oh, there's an example drum beat from Musink here btw:
http://soundcloud.com/musinkmusic/drumkit-bell-offbeats-via

It can be a bit tedious and more work, but I always, always, work with the raw audio files

Each sample has it's own track. Layers of samples to create a snare/clap or whatever. Groupings and then routings.

I wont use a sampler for anything other than e.g. a paino or whatever. I like the freedom to grab any particular hit and change it, timestretch it, automate the volume or pitch (ableton is great for this kind of stuff), have whatever plugins I want on each channel instead of having to use a samplers effects or do endless routing of audio from the sampler.

I will sometime have 50 channels in this way. Like I said, a pain in the backside sometimes but totally worth it. This way of working inspired me to mess around with my drums more, to create more variation, and create more ear candy.

Try it.

Yep! That kind of stuff can be a lot of fun!
Here are is a great tutorial on that technique (it focuses on loop processing but the same stuff can be done with one shots):
Part 1: http://vimeo.com/8455759
Part 2: http://vimeo.com/8455994

Cheers
Dennis

I use BFD2 with the various pieces assigned to an 8-out configuration. the output configuration I keep consistent. I use one midi track in the piano roll for the drums.

the interface of the instrument and its separation of outputs as described is certainly sufficient for detailed mixing considerations, for me. I use Battery for certain percussion and it's the same type of thing, one track, but my use of outputs is more varied. Separate midi for each piece doesn't suit me, as over-complicated.

at one time I exported audio from BFD2 and imported it into the project to take all the component pieces of the kit as separate audio objects, but that was more work than it was worth for me.

as far as a controller, I use the Zendrum, hard surfaces for a much snappier experience than a keyboard or pads. I used to use the Roland Handdrum but it wore out. for hand type of drums it was pretty good. I saw Vinnie Colaiuta do tablas with it behind Jeff Beck. But for drums, kind of mushy IMO.

I typically click my drum notes in because I do a lot of 4/4 EDM. However, if your doing something more acoustic in nature, I would say it's best to play them live using a midi controller. For me, I just get too lazy or I'm not confident in playing live. I know it's best to not rely too much on that quantize either, but a lot of mouse clickers like myself become use to it and that's where the robotic mechanicl feel comes from.

Sometimes I fire up loops as well for inspiration, especially when it comes to acoustic style drum beats or just anything other than a typical 4/4 Dance beat because that's where I'm most weak at. I do find it a lot easier to start jamming a long to a well constructed loop than my own crap. I'm usually still too prideful to use loops though.

Normally I use FL Studio's Step Sequencer or Piano Roll. I also really like the Kong Drum Designer from Reason, really awesome useable sounding kits and editing. I normally ReWire that back into FL.

Another issue I find with drumming on a midi controller that people may overlook is trying to find the perfect setup for your fingers and figuring out if you like to use the keys on a keyboard or MPC style drumpads. For example, maybe one person may be more comfortable playing with their left hand only, right only or both. Maybe one likes to trigger the kick drum with their left middle finger and snare with their right middle finger, or kick drum with their right index, snare with right middle, close-hat with right ring and open-hat with right pinky. I personally haven't found the perfect setup myself, but I do find most success using the pads on my Axiom controller. I normally set it up so the bottom 4 pads are Kick, Snare, Close-Hat and Open-Hat. I've never been too coordinated using the keys, so I have minimal success using it for drums. The keys are just too close together for my drumming needs, I like a little separation.