I found answers to my questions in other forum threads.

Yes they can but you may need to remap the data. That's what drum maps are for.
 
For example in AD2  MIDI Note 45 is by default mapped to a ride tip, in GM MIDI used by many other drum synths it's mapped to a low tom, other synths use their own bespoke mapping.
 
Using a drum map you can convert this so that every time the "In" note (received from the file or controller) is note 45 the drum map converts it to the "Out" note of your choice and then assigns it to the output port.
 
Most drum synths allow remapping from within their own interface or it can be done in Sonar using a drum map. Many maps already exist and come pre-installed but it's not hard to write your own if needed. Little tedious though maybe. 
 
Just seen that you're sorted..... I'll leave this up for others though.

Morning Karl 

Morning Colin, or to be correct "Afternoon" now. 

FastBikerBoy
Just seen that you're sorted..... I'll leave this up for others though.

 
Thanks for the response.  I didn't see it before I deleted my OP questions.
 
Drum maps are not what I want to get into at this point in my recording journey.  Mainly I'm trying to discover ways to make soft synth drums sound less like soft synth drums.  One video I saw covered adding a low end sub triggered by the kick in AD2, which is what got me curious.