Ian...

Thanks for the visit and your observations. I am pleased that the song, as a whole, was okay for you. This not a genre that I get involved with very often, so I'm kind of doing the hit and miss thing with this! But, glad that the overall concept seems to work for you.

When using midi, or any other drum loops/clips, there is always going to be consternation with their sound. They will almost always sound too thin and tinny, too muffled, not "airy" enough, or...as you mentioned...too squeaky clean. Producers and engineers are usually the folks who are most offended by them. And, I see their point. So, as a home-based composer with a VERY, VERY limited budget, I do the best I can with the software I have. But, as you pointed out, there are ways to reduce that "mechanical" sound.

I appreciate the links you out up. I have visited the sites and found some potentially good utilities there. I will download the ones that seem most fitted for my projects and see if I can improve the drums.

Before I do anything else, I am going to go back and run the tracks through the "humanizing" effect on my software and see if I can loosen them up there.

I appreciate your suggestions and the URLs. And thanks for taking the time to listen and comment. It is much appreciated.

Al