Tutorial

You could do this with most any external midi module/synth/drum machine.  The nice thing about harware is that you don't have to worry about it not working with the latest OS or not being patched by the manufacturer or having to buy an upgrade license every flipping year. 

In this video, I hook up the Alesis Micron to Ableton Live and control it with the MicronAU plugin.  I also drop some stuff and make alot of mistakes, so you should enjoy it. 

Mainstage is a live performance host for logic and other Audio Unit plugins. Mainstage 2 brings a few new features, a looper and a backing track unit. All the pieces are there for a wonderful live tool, and I'll show you ONE WAY to assemble them.

There comes a point in your amateur/semi-professional recording/producing career when hanging blankets from the walls, filling a room with random objects or egg crates don't do the trick.  You need sound treatment that actually does the job and doesn't take up too much room.  The treatment will need to smooth out the horrible bass problems, imaging problems and other things that will cause you problems when mixing and recording.  These problems get worse for smaller rooms.