Up until last night, I hadn't had a conversation about triggers in a long while. Triggers, essentially, are plastic surgery for drum sounds. You hit a drum, the sound goes into a receiver, the receiver sends the signal into a module, and the module outputs the most pristine and most perfectly-tuned pre-produced sample of the ideal drum. It happens in nanoseconds.

Triggers are super duper common with a lot of working musicians, and it takes out the stupid stresses normally associated to complex percussion set ups.

However, as popular as triggers are today, there are still a lot--and I mean a LOT--of people who are anti-trigger/MIDI/sample sequencing. They are called unemployed musicians.

I kid (No, I don't.) Those in this group think it takes away the organic aspect of creating music, not realizing that triggers are no different than the very concept of the electric guitar, or the keyboard synthesizer, or any instrument that requires electrical power. I can kinda see where these dorks are coming from, but that's like saying medicine is bad for you because it reduces your ability to build character since meds make you numb to pain.

Either way, I'm on the trigger bandwagon, and it was a pleasant surprise to hear that my supposedly organic indie group of nerds now has a drummer who uses triggers. He was once a metal guy, but has yearned (his words) to work with a group like ours. His stamina is ridiculous, and I wasn't at all offended when he said our stuff was "the easiest music he's ever played."

I guess that's testament to my writing style having gone from manic and over-complicated to diluted and to-the-point in recent years. No use in wasting notes that shouldn't be there. I've learned a lot, and I'm putting everything--I mean everything--into this.

And I kind of feel guilty knowing a majority of you readers will never hear it. There's lots of reasons I won't link that on this blog, but it's mostly because I'd like it to get to you if it finds you, or if you find it. The chances of that are very small, but I'd rather take a chance (take a chance take a chance take a take a chance chance) in hopes that it does. It would be a weird kind of full-circle.