So.. is it worth it to purchase Toontrack MIDI Packs?
I think they are great to learn from especially if you aren't familiar with how drums are played or haven't ever recorded drums and edited them.
The thing that makes drums sound fake is when all velocities are the same and there's no dynamics, especially with the Hi-Hat and not using fills between song sections. I made a chart that converts Decibels dB to MIDI velocity, see below.
I recommend getting some of the drum fill MIDI packs and drum beat MIDI packs in the style you're looking for. I really like Matt Halpern's style of drumming so I bought his Toontrack MIDI pack called Drum Riffs. Dissect the MIDI to see how the velocity and timing makes a drum part feel. I own a Roland TD-20 V-Drum kit and try to play some of the beats and fills. You should also try to learn the 40 Drum Rudiments. This will help with writing drum parts from scratch and editing loops to follow your music.
Here are some good links to learn the 40 Drum Rudiments:
I practice the drum rudiments with my hands and feet. I'm not very good on drums and have to play super slow but it helps me to understand drums better.
I also integrate practicing drum rudiments on Guitar and Bass. For guitar, right hand = down stroke picking and left hand = up stroke picking. For bounces, drags and flams, I sweep across 2 or more strings. For bass, right hand = 1st finger picking or Thumb slap and left hand = 2nd finger picking or 1st or 2nd finger pop.
dB to MIDI Velocity Converter
dB=40*LOG10(Velocity/127)
Velocity=127*(10^(dB/40))
0 dB = 127 MIDI Velocity
-1 dB = 120 MIDI Velocity
-2 dB = 113 MIDI Velocity
-3 dB = 107 MIDI Velocity
-4 dB = 101 MIDI Velocity
-5 dB = 95 MIDI Velocity
-6 dB = 90 MIDI Velocity
-7 dB = 85 MIDI Velocity
-8 dB = 80 MIDI Velocity
-9 dB = 76 MIDI Velocity
-10 dB = 71 MIDI Velocity
-11 dB = 67 MIDI Velocity
-12 dB = 64 MIDI Velocity
-13 dB = 60 MIDI Velocity
-14 dB = 57 MIDI Velocity
-15 dB = 54 MIDI Velocity
-16 dB = 51 MIDI Velocity
-17 dB = 48 MIDI Velocity
-18 dB = 45 MIDI Velocity
-19 dB = 43 MIDI Velocity
-20 dB = 40 MIDI Velocity
-21 dB = 38 MIDI Velocity
-22 dB = 36 MIDI Velocity
-23 dB = 34 MIDI Velocity
-24 dB = 32 MIDI Velocity