Picking which drums to use

[dutcher]

I'm curious how people are deciding with percussion elements to use in their tracks. There are about a gazillion different kicks you can use, a bazillion different snares, a whole lot of hi-hats, you get the point. How do you decide which samples sound good together?

edit: Also, do you try to get your percussion instruments to play in the same key as the rest of your track?

[Quantize]

I find that Thomas Penton Drum Essentials contains some really high quality sounds and just sticking to a pack like that should provide you with best part of everything you need for drums.

If you are trying to make a certain style/ genre have a listen to some tracks you like and try to describe each of the drums. For example the hats might be very sharp or have a more relaxed shaker feel. Now you can listen to your samples and hunt for sounds like that as a starting point. If you find something 90% of the way there try shaping it with your sampler to get it just right.

I tend to dive into the library and look for sounds as i'm making the drum loop and build the kit up whilst i'm in the groove. If you have already worked out where the samples are that match your style this should be fairly quick.

There is no hard and fast rule, but that's an insight in to how I work

Here is a video and accompanying rack to help you quickly pick drum sounds on the fly. http://www.quantizecourses.com/pages.php/?p=294

Hope this helps.