Absolutely. When I'm going for a feel, I'll often listen to a bunch of stuff in that same vein and kind of study what makes it what it is and then try to apply that. Although fills can be kind of vexing. My algorithm for really exciting drum fills is:bkshepard wrote:You know, pretty much all of us learned by copying what others were doing then adapting it and making it our own. There's no shame in copying for the sake of learning, but you do want to put your own stamp on it.
1) Flail away at the keyboard where the toms and cymbals are
2) Quantize
3) Listen - If not happy got to step 1.
I'd like to say I'm kidding, but I'm not.