ASHRR on blending live drums with Battery for extra punch and clarity

ASHRR’s unique approach to production has always leaned on a mix of organic and electronic textures, and that’s something they’ve perfected over time – especially when it comes to drums. There’s no substitute for the authenticity and depth that recording live drums brings to a track. The nuances of real percussion, the natural room reflections, and the human feel add a level of character that purely digital beats can’t always replicate. But even the best live recordings sometimes need a little extra weight, punch, or grit to sit just right in a mix.

That’s where Battery 4 comes in.

ASHRR layers MIDI-based drums underneath their recorded percussion – as they did on their latest EP Please Don’t Stop The Rain which features a standout remix from house music legend Ron Trent. Battery’s velocity layers allow them to dial in dynamics that seamlessly match the live performance, ensuring that MIDI drums don’t feel stiff or out of place.

Whether they’re using Battery’s built-in kits or making custom ones, this hybrid approach gives them the best of both worlds – keeping the warmth of live recording while adding the clarity and power that modern production demands.

Jump to these sections:

• When real drums need a bit more power
• Using MIDI velocity in a human-like way
• Aligning transients across multiple layers
• Presets vs. custom drum sounds 
• Common mistakes when layering samples
• Faking realism in MIDI-based drum samplers

We go deep in this interview – breaking down when to layer samples, blending MIDI with live drums, and how ASHRR fine-tuning their percussion with Battery to shape their signature sound.

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Live drums bring character, but sometimes they need extra weight– when do you decide a track needs that extra layer of MIDI reinforcement?

I am always a fan of real drums, both in terms of sound and especially feel. We’ve been fortunate to have Brian MaCleod play drums on a lot of our new work. He’s a brilliant player. Regardless of whether we start with percussion that’s programmed or organic, I’m always trying to retain the insistence and attitude of real drums.

We also equally love electronic music and programming. There’s a character to a real kick drum – each hit has its own velocity and sound; it’s always changing. I often add different forms of electronic kicks to extend the low end or emphasize different parts of the beat. We usually use Battery kits for this, especially ones I’ve made myself for this purpose.

Building tracks that compete on the dance floor and modern mediums is an art form, and we care about that. But always for us, the guiding principle is finding our own voice and sound, and not just conforming to a norm. That’s why Battery is such a powerful tool for customizing our sound.

Pro tip from ASHRR: Always try to make your own sound. Everyone knows what a 909 or an 808 sounds like, but when you stretch it or filter it, you make it your own.

How do you use Battery’s velocity layers to make sure the MIDI elements feel natural?

Velocity is incredibly important to making something feel alive. Making sure that the layers within Battery follow the intricacies and subtleties of performance is often the difference to whether the pocket feels good or not.

When different layers fire different samples, that is one less thing I have to program into the music. Sometimes, it is simply a different hit of the same drum. Other times, it may be a different sound in the layer that has less attack, or has more room, so that variances are more audible. Those details cue your brain to feel the music as alive, and not plateaued or copied and pasted.

Pro tip from ASHRR: I like the J Dilla approach when learning programming, where you might quantize the kick drum, but not the rest of the kit. Take the time to explore your own unique pocket and find those special moments.

What’s your approach to aligning the transients of live drums and Battery samples so they don’t flam or phase out?

Aligning transients is something you employ with your own taste. If you have multiple snares or kicks, I will often check the phase between individual elements. When they are in phase, it often hits harder.

But there’s no single approach that always works. Sometimes a flam is more musical on a snare, or a clap, as opposed to when everything is arranged just so. The vibe is always king, and various moments of “imperfection” can come across as interesting or memorable.

Do you prefer using Battery’s built-in drum kits, or do you import your own recorded samples?

I’ve been using Battery for a long time. I love so many of the built in drum kits. You have all basic building blocks in there, as well as some good surprises.

We also use our own samples in kits we’ve created. I also have kits that are made of ambiances, noises, and even feedback. To me, Battery is a sampler first, and a drum machine second.

Pro tip from ASHRR: Throw some overdrive, or compression, or other processing over everything you are hearing while programming or putting it together. That can take you to new places.

What’s the most common mistake producers make when layering live drums with samples?

I think the first mistake is thinking that you have to layer sounds as a default. The right choice of a sound in the beginning is very important. But then we will often layer sounds for a specific vision, and hardly ever do we leave sounds as they are.

We process, distort, compress, re-record… all sorts of things.

For producers who don’t have access to a real drum kit, what’s the best way to fake the realism using Battery?

If real drums, or real sounding drums, are your goal, then mimic what real drums do. Not every kick and snare has the same volume or velocity. The hi-hat may have some swing to it. Pocket is so important. Don’t immediately quantize everything, especially the top part of the kit.

Pro tip from ASHRR: I will often switch up textures. Perhaps an electro sounding kick and snare is better paired with a human sounding high hat pattern, or vice versa. That’s always more interesting to me.

Start adding punch and clarity to your drum sound

Once again, huge thanks to ASHRR for breaking down their process and sharing insight into how they balance live and electronic elements in their productions.

Their approach to layering Battery’s MIDI-based drums under real studio recordings proves that you don’t have to choose between authenticity and punch – you can have both.

Their latest remix EP, Please Don’t Stop The Rain (Ron Trent Remixes), showcases that same balance, bringing together organic textures, deep house grooves, and meticulous production techniques. Whether it’s Ron Trent’s signature touch or the ASHRR Soundsystem remixes, this release highlights how timeless influences can still push forward-thinking sounds.

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