The main problem I see with percussion is that people generally don't put too much effort into it, and that's why it doesn't sound as good. Like the piano, and every other instrument, the percussion needs a good amount of love and effort to sound great too. Another misconception is that OS percussion should be used like real percussion. To an extent, do not do that. OS percussion is very different from real percussion in terms of sound quality and volume.
Percussion has always been one of my favorite instruments, and I use it quite a lot. Based on my experience, the main things you need to take note of when using percussion (specifically OS percussion) are:
1. Percussion stacking and volume.
Percussion sounds extremely soft as is. It almost always has to be at the highest volume setting, and needs a good amount of note stacking. If you didn't already know, putting the same note on top of each other increases its volume. Applying that rule to percussion is one of the main ways to prevent percussion from drowning out due to the other instruments, to make it sound more dominant, to make it sound realistic, and of course, to make it sound great. (At least I think so)
2. Percussion layering.
Most percussion instruments sound pretty bad alone. The simple solution to this is to layer them with other percussion instruments. This makes the percussion louder, more realistic-sounding, more cool-sounding, more satisfying, etc.
Here's a list of percussion instruments I recommend layering together:
>Kick Drum 1 and 2/ High Q (optional)
>Pedal and Closed Hi-hat
>Open Hi-Hat and Crash Cymbal/Crash Cymbal 2/ Chinese Cymbal/ Ride Cymbal/Splash Cymbal (experiment and see which combinations of these you like) I personally like using almost all of them at once for that loud and crispy crash.
>Snare 1 and 2, Snare 1 and Slap, Snare 1 and Clap, Snare 1 and Stick, Snare 1 and Open Hi-Hat (again, experiment which combinations of these you would like) Personally, I find Snare 1 to be perfectly fine alone, but it must be stacked at least 3 times so it'd be audible. With the songs I make, I typically need Snare 1 stacked 4 times with the Open Hi-Hat stacked twice.
3. Interesting variations and fills to your drum beat.
Percussion can get repetitive, and if it's repetitive, it's boring or uninteresting. Spice it up with some sick drum fills towards the end of the drum pattern, or use the other percussion instruments that I honestly don't really bother using such as the Vibra-Slap or Timbale. Again, you have to experiment to find which sounds you want.
In a nutshell, percussion is an instrument that needs to keep up with the other instruments volume-wise, and requires some experimentation for one to achieve the sound they want. Have a sample of my application of the stuff I stated above:
https://clyp.it/h4lqwgts, and the OS link (if you can run it):
I lack the music knowledge to get into the nitty gritty details and terms, but as stated by XStep, it's a good idea to check out different genres to get a better understanding of what kind of drum beat you're looking for.
Have fun learning percussion ^^ It's one of the main instruments I use to get OS sounding more professional.
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