"midi" plugins used to help your drum sequencing?

[beatzz]

What midi plugin's (not vsti's) do you guys use to help your midi sequences and bring back a creative workflow while working in a DAW?

I find drawing in kick's and snare's in the midi grid really tiresome in cubase sx. Maybe i should consider picking up an MPC 1000 to get more into making my drum grooves.

So far i think that Reason's matrix, Cubase's appegiator plugin are a good alternative to just drawing in notes in a midi grid. What do you guys use to help your drum sequencing inside a daw?

For example i have battery, but i really don't like drawing in midi notes to get a groove down. Using the keyboard is a little better but it's still a little fiddly in the sense that when i go back to edit i get all lenghts of notes, and the quantize notes or ends doesn't really help to make all my notes into sixteenths in length.

[XHipHop]

I started out using Reason and other sequencers but I've become MUCH more comfortable playing something by hand and then fixing it in Logic's piano editor later. I've gotten to the point where I can bang out drums and go back and have the timing just how i wanted it in under 30 seconds.

Sorry I didn't answer the question but I just wanted to note that I went the opposite route as yourself.

[beatzz]

Man, that's incredible, under 30 seconds hey!

I have a question, when you go back and edit the groove u did from your keyboard controller, do you find it confusing when editing on a midi grid that's snapped to sixteenth; that the notes u inputed from the keyboard are mostly different in length by a couple ticks? Do you individually re-size everyone?

It's a little confusing and an inspiration killer for me because i'm so used to programmin with fruity loops sequencer that all the notes are clean 16 notes (in how look on screen) So therefore when i'm editing on a midi grid the different lenghts that drums hits appear to be throws be off a bit.

[XHipHop]

Nah, i'm lucky...that doesn't throw me off. Usually i'll just drag the ends of the ones that are too long or ugly and make them neater. I'll fix up a few bars that I wanted an then start copying and pasting. Then i'll edit some of the copys if i want some different variations of the beat.