I'm not that fussy. Loops, patterns, actual tracks via a percussionist.
They're all fine as long as it works in the tune.

NeuroRon
Changing the emphasized beats or placements is pretty easy in the Sonar Loop Editor to get the dynamics right as a groove. 

I guess I'm going to have to revisit the Loop Editor. I've got a few loop libraries but they've just been taking up disk space. Maybe I've been missing out.
 

You're not. Honest.

Here's my take Bit... loops can be a source of inspiration for some, but I don't think they are for everyone. I've tried, since the first release of Acid, to make loops do something useful. In all that time I've had one thing I liked, an orchestral bit no less, using one of Sound Forge's libraries.

I've also tried using looped percussion in otherwise more conventional projects. But I usually end up editing the poor things to the point where it would have been quicker to just play the parts it<G>!
 
The idea behind loops makes sense - they are recordings of performances. Just like I end up using CineOrch in almost every orchestral project because it adds that little bit of glue that only happens when a bunch of players sit in the same room and, well, play.

But I just can't seen to make it work with loops... if you figure out the secret please share!
 

I swore that I would not buy another piece of gear, this year!  Oh well, this is not the first lie I've told myself! 

At least I'm not alone in my loop aversion.
 
All I really want is to take some of the drudgery out of shakers, congas, bongos and tambourines.
 
Sometimes, I think "hmm, I wonder what a tambourine would do for that chorus..." and then after an hour of painstakingly hand-planting MIDI notes decide that nah, that's not what it needed. Tracy's Brio sounds like it might be just the ticket, and I'm sure it'll be very reasonably priced for us po' folk.

The idea that playing a percussion part is drudgery seems counter-musical.
 
Just pick one up and play the darn thing into a microphone.
 
If it takes more than one pass... you need the practice. :-)
 
Tambourines start at $3. Shakers can be cheaper than walking a soup can to the recycle bin. Every one should own their own hand drum... just saying.

You're right, Mike, but missing my point. I have a tambourine. I have multiple shakers and maracas. I can even play them reasonably well - for 30 seconds or so, then my timing starts getting shaky and the dynamics become increasingly inconsistent. But I won't know if they're really what the song needs until afterward. On many occasions I have inserted sampled shakers and deferred the decision to use them until the final mix, and only then put up a mic to record them. 

"...I won't know if they're really what the song needs until afterward."
 
That idea perplexes me.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
As an aside; Have you ever watched the video about Tom Petty and the Damn the Torpedos album?:
 
""Jim Keltner was in the hallway with the shaker," he (sic Tom Petty) recalls. "He was standin' outside the door playin' this, and I came out and Jim said: 'This is what that track needs.' So Jim Keltner came in... and put this shaker on, which, believe it or not, if you put the drums on [adjusts the sound] it's okay, but it's not really got the mojo, you know. So, Jim Keltner, we owe him a lot.""
 
 
Anyways... I'm just throwing out an idea... not looking to force a disagreement.
 
All the best,
mike

I remember that scene Mike, that was a great video.
 
For myself it can be a simple case the creative process vs necessity or both.
 Many times I've written or developed a tune out of a basic shaker perc part or groove, sometimes it's after the fact.
Sometimes I totally remove the initial perc track altogether.
How you arrive at the end result shouldn't be the issue, just as long as you get there.