Even with a single pattern, you can add a lot of variation just by changing the pattern lengths to do polyrhythms. Say you do:

    909: 16 steps
    303 bass: 5 steps
    303 lead: 3 steps

Now you have a sequence that only repeats every 240 steps or every 15 bars, even though each device never uses more than a single 16 step pattern.

Doh I stand corrected :) Though still nowhere near as much potential for refining the end result as you get with a DAW. That's not to say live performance doesn't have value of course!

Yep I've done it. Suuuper tedious. Which is why I suspect even though you can do 2 or more bar phrases, single bar loops (vamps?) are pretty typical, instead varying the filter envelope and distortion over time.

Off topic but I found my preferred method of 'live' performance (for dnb) was to write a tune in the DAW with the intention that a few of the lead parts be played live, then switch off those parts and render what's effectively a backing track. Meant I could sort the mixing/mastering beforehand and keep in the flow of rocking out on synths when it came to the gig. I did use ableton but only to auto load synth patches/effect chains when each backing track was triggered.

I tried many other approaches involving 5 people driving a live looping rig but the above was worked best for me, which I guess made my act a 2010 equivalent of the guy wearing the burgandy velvet suit in the hotel bar ;-)