1. Remember the physical limitations to which real drummers are subject. Obviously, individual drummers have only two arms and two legs, and are therefore only 'four-note polyphonic' in synth-speak - but there are also other restrictions on what is physically possible. Many typical rock and pop rhythms incorporate a steady eight- or 16-to-the-bar hi-hat or cymbal rhythm. Above a certain tempo, this will necessarily involve using both hands, usually playing alternate notes, so it's important to think about which hand is doing what; you can't hit the hi-hat at the same time as the snare or crash cymbal, for instance, if you're using both hands to keep up a steady rhythm on the hi-hat.

2. For the same reason, there are certain sounds which can't be combined realistically in the same pattern. You can't switch instantaneously between brushes and sticks, for instance, or between using a normal hi-hat and one with a tambourine clipped to the top. Sticks can be used to produce rimshots, but brushes and beaters can't, so it would be unusual to mix rimshots and brushed snare. Nor is it common to combine hi-hat and ride cymbal in the same pattern - they're usually set up on opposite sides of a drum kit. You wouldn't usually do loud crashes on the same cymbal in quick succession, either; if you want successive crashes, use two different cymbal sounds. With all this in mind, imagine using a brush in one hand and a stick in the other - what kind of rhythms and sounds could you achieve with that combination?

3. Bear in mind that the force with which drums are struck will not be constant. To a certain extent, there will be random variation in the velocity of each hit, but there will also be more predictable variations. In pop and rock drumming, for instance, the first beat of the bar is often emphasised, while reggae rhythms are characterised by a heavier third beat. There are also physical limitations on how hard you can strike a drum: beats played in quick succession will tend to be quiet, since you can't raise the sticks as high, or get so much travel with the bass drum pedal, between hits.

4. Also, don't ignore dynamics within the song. In dance music, the drums are often compressed to the point where they are totally even in volume throughout, and any dynamic changes are effected by simply dropping out parts of the rhythm. Real drummers, however, use crescendos and other dynamic effects to add feel to a track; often, for instance, they will build up the volume going into a chorus.

5. Use sounds which are appropriate to the dynamic level of a particular drum sequence. Some percussion instruments, like crash cymbals, are virtually impossible to play quietly, while others, like rimshots, bongos and handclaps, are inevitably relatively quiet. A sequenced full-on drum assault will thus sound a little false if it is based around huge, reverberating rimshots or triangles.

6. Use only percussion instruments which are appropriate to the style of music you're trying to emulate, and remember that most real drumkits actually contain a very limited number of drums. Not many rock drummers would have wind chimes, timbales, tablas or claves in their standard kit; similarly, if you're aiming for a '60s pop feel, that 808 snare probably won't be a help. Few drumkits feature all of the huge range of toms found in many synth drum sets - it's often best to choose two or three and use only those. Also, be careful when reproducing drum parts played on brushes: some synths' so-called 'brush' sets actually replace only the snare samples with brushed sounds, and don't bother to provide brushed samples of cymbals or toms.

7. It's one thing to have the feel of a pattern in your mind: however, it's much harder to analyse the slight timing variations that produce that feel. The best way to capture 'feel', therefore, is to play the parts into your sequencer, from a keyboard or other controller, in real time. Start with the two most important - usually the bass drum and snare - in a single pass. Playing the drums well is, like most instruments, difficult, and requires a lot of learning. However, it's not hard to use two fingers to bash out a basic rhythm, and doing so makes it much easier to capture the elusive 'feel' of a real drum part. And the beauty of sequencing is that you can correct any mistakes afterwards.

8. If you're not sure what sort of feel your drum part should have, or you can't seem to get it right by just recording to a click track, remember that you don't have to record the drums first. If your song centres around a particular piano or bass riff, for instance, you could try recording that into your sequencer first and add the drums later. Being able to hear the important instrumental parts is very useful for deciding what kind of rhythm will or won't work.

9. If you do need to edit the patterns you've entered, avoid snap to grid or similar functions. It's all too easy to end up not only correcting mistakes, but also the timing variations that are responsible for the 'feel' of the part. If you MUST use quantizing, try using some of the extended parameter controls that most sequencers offer - like quantizing only those notes that are a certain distance away from the grid, or quantizing them to within a certain percentage of the grid. This will help maintain more of the 'feel' of the rhythm while still tightening up the overall performance.

10. If you're having a really difficult time getting a grip on how to achieve a certain feel, you might consider using a software program with a 'drum grid' interface (Reason, FruityLoops, etc.) to experiment with where sounds are placed. Throw a kick on 1 & 3 and a snare on 2 & 4, then move them around on the grid to get an idea of why they sound like. This can open up all kinds of ideas for new rhythms (see my Reason #1 article for more tips on polyrhythms and such.).

11. Bear in mind that a lot of real drumming styles actually depend on consistent deviations from theoretically accurate timing. Sometimes this is quite obvious, as in the case of heavy syncopation or 'swing', which imposes a triplet feel on a four-beat rhythm, but it can be much more subtle. For instance, playing slightly ahead of the beat, particularly on the first and third beats of a four-beat bar, is a common device used to add urgency to a rhythm, and is characteristic of much disco, pop and country drumming. In other genres like the blues, by contrast, drummers sometimes deliberately delay the 'off' beats to create a laid-back feel.

12. Don't simply record a one- or two-bar sequence and then repeat it throughout the entire song. Even if you want to have the same drum pattern all the way through, record it several times and mix the different versions up. Each version you record will have slightly different dynamics and timing variations, and the variety will help to reproduce the looser feel of a real drum track and implement some of the dynamic changes I've already mentioned.