I don't claim that i can make the best beat in the world or even near that, but i do know a few tricks that could help begginners out, and better to learn it from me than take ages to discover it yaselves!

4 heavy hip hop drums use different sounds:
when you are lookin to make a heavy hip hop beat or even if you are finding yerself runnin outta drum samples and u cant be bothered downloading more u shud try combining 2 different drums 2gether, e.g. a deep bass drum sound and a punchy bass drum sound this will give a completely different sound and sounds great when mixed 2gether, for ultra heavy beats try 2 x heavy bass drums/ snares at the same time , this technique is great when used on snare/bass drums, but in my experience it isn't so great for hi-hats although experiment if ya want and see what ya come up with.

Shuffle for a swinging beat:
Try using the shuffle function of whichever prog you use with yer drums, this will add a swingier feel to the drums, it crazy when using fast timberland style hihats as well, u shud be able to adjus thte level of shuffle, experiment with it and try it in different positions until u get a great beat.

Chop yer own loops:
Ever wonder why your drum beats sound manufactured and unnatural, try this tip, instead of taking individual drum sounds and makin a beat why not find an existing hip hop drum loop and chop it up and then used the chopped pieces as single drums, this has the advantage of leaving small gaps before the drum sounds and also leaving layered drums 2gether like hi hats, triangles etc. You shud find that your beats sound more better when using this technique of chopping.

Rip samples:
Another method of makin ya beats sound natural is to rip the drum hits from existing tracks etc, it it better when u rip several hits from a single track, cause then they are all similar drum sounds and the hats n snares fit together with everything else, this is best done when riping from old disco and funk tracks where drum solos were not uncommon, the older the track the grimier the beat usually feels, if u need it to be grimey and you don't have older record try a granulizer plugin or sumthing similiar that should do the trick just as well.

Hope that helps ppl out, if not then at least i contributed a bit to the site. Peeps can leave comments or there own drum techniques as replys.
Pz

Nice tips Banzai. You're definately right about ripping beats/drums/samples/loops etc from CD, I've found that is an easy way to create new stuff and if done properly sounds completely original. The main problem has been varying levels and pans on different samples. These can be easily sorted though by compression or pan manipulation. Apparently, the best way to pan a virtual kit is this:
Bass drum-central
High hat-slightly left
crash-way left
snare-slightly right
Toms-central
Ride-way right
I guess it just replicates the way a real kit is setup but it just gives a broader projection of sound and sounds live and professional. There's loadsa different ways to do this though.
Peas. (and carrots)

cool man i may try that shit with the panning

Nice tips yo 4 real
ima definitely play wit that when i'm doin my drums
to see how it makes my shit sound

peace

DRUM TIPS FROM I.N.F.O.
D/L THE FREE I.N.F.O. DRUM KIT VOL. 1...NOTHIN BUT DRUMS!!!
THATS WHAT YOU GOTTA DO IF YOU WANT THEM BANGIN DRUMS!