aah!

Arp's are fairly straightforward. In Song mode you just go to "Arp" then "Record" and off you go. The length and meter choices are there.

However, most of the time I don't use Arp's mainly for the reason I can't. The drums heard in the song is a combination of two drum kits. An Arp only arpeggiates one sound (or drum kit) to the best of my knowledge - and that's the way arp's are supposed to be.

What I do is simply loop the tracks. If I go on to another part of the song where the drums or whatever instrument changes, I stop the loop at that point and record the changes. If I have to go back to the original loop again, I copy/paste to another track and loop it again, or alternatively copy/paste a pattern on the same track.

This can be done using the Fusion's internal sequencer (which is what I use) or external. It's just a matter of copy/pasting what you want to repeat at specific points.

I prefer to do the copy/paste method because both internal and external sequencers "like it" better when there are actual events being played. It greatly reduces the chance of a sound going off-time or getting "lost" and not played at all on playback.

Yes, all I need is time not love right now. I have got to keep producing stuff which limits my time for study and experimentation.

Right now I'm expediciously plowing through my new CUBASE SX3 software. It's much different than the way I have been producing music over the last 30 years. I still love my ole' retired SMPTEtrack ST, but I feel that at this juncture my destiny is with 'Virtual Instruments' which require consument CUBASE knowledge.

However, the product support from Steinberg is very good as long as you are a registered user. Also, I am finding my way through HALION symphony orchestra. Wow! Virtually indistingushable from a 'real' orchestra because you can manipulate the 'articulation' from note to note, phrase to phrase. Steep learning curve though.

If anyone is indeed interested in 'Virtual Instrument' technology please visit:

www.virtualinstrumentsmag.com