>Keep it real

The same ‘human timing’ guideline applies to realistic kick drums as the rest of the kit: if you want your kicks to sound like they’re being played by a real drummer, keep them slightly off the grid. So, if recording your drums live on a MIDI controller, don’t quantise the part after – or quantise it iteratively if it actually needs correction. And when programming with the pencil tool, draw each MIDI note in away from the grid lines in the piano roll – to the left for a gentle increase in pace; right for a more laid-back feel.