Hey Genesys, thank you!
For drums, i use the ableton drum sampler 'impulse'. I use several of them, for example: one for each - snare, hihat, shaker and then maybe two more impulse with several elements in each, for example one with toms/congas and one with wood/rims or other drum samples.
For each impulse, i add compressor, sometimes any distortion, then low cut filter and maybe EQ. Then, as insert on a return track, some reverb and maybe delay.
For good mixing would be important, to EQ thoroughly all elements of the track, but i dont do that so much. Also systematically set different predelay times of the reverbs of the different elements of the track, would be good. And also set panorama. This way, your track will become a 3D structure. But i do that randomly, dont like technical mixing so much. I rather like the part of the production, when creating melodies and harmonies and add much huge reverb and delay
I studied audio production and i play the piano since im 5 years old and had 15 years of piano classes, mostly playing classical music. But back then, i didnt like to practise so much the classical music, so i started to just play what sounds good for me. It went from trial and error, to composing, to improvising.
I have a midi e-piano, but most of my tracks are not created with it, i prefer to draw the melodies and harmonies with the computer mouse. For example, my track 'heaven' is mainly made by mouse, but in the last third of the track, there is a bit of keyboard improvisation. I mostly do a mixture of music theory, instinct and trial and error.
I love to use the pentatonic scale for composing tracks. Its very simple and there is a special trick to start it easy. Its a coincidence, that the black keys are exactly the pentatonic scale, when you use the key 'E flat' as keynote. Try this out:
Accompaniment: Make a pad with two notes sounding together, only using the black keys. Spacing between them is a quint. That means, you pad is made of the two notes E flat / B flat. Then switch to other quints on the black keys and come back to E flat / B flat, when the loop starts again.
Example of a 4 bar loop:
2 bars: E flat / B flat
1 bar: G flat / D flat
1 bar: D flat / A flat
Melody: Make a melody, but remember to add much huge reverb and delay
Play or draw with the mouse some random notes, but only using the black keys.
Example for a 4 bar loop, most simple:
2 bars: E flat - G flat - A flat - B flat
1 bar: G flat - A flat - B flat - D flat
1 bar: D flat - E flat - G flat - A flat
This way, you can make a track with for example 5 different melodies, and all the melodies will always perfectly match together!
For melodies, you can also add additional notes: The white key F matches good to the pentatonic scale. The white key A is good for a blues mood. The white key C is good for a happy mood. There are many more possibilities to add or replace notes for different moods.
For accompaniment, you can also add additional notes to get different harmonic moods. But sometimes, i just make for example harmonies with 4 notes sounding together, using trial and error.
If you want to make a track using a different keynote: Just make the track on the keynote E flat. Then transpose everything to the wanted keynote.
Feel free to ask more questions. I can also open a thread about music theory, if there is some interest.