Grooves

Pop / Rock (straight feel)

Kick on beat 1, 1/256 ahead of beat 3
Snare 1/256 ahead
Cymbals 1/256 behind
Pop / Rock David Haynes (funky feel)
Kick ahead 1/28
Snare behind 1/128
Cymbals ahead 1 / 256
Pop / Rock - Jabo Starks (funky feel)
Kick on beat
Snare behind 1/256
Cymbals on beats 1 & 2, 1/256 ahead of beats 3 & 4
Fast 16th doubles (kick, hats, ghosts) - 1st on beat, 2nd ahead 1/256
Rock / Metal (straight feel)
Kick & snare on beat
Cymbals 1/256 behind beats 1 & 3, 1/128 behind beats 2 & 4
Rock / Metal (half-time feel)
Kick & snare on beat
Cymbals 1/128 behind beats 1 & 3, 1/256 behind beats 2 & 4
Punk / Metal (double-time feel)
Kick & snare on beat
Cymbals on beats 1 & 3, 1/256 behind beats 2 & 4
Rock / Metal - Peter Fredlander (fast straight feel)
Kick on beat
Snare 1/256 behind beat 2, 1/128 behind beat 4
Cymbals - behind 1/256
'Push' feel accents & fills behind 1/128
Rock / Metal - Gene Hoglan (fast 'pushed 8ths' feel)
Kick - ahead 1/256
Snare - ahead 1/256
Cymbals - behind 1/256
Notes: When a crash and kick drum are hit together, the kick almost invariably leads the crash by about a
1/128th. In addition to any 'pocket' or groove, any drummer's timing is slightly random. If your grooves still
don't sound human enough, try varying the positioning of the hits by about a quarter of a 1/128th.

Velocities
The velocity with which a drum is hit affects much more than just it's volume. It has an enormous
effect on the character of each hit, which it is vital that we replicate when programming.
For most rock and pop styles, a good starting point is to set the first kick (on beat 1), the snare backbeat (on beat 3), and any cymbal crashes to the maximum velocity setting (MIDI=127) and adjust the
velocities of the other elements relative to these.
It's common to keep the emphasis on beat 1, and to a lesser extent, beat 3, of each bar.
Consider which hand is playing what if your drummer is right-handed, then the right handed hits
will have a greater velocity than the left handed ones, and vice versa.
When programming fast snare and tom fills, it's extremely important to vary the velocities to
prevent the infamous 'machine gun' effect. Pay close attention to the sticking of your fills and which
hand is playing each hit, and vary the velocities accordingly.
In addition, many drummers will hit harder and harder throughout a fill, so the drums get louder as
we approach a new section in the music. This can be very exciting and emotive, and easily achieved
by gradually increasing the velocity of all hits throughout the fill.
When quick successive hits are played on the kick drum (with a single pedal), the last hit usually has
the greatest velocity. However, when quick successive hits are played on a sticked drum with one
hand, the hardest hit is usually the first.
When 8ths are played on the hi-hat with one hand, the odd hits (the 1st, 3rd, 5 th etc.) should have
greater velocities than the even. A particular style can be achieved by emphasising these
discrepancies, and can be very effective.
The previous tips have mostly been about capturing an emotive, human sound, but in some extreme
metal styles it's surprisingly common for any and all velocity variation to be removed from the bass
drum(s). This lends double-kick parts an even, almost mechanical, character. This may or may not be
the sound you're looking for.