Drum Strategy for Non-Drummer?

A delay came make very simple drum beats more interesting. ReaDelay and Remaincalm's floaty delay are my usual go-to's. By using, for example, a dotted eighth note delay time and modulating the echoes, you can approximate drum riffs with funky embellishments.

Thank you all so much for your advice. I definitely have a lot to think about ... and demo's to try!

I don't see anyone suggesting Addictive Drums 2. Unfortunately, I bought it last year and regret doing so. There really isn't anything there that I can use for my main genre, which is classic Country music and a bit of old rock and roll. For the most part I now use Band in a Box for my drumming needs... quick and easy and sounds great. /Oscar

EZ Drummer 2 would be the one

I use Superior Drummer 2. I have not used a lot of others, but I really like it. I would suggest looking at your song, ask yourself "what other songs is this simular too?". There is only 12 notes in music. You are not going to do something never done before. So there are songs out there simular to the vibe of your song. Listen to those songs. Ask yourself, what is the drummer doing in this song. Where does he put the fills. How do the Bass guitar and Drums work together. Are they totally synced in the verse. Does the drums sync with the guitars in the chorus. Finding reference songs will not only help you with writing drums, it will also help you in many other areas. For me personally, I like to lock the drums and bass up super tight in the verse. The Bass Guitar plays the root notes in the verse. The kick drum will hit at the same time all of the root notes are played. The snare will hit with all of the octave notes of the snare. There are a lot of bands that dont do this. And a lot that do. But this will help you a good deal. In the chorus, I normally have the drums lock up with the guitar and vocal melody. Then lock back up with the bass only, in the verse. If the bass guitar does a little fill, lock the drums up with the bass guitar notes. Drop in a lot of drum grooves. Superior Drummer has a heap of drum grooves in it. You can click on one and hear it play in your song. A preview of it. Find the closest groove you can, that works. Then start with the verse. Look at your bass line. Does the kick drum hit with the bass notes? Does the drum groove hit the kick drum when no bass note is played? If so, delete that note. With a preset groove, you can often move a snare hit, or delete a kick hit that doesnt sync, ect. It's a good way to learn to make drum lines. Reference tracks, and editing preset drum grooves. Reference tracks, and editing drum grooves. Practice makes perfect, practice makes perfect. Good luck and have fun!

I quite like the sound of Westwood Drums, which are Free; an easy-to-use (but not always easy to see - a bit too small) user interface. Westwood Drums reminds me of the ease-of-use of MT Power Drumkit. There is also the free Sean Pandy Drums (no hi-hat or cymbals, apparently) I keep on meaning to try Bluenoise's Free Beta edition of Drummix/MyDrumSet, which appears to now NOT be free (it is very cheap, though). I would like to hear the plugin first, though, but cannot find any sound samples. The Looploft has quite a few different types of loops. e.g.,

Sort of related... would love to engage a jazz or show drummer 

I'd love to work with a jazz or show drummer who could help me with my reaper drum tracks to get me beyond simple loops. Would be happy to trade (I have great piano skills and am a good orchestrator) or pay. I'm just not wanting to add drumming to my DAW skills. [I hope this post isn't breaking any rules. If so, I apologize.]

I'd also vote for Jamstix and when I want to get the groove/song recorded I recommend SMDRUMS, IMHO one of if not the best sounding free drum sets out there. Created by some fine Reaper users!

listen to White room by cream on headphones. Ginger Baker will inspire you to roll your own