Is Meg White playing electronic drums?

Playing ?
 

It's not as exciting as syndrums - it's just to trigger a noise gate
 

You've discovered the live drummer's secret.

I work support for a company that has electronic drums in their line and I can tell you there are a lot of "acoustic" acts that use our stuff.

People just get tired of mic'ing drums night after night and getting a fluctuations in their quality of sound.
 

It's called sample triggering, folks, and it's not news. Reinforcing live drums with samples for consistency (particularly with, shall we say, "non-virtuosos" like Meg) is done by just about everyone these days, from Duran Duran to Metallica to anyone else you care to name. D-Drums are a good choice for this because of their fast triggering and the excellent sounds available for the venerable D-Drum Brain. The bottom line is the artist always has to win, every night, and triggering drums is one way to ensure that happens.
 

I wouldn't call them most analog... Jack White is a famous user of the Digitech Whammy.
 

Moral:

It is easier to make a hot chick look like she can play drums than it is to make your drummer look like a hot chick.
 

JUDAS!!
 

I can also "play" most of the Leo Kottke catalogue. However, I cannot replicate his tone, timbre, and nuance. Would you be impressed that my Roland Synth-Axe makes me sound every bit as lovely as Mr. Kottke? Didn't fret that note well, but well enough that the Midi controller makes it sound like a prefect warm C, even though it should be a buzzy slightly sharp goof.

Vocalists have used "Pitch correcters" for years, that automatically fix notes sung flat or sharp. Yes, that's cheating. I don't really see a difference between that and using drum triggers to make you sound like a virtuoso who always hits the drum square and true.

I also usually means that take away the $2000 worth of equipment, and the "musician" in question can't even hold their own at a local Jam session.

I don't practice making sure my lines are smooth and have good tone just to be upstaged by a sythaxe and midi triggers from a Rich kid with more talent than money.... I can set up a midi trigger so that when I hit a note, it does a whole Steve Vai run. I could show up at a Jam session with nothing more than my Midi controller and a selection of 30 Vai runs all triggered by different notes, and if you didn't understand the tech, you might think I'm some great player, when in reality, computer magic has transformed "Row, Row, Row" in to "Giant balls of Gold".

Similarily, her drum triggers might trigger perfectly tight rolls, or a perfectly hit tom, or a beautifully executed paradiddle... Skills drummers work very hard on.
 

Theres a video up of their performance on the daily show at www.dailyshow.com
i noticed it when i first saw it...i just assumed this was the norm.
 

Even if it's just going through the PA it's not really the sound of the drums blah blah whatever. And I think you mean more money than talent? Both would be good Dire Straits song titles though.
 

So, if I'm reading this correctly Ortho....

It's OK, because the White Stripes fanbase is too stupid to know or care??

As far as preferring the MIDI nerd... Well, some folks dig Karaoke too, there's no accounting for taste. The Midi nerd can't hold his own in a Jam session... Why not just bring out the Vai CD and say "Well, here's my favorite parts... I'll play air guitar to them."

Personally, I don't care. Aside from one performace on the Daily Show that left me cold, I've never heard of them, and probably won't again.

You may prefer the fakery, and that's your right. However, this is a music website, frequented by musicians, and most folks I know who play frown on this.... Unless they use it. It is as cheap as Lip Synching, and if we can roast Ashlee Simpson for that when we were never under the illusion she had talent...

One poster above mentioned Meg only uses it to trigger a noise gate, so this really doesn't apply to her if that's the case.

The drummer from Def Leppard rescued his career with drum triggers. Great for him. But that should also show you that drum triggers can make a one armed drummer sound like a pro. They can also do wonders for two armed drummers that suck.

Just because a guy is carrying loaded dice doesn't mean he's cheating, but it sure makes you suspicious.
 

I'm no drum expert, but I believe Danny Carey from Tool uses electric drum pads along with his normal drum set (I'm guessing for samples of some of the strange/more ethnic sounds that Tool sometimes uses in their music), and I don't think his talent is really in question. Are these electric pads somehow different than triggers in that it's fairly obvious they are triggering something? Does it matter if the sound comes from a sampler if they're triggering it the way of electric drums, or do we have to hear those actual acoustic drums?

I just see the triggers as another tool (no pun intended) that a musician can use to create better music. Sure it can be used to "cheat", but if it's just triggering some type of effect, or even a roll, who cares?

I don't think we can place the White Stripes in the same category as Ashlee Simpson, as I believe they write their own music, and hey, they at least attempt to play their own instruments. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on this one.

I use an old Oberheim DX that wouldn't come close to fooling anybody into believing it was a real drummer, and from what I've heard of the White Stripes, the sound does seem rather raw, so... the discussion continues.

-B
 

drummers that trigger sounds are fakers... just like keyboardists that use anything other that an acoustic piano are fakers... (did you know that they can push one key and trigger a whole arpeggio these days!).
i haven't read on complaint on this site that a moog can be used to create fake sounds.
i figure that i fthis lady is hitting the skins in time with her own internal metronome then she should probably be considered a drummer.
the fact is that moving a kit around a studio during the ad breaks doesnt leave a lot of room for sound checks, so if she can trigger a drum sound that is already leveled and compressed for television then that makes more sense than going on national television and sounding awful.
next thing you know people will be using some sort of "DI box" instead of micing an amp.
 

Here's my 2 cents. I've been drumming for 12 years now (everything from Revolutionary War reenactment snare drumming to a Pseudo-Aphex-Twin cover band) and wouldn't mind having a set of triggers on my kit. But while I say that I would also say that a drummer needs to be able to produce the proper tone repeatedly. It's easy to hit a drum, but to hit a drum in the right spot (after coming off a tight short snare roll) isn't easy.

blah blah blah... but I vote libertarian/republican. Let's all try to change each others minds about that.
 

to bring one more angle to this...

some soundmen actually like to do this (use a triggered sample of the same drum) as opposed to just using a microphone. at least for bassdrum, some use only the trigger. a poor decision, imho, but it may work for some kinds of music. for white stripes, it surely sounds strange...

also it may be used to trigger some special sound, something not possible to get from acoustic kit. or to trigger the drum gate (for more precise action).

if i remember right, phil collins was one the earliest drummers to use acoustic drums /w sample triggers, as his famous tom-sound (achieved with ambient mics in the studio) is next to impossible to recreate in a live situation..
 

I think this shouldn't be about the classic analog/digital war. How about understanding that each tool (and yes, even a proper drumset today is an enhancement to the drums we used to have in the stone age ;) ) is just about how you use it. Sure, some lame fakers are just about acting to be a musician. But those don't last anyways. Tools are tools - Do something new and creative with them or don't do the arts. And this is for any kind of tool. Period.
 

I love Leo Karaoke!
 

A more refined two one-hundredths of a dollar;

To use such a tool to do things that were before impossible is one thing, to use such a tool as a crutch for a lack of skill is another.
 

It doesn't even matter. She's the worst drummer ever.
 

As an acoustic musician, as an acoustic musician who plays professionally, as an acoustic musician who spends a lot of time working on his accuracy and tone, what I have to say about digital fakery is:

Maybe folks go to the digital fakers's shows instead of your pure acoustic shows because your shows suck. Or maybe you don't play shows at all and you look at the folks onstage and think:

"So many mediocre musicians have made it big. Why can't I be one of them?"

Good shows are good. The tools don't matter. The music and the scene matters.
 

In my opinion the use of technology as a crutch is one of the things keeping music interesting. Doors are being opened to people that don't have "traditional" musical skills. Technology has always helped the selection of music that is available to expand, and we have to expect that things will change. If we are going to argue about triggers in rock, we might as well start arguing about Dylan and his damn electrified guitar again also.
 

Maybe the original aim of this was to point out the inconsistency of the White Stripe's past adherence to the 'we love vintage and analog gear' as opposed to whether or not analog or digital is better.

Then again, maybe i will read some of these comments and try to take them to heart... how about anyone who made a comment who has a gold record take two steps left... I'll read those first.
 

I'd rather hear a not-so-slick sounding drummer in an interesting band than a super-slick drummer playing milktoast ballads. But in the end, it's the whole package that you either like or don't like. Ringo Starr was no Clyde Stubblefield, but I still listen to the Beatles just about every day. And to be sure, triggering a gate or a drum sample isn't unique to drummers who are a little "rough around the edges".

Anyway, I think she's probably triggering some Steve Vai licks with that thing.
 

white stripes seems like another debbie gibson or ... wtf was those lame rich kids? yeh, the strokes

Y A W N

i wish Six Finger Satellite was still around... :(
 

I doubt it's syncing anything, I don't tend to hit my floor tom very regularly.
 

i know, right??

check out those tits!! and the way she wags her tongue while in the throes of ecstacy

shit ive got a woody right now
 

who cares, look at how freakin sexy that picture is! YOU GUYS ARE MISSING THE POINT
 

There's a link in this somewhere I followed to a dailyshow.com clip. Have a look at how much fun she's having! There's a few drummers around that could take some let-go-of-the-boring-cool-look lessons from her, instead of perching on their drum stools looking surly/tough/toocool.
 

trigger=good balanced level tom sample... everytime. the mic's are only for backup. butthole surfers have sampledrums all the way, it sounds great.
 

Drum trigger, eh? "I'd hit it."
 

I would not do her - she looks too much like Jack.
 

What a load of bla bla bla here about a simple trigger!
I am a soundman and I can assure you people that it is fairyly common to use triggers live. They are mostly used to trigger some sub-bass sample on floor toms.
to get that nice punch.. I know quite some collegues that use that trick. So stop whining you bunch of sissies!
 

meg white > terry bozio. what is the rainbow colored machine she has on the other side of the set?
 

JUDUS!!!!!!

She should be banging on a hollow log and howling. Most modern music is written by computers. There is no talent envolved; just press a button and the computer will write a song.
Steve Vai rocks. I love listening to the sound of a middle aged man playing scales as fast as he can. He uses clockwork amplifiers and guitar effects and records all of his albums onto wax cylinders.

TWATS!!!!!
 

Christ man..you guys need to check out them live. Here is the deal - the White Stripes is basically just Jack White who is an awesome guitarist and a decent singer (when he doesn't get all screechy).

Meg is a no talent drummer but she is quite attractive and puts up with Jack's tangents. I have no doubt that she would cheat on the drums. So what? She is just eye candy.

Jack OTOH is really alot more real then any other performer out there. No pitching correcting software - he even uses analog amps..

Pete
 

Here's my 2 cents: I just started listening to the Stripes and I think she's a great drummer! I know lots of peeps think she can't keep the beat but as far as really hitting hard, she's up there with Ginger Baker and John Bonham, IMHO.

And yeah, she's sexy. No, she doesn't look like Jack. She's not his sister after all--she's his ex.
 

Ever notice the "purist" who seem to get the most upset about triggers, sequencing....etc are people who have never played anything but local open mic nights.

Oh, but yes, they have $14,000 of vintage gear at home, expensive guitars and amps...and they will never play for more than 35 people because they have no talent.

And "technique" is not equal to "talent". 200 000 musicians you will never hear about are upset about fakery. Boo hoo.

Yeah, you are so awesome for NOT being digital, virtual...etc
You are also awesome for staying in your basement, being bitter, instead of on the radio bothering me with your earnest purity.