How to program MIDI drums that sound like the real thing

Thought I’d pass this Music Radar article along. I thought some might be interested, though it is a bit basic.

How to program MIDI drums that sound like the real thing

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  1. Do NOT quantize hard to the grid. This keeps it more human. Use a percentage
  2. Randomize your velocity on the hits

These two will get you very far.

Also, Work on a measure or two at a time if needed

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Check out how Keith Moon played off the vocal.
One of the most driving drummers in rock - yet he fed off everything around him.
If you can emulate that with programming , then good luck to you.
What I will say is that randomising velocity is in-human - since we rise and fall like the tides. So try to scale your velocities up and down more. Dropping level when other material falls on your hits , and being stronger in the spaces.

And that is barely scratching the surface of what is available to a computer-user that can work in 1/1000 of a second degrees.

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