Best approach for mixing real drums and midi beats

[brianaustin]

I'm editing some drums that we recorded in the studio. I'm quantitizing the real tracks a little using techniques I learned here. The song has a fairly straightforward four on the floor type beat. I'm thinking about adding some midi drums in with the real drums, specifically a harder kick and some 808 type high hats. Would most guys try to line up the midi drums and the real drums so they hit perfectly together or would they let the timing be little off? Or, would most guys just replace the real kick with the midi kick and not have 2 tracks? I'd imagine you'd still get a little of the real kick in the overheads. I'm just wondering what common practice would be–to clarify in a pop/modern rock type environment.

[whospilgrim]

It's pretty common to hear or read of producers layering different kicks or snares to get a more full or punchy end product. One approach is to have in mind the sound your after and try to recreate that by layering, or even creating from scratch. On the other hand, guys like Rennie Pilgrim has been known to, eh hem, 'borrow' kicks from tunes he likes and then straight put them in his own track or layer them.

Experimenting is the key to success imo.