Step sequencers are ideal for amateur musicians as little musical knowledge is required. With a basic visual interface using a form of grid notation, this is a fun, hands-on way to learn to compose patterns by playing with sounds. Students learn experientially about the concepts of duration, timbre and structure.
Unfortunately, the DM1 app (The Drum Machine) is only available for iOS and Mac so I did not have access to be able to play around. I substituted for a very simple online sequencer io808.com.
Here are two beat loops I created:
This is a third loop, for which I have screen captured the process of making it: