Group photo from the event
On August 22nd, 2019 at 8 p.m. students met in the Live Sound room for a clinic with CRAS Instructor Sam Beckley, as well as Joe Quick from 3 Sigma Audio. Sam Beckley has spent numerous years toiling over fixing crappy drummers. He is also the original and former owner of Gremlin Studios in Chicago, Illinois. Joe Quick is a product developer at 3 Sigma Audio. Quick's other credits include: Creator of Rosen Digital Studio Guitar Impulses, appearances on over 100+ Major Label Albums, TV Programs, and Films, as well as helping develop Studio One. Sam began by giving a small introduction to what drum triggering actually is. He began with the idea of velocity in regards to how a drum head is hit and transitioned into the idea of being able to use drum triggers to alter these sounds through MIDI communication. He also introduced the concept of a drum leveler to be utilized to maintain differences in volume so that differences in the velocity and location of drum hits are not played back at the same level. Then Sam began his live demonstration in his DAW with a pre-recorded session. Sam explained the ability in Pro Tools to transient on wave files to select but demonstrated in Samplitude by using Audio to MIDI through Melodyne. Then using Kontakt chose a "Master Kick" to insert on the kick drum. He then demonstrated the software "Addictive Trigger" to identify the transients where the triggers are going to activate. You can use this program to broadcast a wet/dry signal of your original drum and the triggered drum. This program naturally follows dynamics, but the parameters can be adjusted to your liking. He then showed us the comparison of the before and after of a metal session, he had triggered to demonstrate the real-world potential. He also explained live triggers and situational differences as far as when to use them and the different types of live triggers. Per a question, we also spent some time on doing quantization by hand in regards to drum triggering within the DAWs. Joe and Sam then showed us some of the 3 Sigma Audio plugins and offered 20% off. Sam then did another quick Q & A to address any unanswered questions. Because leftover time allotted, Sam pulled up a hip-hop session to show triggering in other genres and in less-traditional instances. We then had a prize giveaway per Mr. Quick.
More About Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences Section
