Understanding Drummer and Arrangement Markers

One great feature of Drummer is when it interacts with arrangement markers.

What are Arrangement Markers?

Arrangement markers are something we're going to look at when we take a further look into arranging. Here, I have a new drummer track pulled up.

Let's go for some R&B, right?

Arrangement Markers Overview

• Intro
• Verse
• Chorus
• Bridge
• Outro

At the top here, our drummer roles are going to play something that fits those sections very well.

Drummer's Intelligent Interaction

The data and patterns are essentially determined from the drummer reading what is going on in the arrangement markers. It essentially says,

"Yep, I got it. I know what you want for an intro, I know what you want for a verse, and so on."

Example of Transitions

• Transition from Intro to Verse
  You can hear already how it feels like a real drummer.

• End of the Verse to the Chorus
  Very cleverly puts in a fill, knowing exactly what to do.

• End of the Chorus to the Bridge
  The energy is obviously taken up, and as per usual, you can go in and edit all of this.

More Control with MIDI Regions

We've established that Drummer is quite intelligent, but we may want more control than it actually allows. This is where we convert the drummer region into a MIDI region.

1. Select All Drummer Regions
   Right-click and choose Convert to MIDI Region.

2. Working with MIDI Data
   Now we have all the MIDI data available in the piano roll, allowing for adjustments that weren't possible when working in Drummer.

Important Notes

• When you make changes here, you cannot convert it back to a Drummer region.
• The only option to revert is using Command + Z repeatedly.

Copying and Hiding Tracks

You can select all of the MIDI data, hold Option to copy them down, and then mute or hide that track if desired.

"Do you remember we went over how to hide a track?"

Quick Shortcut for Converting

• Convert to MIDI Region Shortcut:
  Control + Option + Command + M

If you frequently convert tracks, learn the shortcut to save time!

Returning to the Original Drummer Track

If you ever need to return to the original Drummer track, just:

• Unhide
• Unmute

Now you can edit the region as you wish.

Making Adjustments

For example, if you see a snare hit that you don't want in the bridge, you can click on it and remove it.

And that is how you would work with Drummer in Logic!