We had a bit of a discussion about creating different ways to define a pattern for a drum track. I'm not volunteering
but if someone wants to give it a go I'd suggest they have a look at the excellent example set in the default distribution. It's in the plugins under "strumpattern". Basically, it lets you set up a pattern using something like:
Plectrum @strumpattern dudududu
no reason at all not to do something similar with a drum pattern.
For docs, just enter the useful command:
mma -I strumpattern
Hope this helps.