it in with the live microphone can fill in any gaps and give me a more well-rounded sound.

The Cons of Drum Triggers

Now, for the disadvantages, while there are some good points, we must look objectively at some of the negative parts of drum triggering. While everything is a tool and it depends on your use case, there are some objective cons that we can see from triggers, so let’s dive a little deeper into these negatives.

Setup and Maintenance

If you’re a drummer, then you know that setting up between sets can be one of the more annoying and stressful aspects of playing. During many shows change changeovers are relatively short, and there is only a small window of opportunity for you to get your drums set up and ready to play. But if you want to add triggers, this only adds another layer of complexity to the mix. I would be lying if I said I didn’t find it annoying getting these set up before playing my set.

I found myself struggling to get the cabling all connected, neat and having the trigger sit nicely on my drum. Having the right balance is vital to ensure that I’m not double-triggering and that they are adjusted so the signal is strong enough to activate the module. This can be stressful, especially during 15-minute changeovers, and if things are not on point, then you run the risk of your triggers misfiring during the set or simply not being loud enough.

Drum triggers also require some care and maintenance, unlike other drum parts. They must be kept and stored in a good casing that is waterproof and shockproof at a minimum, especially if you are frequently on the road. I would also ensure that you keep spare parts whenever you can, because those long-term road dogs might run into issues or items blowing on you at some point.

Potential for Technical Issues

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but it does require its special mention. The most common issue for triggers that I’ve seen when I’m playing live shows is seeing other drummers either have misfiring issues, triggers being too loud or too low or even just straight up not working because they have a poor setup. Not to mention that electrical items are more prone to random technical issues.

I’ve experienced many of these incidents when playing live, everything from flat batteries to electrical problems and triggers simply not working mysteriously. If this is the case with you, I would suggest that you bring as many spare cables, batteries and components as you can when you’re on the road. Then, from here, you can start to check where you might be going wrong and change your approach or gear accordingly.

More Gear to Transport

While triggers aren’t the biggest piece of equipment to take with you when you’re travelling for a show, it is still another component and the larger your trigger setup, the more tedious it makes your transportation. It’s not only the fact that it takes up space, but having another item to worry about and check off your list leaves a bigger chance that something might go missing or be lost during load-in and load-out. Because you’ll need leads and other electrical components, it’s also easier for this to get mixed up with guitar equipment.

You can also invest in custom casing that can carry your pedals, or auxiliary items, together with your pedal or other drum items. This is a convenient and foolproof way to keep the equipment safe. When encountering gear transport issues, this can be pretty helpful, especially if you plan on flying and doing lots of travel.

Losing Touch with Acoustic Sound

This is an important consideration and probably the most talked-about negative aspect of drummers who use triggers. Many drummers play with triggers and end up relying too much on them for their playing, essentially losing the feel for real drums. What also happens is drummers increase the sensitivity of the kick drum and end up hitting way too softly, which is an over-reliance on sampled sounds.

While drummers usually get called cheaters for using triggers, it’s not necessarily the case because even at small volumes, it does take skill and control to play at high speed. But if you can’t play at speed with louder sound and dynamics, then you might suffer when the triggers are not there, and unless your mics are turned right up. So be aware and make sure you’re hitting hard and using triggers to fill in gaps in room sound or gear rather than your plating.

Price

Triggers are not cheap, and while you might be able to save on cheaper brands, they are not worth it anyway, as lower-quality triggers don’t last. There are a few big brands worth purchasing, and some popular models that most drummers purchase. These would set you back $300-400 for a second-hand setup and even more for some newer brands and models. Not to mention the price for spare triggers, cables and accessories that you need.

When I had my live setup, I did end up spending a fair bit because I also had my small mixer and in-ears for a monitor mix and extra control. You don’t have to do this as well, but for me, I found it much easier to have control of my monitors. Price is pretty dependent on what you want and quality, but I would say at the very least, don’t cheap out on your module.

Do You Need Triggers?

Triggers have always been a pretty hot take, especially in the metal scene, where many drummers opt for using them in live scenarios. Whether you need them or not depends on a variety of factors. Some like to use triggers simply because they want a particular sound, and others like to use them to cut through the rest of the band where a mic’d up acoustic just won’t cut it. I would also argue that they’re not super necessary, and I’ve gone through the majority of my drumming career without using triggers. I just tuned my kick well and play loud.

But when I did use triggers, the advantages made a difference from my perspective and the audience’s perspective. I experienced tighter playing because it was easier for me to hear myself due to the added definition to my kicks. I could also add the kick to my in-ears from my module as well. Playing live, I had more definition that cut through to the audience and left everyone pretty impressed with the fullness of the kick drum.

Before making your purchase, I would ask yourself a few questions. What kind of genre are you playing? Does it characteristically have a larger-than-life kick drum sound? Does your kick struggle to come out during live shows? Do you simply want to have a variety of sounds for your band? All these questions should be answered.

Final Thoughts

Triggers aren’t some magic tool that miraculously plays the drums for you that others lead you to believe. And while they make it easier to be heard, they’re far from cheating, they’re just a tool to incorporate electronic samples into live drumming. These shouldn’t be stigmatised, especially as we move towards a world that incorporates more electronics into music as well as other aspects. So think about what you want as a drummer and what would benefit the music as a whole. Happy drumming.