RickJP909, thanks for the long and very informative answer (and the compliment): much appreciated! I will have a look at all the stuff you mentioned! BTW PE is Producer Edtion. ;) And I already found out about the Sonitus Gate which indeed works very easily! And it's nice to know I am not alone when it comes to not using samples: I also always feel the need to create beats etc. from scratch on my own. ;)