Elektron Musical Instruments

i am still saving for my MD, and am interested in possible live 
action with it. has anyone used an external controller to switch 
between patterns and the like when playing live? would it even be 
possible? i've been looking at the akai MPD16 as a possible 
controller in this way but was curious to hear what seasoned users 
had to say. some of y'all don't like the MD pattern-change 
function(s)--have you found a way around this?
any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
thanks,
wendell.