Use Found Sounds for Percussion

I've gotten a lot of questions through the Academy (and through good ole email) asking for tips on making drum racks more, well, interesting. In this excerpt from the Ableton Cookbook Academy office hours, I show you a method that I've found really helpful: Using found sounds for percussion, in lieu of or in addition to high hats.

By "found sounds", I mean any non-percussive sound. In my example above, I use the sound of wood being scraped, but in the past, I've used contact mic sounds, water burbling, ping pong balls, etc. Using these sounds will introduce textures that you never would have thought of, as well as some rhythmic variation that will make your beats slightly more off-kilter and "human." Check it out and leave me any questions in the comments!