Hey man of the Blewz:
I just got a new Boss 770 drum machine and it is a real delight. There are more patterns loaded in that box than I'll probably ever get to use. This is my third drum machine; I also have an Alesis and before that a Yamaha. This Boss Box is by far the best sounding.
Some time back a good friend of mine who is a very talented keyboard person called and asked to come to my studio to do a short cut of one of his new tunes to send to the members of his group, Chizil. (out of Chicago)
This friend has been in the commercial music business for years and has done many commercials/music arranging/etc., that you have heard on the tube/radio.
Since you record alone as I do most of the time, here's what I learned from this good musician friend.
First do the drum track; yeah, you may have to count out the measures/etc., but it is worth the time. One way I've found to make certain tunes end professionally is to fade out the drums at the end - this leaves room to do a number of nice add-ins as the song fades away.
So, once the drum track is done, you can do the keys/chords/keys/solo/etc.
Now it gets easier; now you can add a horn solo, vocal, strings, one at a time if you have a multi-track set-up. And, if you have virtual tracks, you can do a few cuts of solos/and pick the best one.
Also, you can add special drum licks to certain spots in the cut, like a cymbal crash or bells, etc.
I use an MD-8 Yamaha and 8 tracks are usually plenty for me; of course, you can bounce tracks but I believe a better final mix can be had if you don't bounce. This way, you have complete control of imput for every track/plus tweaking the EQ if you choose.
Hope this helps out; I've also written drum patterns and used them in a loop/or a mixture of patterns. Keep plugging away at the drum machine/net chat, etc. Once you get the hang of one drum machine, they are all pretty much alike in function; just different buttons to push and wheels to turn.
The Green Hornet