Tips needed for drum track (MIDI)

[Marcello]

Hi there! I recorded this MIDI programmed drum track with NI Studio Drummer (recording my own song), since I'm not a drummer, I need some real drummer or mixing engineer to give it a listen  and kindly tell me if they sound realistic enough and either if some parts or feels sound strange.
I'm looking for suggestions from an experienced drummer or mixing engineer.

The genre is post-hardcore.

Also if the mix is good enough?

I left only the drums and the bass so you can grasp the groove a bit.

[Starship Krupa]

Sounds pretty cool. Those fills and rolls and stuff are not easy to program from scratch. Impressive.

I'm a drummer and the drums sound realistic enough for contemporary styles. So many live drum performances these days are gridded after being played that the lack of imperfections in the timing isn't as much of a giveaway as it used to be, and if it's going to be a loud, busy rock mix, the instruments that you do play live will help cover for that. If you haven't already done so, nudging velocities at random spots can help further the illusion of a live drummer playing.

I'm not versed enough in post-hardcore to say for sure, but the one thing I might adjust would be to use a snare sound where you can hear more snare wire. That's just a personal thing, I do not like the pank-pank snare sound. I loved The Police, and Copeland's drumming, but that damned clanky steel snare detracted from their sound (to my ears). I play an Acrolite (aluminum) and tune it deeper and wetter, but I don't play post-hardcore either. Since your drums are canned, you can change out drum sounds at will.

It all depends on how it sounds in the mix, though, and personal preferences and traditional sounds for different genres. What you have here should work fine.

[Marcello]

1 hour ago, Starship Krupa said:

Sounds pretty cool. Those fills and rolls and stuff are not easy to program from scratch. Impressive.

I'm a drummer and the drums sound realistic enough for contemporary styles. So many live drum performances these days are gridded after being played that the lack of imperfections in the timing isn't as much of a giveaway as it used to be, and if it's going to be a loud, busy rock mix, the instruments that you do play live will help cover for that. If you haven't already done so, nudging velocities at random spots can help further the illusion of a live drummer playing.

I'm not versed enough in post-hardcore to say for sure, but the one thing I might adjust would be to use a snare sound where you can hear more snare wire. That's just a personal thing, I do not like the pank-pank snare sound. I loved The Police, and Copeland's drumming, but that damned clanky steel snare detracted from their sound (to my ears). I play an Acrolite (aluminum) and tune it deeper and wetter, but I don't play post-hardcore either. Since your drums are canned, you can change out drum sounds at will.

It all depends on how it sounds in the mix, though, and personal preferences and traditional sounds for different genres. What you have here should work fine.

Got it thanks a lot for your suggestion. I used a reference drums sound from a band I like and tried to make it similar indeed.

Maybe I could have gone for a much lower snare sound, I mean biffy chunky snare sound, but I'm not too fussy on that,

Now I actually fixed some minor timing issues with the feels and I decreased the velocity on the ride which is giving the tempo, it seemed maybe a bit too washy, here's the final version if you want to give it  alisten.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mNlNV3L5KQNdR5sIjxjGLGWt5EAqfAG_/view?usp=drive_link

[Bridget Murphy]

On 3/31/2024 at 4:35 AM, Marcello said:

Got it thanks a lot for your suggestion. I used a reference drums sound from a band I like and tried to make it similar indeed.

Maybe I could have gone for a much lower snare sound, I mean biffy chunky snare sound, but I'm not too fussy on that,

Now I actually fixed some minor timing issues with the feels and I decreased the velocity on the ride which is giving the tempo, it seemed maybe a bit too washy, here's the final version if you want to give it  alisten.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mNlNV3L5KQNdR5sIjxjGLGWt5EAqfAG_/view?usp=drive_link

I'd love to give it a listen! Thank you for sharing, and I'll be happy to give you some feedback.

[Starship Krupa]

On 3/31/2024 at 4:35 AM, Marcello said:

Maybe I could have gone for a much lower snare sound, I mean biffy chunky snare sound, but I'm not too fussy on that,

Now I actually fixed some minor timing issues with the feels and I decreased the velocity on the ride which is giving the tempo, it seemed maybe a bit too washy, here's the final version if you want to give it  a listen.

The drums sound quite natural. Like I said, I'm a drummer, and they'd fool me.

As far as what snare sound to use, the thing is to go with the sound you hear in your mind. If you imagine the song with certain sounds, then that's what the sound of the song is.

So that's post-hardcore. Sounds reminiscent of early-90's indie rock, which is a favorite genre of mine, being last active in a band during that time.