AlkemestRedux: Should I just learn how to program bm drums?

AlkemestRedux 09.20.26	We debate
Josh D. 09.20.26	There are a lot MIDI grooves online you can get, mix and match, edit, etc. Mixed with your own programming, you can do a lot. That's how I've always made drum tracks.
cylinder 09.20.26	nothing wrong with programming long as it sounds good
Eakflanderyof 09.20.26	As a drummer, my opinion is see if you can find a session drummer willing to do it for a grand. Maybe 1.5k. It's worth it imo
BAT 09.20.26	programmings a good skill to learn cause it'll build up your general knowledge of sequencing which can applied to pretty much any electronic based songwriting. once you've got your head around how beats and structure works thaaan you work on creating feel. there's plenty of free playstore 16bar drum sequencer apps to get started with buuut if your going all in on diy recording you may aswell learn how to sequence in a daw. looking around can get some free vsts/loops/samples buuut even like professional grade drumset vsts are likeee 30-50bucks now, it's a good time to get into it cause there's a lot of options
AlkemestRedux 09.20.26	I do have some basic drum programming knowledge from using Ableton to make a couple shitty dubstep songs back in the day but they were pretty basic. I have Reaper now and use it to track guitars but the thought of learning to program anything kind of makes my brain hurt. But at the same time it may also be easier than trying to wrangle a drummer in today's economy. Although a studio drummer may be good too. Do they write the parts as well? Or should I have basically everything thought through and just relay that to them?
BAT 09.20.26	Oddly enough like 15 years out of date fruity loops is my favorite thing to program drums in, but it's awful for tracking/live instruments. I've dabbled in reaper/Ableton but not enough to sequence in them, my friend that makes super technical breakcore stuff swears by vertical trackers like renoise and opentracker2 And never worked with a pro drummer but for session guys main thing you'd probably want is to have the song arranged definitively so they can map out fills and tempo
budgie 09.20.26	you dont need to be a good drummer for this embrace the punk origins of black metal listen to the drums in sodom's outbreak of evil, second half of celtic frost's visions of mortality, gorgoroth's begravelsesnatt. the exploited's uk 82, sacrilege lifeline, burzum stemmen fra tarnet the good shit. sloppy offtime drunk plodding amateur drums with dbeats thrown in is black metal as fucking fuck
Hyperion1001 09.20.26	programmed drums always sound bad.
BAT 09.20.26	I think they work best when they kind of avoid being a "replacement" and people embrace the inhuman nature, buut tbh almost all modern metal production uses samples so it's not too far off from programmed. Buuut than you get into a lack of uniqueness: most 2000s metal programmed drums always sound like the tomas samples from catch 22, because they're using those exact samples(ezdrummer drumkit from hell iirc.) If you are trying to pass programmed drums off as real you've gotta pay attention to hit velocity to create dynamics, annnd intentionally move stuff slightly off beat to create a more organic feel. Most triggered/electronic drums use the hit velocity hence it keeps more of a dynamic than generic programmed drums, some bands just keep them all maxed which is where you get the obvious crappy stuff Regardless drummers are usually better at coming up with beats than a guitarist, for demoing thoo programmed is a great tool to build with. Even playing to premade loops is a great way to come up with riffs or tighten up your guitar playing
Eakflanderyof 09.20.26	I'll just say, a buddy of mine is actually writing and recording his own black metal album and he's hiring a pretty well known bm drummer who's popular on IG and has played in some pretty big bands and the rates arent bad at all. If you've got even just a little extra cash to spare I'd recommend going that route... but like someone else said, you should obviously have all the initial work done so they dont have to put effort into anything but recording
brickhed 09.21.26	as someone who's coming to the same crossroads, i'm much more willing to try to do them myself. right now i'm focused on taking my project from bedroom to something more concrete. my small town barely has anyone who likes extreme metal, and most metal acts don't get anything more than underground shows, which I don't have access to. i feel that i'm good with drum beats, and i've been wanting to learn them anyway. but if you want to go that route, nothing's wrong with "blast beat here, skank beat there" type of songwriting. the main thing is stamina, though. i second "sloppy offtime drunk plodding amateur drums with dbeats thrown in is black metal as fucking fuck"
AlkemestRedux 09.21.26	Yee the idea of learning some basic drumming sounds kinda cool to me. I live in a townhome so I wouldn't be able to have a full kit, but we do have a shitty digital kit kicking around. Maybe I could learn on that and then go track on a rental jam room kit.