Using premade metal drums just makes sense for a lot of songs. You save hours, you get the feel of a real drummer, and you still have full control. So why spend an evening programming a beat note by note? Sometimes there is a good reason, and this post covers that too.

“Premade drum tracks” can mean two things: audio (a recorded and mixed drum track you drop in as it is) or MIDI (the notes a drummer played, which your own drum VST turns into sound). This post is mostly about MIDI, because that is what gives you the most control.

In this post:

• 1. Time
• 2. The feel of a real drummer
• 3. Control over the sound
• 4. Ideas
• 5. Variety
• When to program your own
• Questions

1. Time

Two to three hours: in my experience, that is how long it can take to program one proper drum track that sounds good. Not just the grooves, but the fills, the crashes, and getting the velocities right so it does not sound like a robot. With premade MIDI you start with the playing done and spend that time on the song.

2. The feel of a real drummer

You can get close to a real performance by programming, if you put in the hours. What is hard to fake is the consistent inconsistency of a drummer: every hit a little louder or softer, a little early or late, in a way that follows the music.

Here is one chorus groove from Metalcore Essentials two ways. First, typed in: every note on the grid, every note at the same strength.

Then the same notes as they were played:

Across the whole played groove, the 53 hits use 22 different velocities, from 91 to 127, and only 14 of them sit exactly on the 16th-note grid. The rest land just before or just after it. That is the difference you hear as “a drummer” rather than “a drum machine”.

Every groove in the packs was played by a drummer on an electronic kit and kept as MIDI, not typed in note by note.

3. Control over the sound

With audio, you get the drummer’s kit, mixed their way. With MIDI, the sound is yours: any drum VST, any kit, any mix, and you can still change a note, move a fill or cut a bar.

	Premade audio	Premade MIDI	Programming it yourself
Feel of a real drummer	Yes	Yes	Only with a lot of work
Choose your own drum sound	No	Yes, any drum VST	Yes
Edit single notes	No	Yes	Yes
Change the tempo	Only by stretching	Yes, it follows your project	Yes
Time to a finished part	Fastest	Fast	Slowest

MIDI does mean you need a drum VST and the right note map. The General MIDI drum map shows which note is which drum, and getting started walks through loading the files.

4. Ideas

Different drummers bring different ideas. A folder of played grooves is also a folder of starting points: loop one under a riff and see what it suggests. Change the kick to fit your guitar, move the crash, and it is your part.

5. Variety

Feel like rock in the morning and metal in the afternoon? Do not spend the day programming; spend it playing. The packs cover metalcore, deathcore, djent, thrash, death, doom, power metal, prog in 5 and 7, nu metal, punk and hard rock, all played by me on the same e-kit, so they sit together in one song.

When to program your own

Premade MIDI is not always the answer. Program it yourself when:

• The drums are the hook. A signature fill or an unusual accent pattern that the whole song hangs on is worth writing from scratch.
• The riff is very specific. An odd rhythm that changes every bar may be quicker to program than to adapt.
• You want to learn. Programming a few grooves yourself teaches you what makes the played ones work.

Even then, you can start from a played groove and edit it, which keeps the feel. The free drum programming course shows how to write your own from the ground up.

Questions

Is premade drum MIDI royalty-free?

Whack Studio’s packs are: you can use the grooves in songs you license, sell and distribute. The packs themselves cannot be shared or resold. For other sellers, check the licence before you buy.

Will premade MIDI work with my drum VST?

If the VST can play General MIDI, yes. Most can, sometimes after choosing a GM map in their settings. The drum map lists every note.

Can I change the tempo of drum MIDI?

Yes. MIDI has no fixed speed: it plays at whatever tempo your project is set to.

Is it cheating to use premade drums?

No more than using a sample library or a drum VST. The song is still yours: you choose the parts, arrange them and edit them.

The Everything Bundle has all 21 packs of premade metal drum MIDI, played by a real drummer: every genre above, for less than six packs cost on their own.