If you've been mixing worship drums for any length of time, you know the struggle of getting consistent, punchy samples that sound natural and musical rather than robotic and fake.

I've been using Steven Slate's Trigger plugin for years with great results, but when Waves released their new InTrigger plugin, I had to put it to the test on some real worship drums.

The results? I might be switching my entire drum triggering workflow.

👉 WATCH MY FULL InTrigger TEST HERE

Why This Plugin Caught My Attention

Let me be honest - I'm pretty loyal to my current drum triggering setup. Steven Slate's Trigger has been a staple in my worship mixes for years because it revolutionized how we approach drum samples in mixing.

But Waves has been consistently releasing innovative plugins, and their Ultimate plan makes it easy to try new tools as they come out. When InTrigger landed, I knew I had to test it on actual worship material rather than perfect studio drums.

What Makes InTrigger Different

After spending time with the plugin, there are several features that set it apart from other drum triggers:

1. The Intelligent Learning Function

Around the 3:00 mark in the video, I demonstrate the "learn" feature that analyzes your drum track and automatically sets up detection parameters. What impressed me was how accurately it separated kick hits from snare bleed and other kit elements - something that usually requires tedious manual adjustment.

2. Visual Feedback That Actually Helps

The plugin shows you exactly which hits it's detecting (blue dots) and which it's ignoring (red dots) in real-time. This visual representation makes it incredibly easy to fine-tune your triggering without guesswork.

3. Built-in Humanization That Works

At the 9:30 mark, I show you the humanization features that include both random variation and follower settings. Unlike other plugins where humanization can sound artificial, InTrigger's approach creates natural-feeling variation that responds to your actual playing dynamics.

SEE THE HUMANIZATION IN ACTION

Testing on Real Worship Drums

For this test, I used a song I mixed recently where I knew the drum samples needed to be punchy but musical. I walked through my process for both kick and snare replacement:

Kick Drum Replacement

I used my go-to Frankie kick sample from the Austin Davis collection. What surprised me was how quickly InTrigger adapted to the dynamics of the performance. The plugin caught even subtle kick hits while ignoring snare and tom bleed that would typically cause false triggers.

Snare Sample Layering

Around the 12:00 mark, I demonstrate something really cool - how InTrigger handles multiple sample layers. You can either:

• Stack multiple samples simultaneously for complex tones
• Use velocity-based triggering where different samples trigger based on hit intensity

The velocity approach is particularly powerful because you can drag in multiple samples and InTrigger automatically distributes them across the velocity range.

WATCH THE MULTI-SAMPLE SETUP

The Feature That Sold Me

There's one aspect of InTrigger that really impressed me - the trigger shift control. This adjusts the latency of the plugin to ensure your samples line up perfectly with your original drum hits.

Most triggering plugins require you to manually compensate for latency, but InTrigger's approach is much more intuitive and precise.

How This Changes My Worship Drum Workflow

After extensive testing, here's what I discovered:

Time Savings

The learning function and visual feedback dramatically reduce setup time. What used to take 15-20 minutes of tweaking now takes about 5 minutes to get dialed in.

Better Integration

The humanization features create samples that feel more like part of the original performance rather than obviously triggered elements.

Live Applications

InTrigger works with Waves SuperRack Performer, which opens up possibilities for live drum triggering that I'm excited to explore further.

Is It Worth Adding to Your Arsenal?

For worship producers who regularly work with drum samples and triggering, InTrigger deserves serious consideration. While it may not completely replace specialized workflows for every situation, it handles the majority of worship drum triggering needs with remarkable efficiency.

The combination of intelligent detection, visual feedback, and natural-sounding humanization makes it particularly well-suited for the dynamic, musical approach that worship drumming requires.

Watch My Complete Test

Rather than just telling you about these features, I wanted you to hear them in action on real worship material. In the video, I walk through the entire setup process and demonstrate each feature with audio examples.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE FULL InTrigger TEST

I'm curious to hear your thoughts! Have you tried InTrigger yet? How does it compare to your current drum triggering workflow? Let me know in the comments.

Mixing for the Kingdom, Lucas

P.S. I've included an affiliate link to the plugin in the video description. It doesn't cost you anything extra, but it helps support the channel and my family. Thanks for watching!