session drummer?!?

[powderfinger]

I can't figure out the session drummer in v9.0. Is there a way I can set up a simple loop for a whole song with occasional fills. Or do I have to build and build until I have a whole song. When I compile loops it sounds like I'm sitting at the kit just banging random drums and ends up pretty incomplete. Tips please. Links to examples would be great too.

[bball jones]

Try to think more in terms of beats and measures and less in terms of fills. Beats create the foundation of your music. Fills could be thought of as embellishments.

To start, work with 8 measure sections.
Select a beat and create a loop for 8 measures. Now click in another beat pattern to start after the first pattern and change your loop point to the end of the 16th measure.
Once you have two or three patterns running together that you like, you could copy 'em and paste 'em into as long a song as you want.
Learn to control your software, don't let it control you. Try different tempo settings. Be creative - experiment. Don't worry about the fills, with a solid foundation they will come.

I use the session drummer on "Last Tuesday" www.mp3.com/stiff1