Reader strategies for humanizing drum programming

I got some wonderful responses to my post on making VST drums more realistic. Here are a few of my favorites:

From Keith Thomas:

“I actually ‘beatbox’ the groove I want with my human timing on an audio track and then match every drum hit to that audio.”

From Brian Steckler:

“My favorite goto is to grab my real hi hats and play them live. Only takes 1 mic, and even though I’m a crappy drummer, a little elastic audio and it works nicely. And just a hat stand and set of cheap hats from Craigslist is a pretty small investment. I usually do this after I’ve programmed the part I want, leaving spaces for the fills and crashes and everything a drummer with only 2 arms can play, and then open up the midi editor large so I can ‘read the part’ as I play it live.”

From James Burgos:

“My preference is fingerdrumming. One can do so via keys or pads. Tons of resources out there to learn.”

Cosign — jamie