cheap Software Sampler, NI Battery perhaps?

[not like this]

No Battery does not have a step editor.

Maybe something like EZ Drummer from Toontrack would be more up his alley. It comes with a shitton of MIDI files which he can edit in any DAW.

If it has to be standalone, how about Guru? I have never used it, but I am under the impression that it is more electronic. I don't think there are many other alternatives for standalone.

Band in a Box is popular for practicing.

[Reza]

If it's just for jamming, maybe Spectrasonics Stylus RMX would be a better option than a sampler.

This gives you amazing sounds, great loops and tons of flexibility to create instant drum backing tracks... rather than spending forever trying to program good beats from one-shots.

Don't get me wrong - I massively rate Battery, and use it for parts of all my beat making, but for what you've described, I think Stylus may be a great option.

It really does sound awesome - and with the chaos feature, it just comes alive! Much more fun than playing to a robotic loop over and over again.

Cheers - Rez

[not like this]

RMX is very similar to EZ Drummer... RMX would be better suited to Hip Hop and electronic sounds, and EZ Drummer for Rock and acoustic sounds.

Both require a DAW for play back.

[Reza]

Yeah that's true - Stylus does require a DAW for playback, but you could just use something really stripped down (i.e. cheap).

I don't know about EZ Drummer - it may be a great program, Dave Swift obviously has more experience with both so can better make a comparison.

There are loads of great sounds in Stylus though - and the interface is awesome. The features are great - especially chaos and there's nice tools for shaping the sound to get what you want. It's easy, quick and diverse to get great results!

Like I said, EZ Drummer may be better - I just don't know that program. I'd go to a store where you can have a play around and see what you feel more comfortable with.

It's just for jamming, so ease of use is key.

Rez

[jbfunk]

Intakt is a pretty cool loop player. Check out to see if it runs independent of a DAW. You can get different versions from East West that come with specific sample sets including natural sounding drums. If he has a PC get a basic version of FruityLoops for $49 or if he has a Mac, get Garage Band with a loop package for less than $150. Also, for jamming he coud just get a drum machine or a used Boss SP303 or SP505 drum sampler.

[not like this]

Another thought... iDrum

[Angus_FX]

If he wants to program his own beats in a standalone app, it's pretty much a toss-up between iDrum and Guru.. Reason might also be worth a look (it has the "ReDrum" programmable drum machine). None of the others has any kind of step sequencer / grid editor.