thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread.
looks to me like a workflow of continuous abstraction is possible in two dimensions:
1 . with patterns (with the extra benefits of stateless & lazy)
2 . with pseudo ugens
this has given me plenty to think about / learn / explore for the time being.
I do have a specific question that pertains to how a pattern-based workflow might integrate with CV clock, which I have posted here.
again, many thanks!