Drum machine/synthesis for a special needs kid

[trevett21]

Hey everyone. I was just looking for any recommendations for an entry level drum machine/systhesis for my son. He’s 8 years old and has cerebral palsy. He’s left hand/side dominant so I need something pretty easy to use either in his stander or on the couch. He loves music and uses garage band all the time. I play guitar but have no idea what I should get. I would love to get something he could plug into my amp. Any help would be greatly appreciated. It’s the only thing he wants for Christmas. Thanks!

[The Elf]

Roland T-8?

[tea for two]

Also for touchscreen there's Roland's Aira TB3 bass machine. Not drum machine, yet it's lots of fun easy to use as it's large touchscreen.
It's USB powerable from portable battery pack if I recall correctly from when I used it quite a few years earlier

[Arpangel]

Roland SP404?
Pretty fun machine, I was going to say, stick with Garage Band, you can always put it through your amp, and download ad-on's if you want.

[al_diablo]

I’ve got a Volca Beats that is very popular with my daughter (3) and some older children of friends (ages 7 & 4) that have also come round and played with it.

Lots of tactile control but still easy to use, can be used with the little built in speaker or headphones / line out.

You can pick them up second hand for a pretty reasonable price too.

[James Perrett]

Our lad loves his Yamaha PSR-E403 keyboard. It gives you some manual control over sounds as well as lots of styles to play with. It can be hooked up to a computer or used self-contained. It isn't particularly small though.

The nearest current equivalent is the PSR-E473.

[trevett21]

Thanks everyone so much! I did know about the volca beats but didn’t realize it had an internal speaker which is great. I went ahead and ordered it. Thank you all so much. I really appreciate the help.

[BJG145]

There's a simple controller called Skoog designed to work with iPad.

https://skoogmusic.com/

[Serious0]

Have you looked at Ipad apps?

In particular,I find Patterning 2 and Auxy to be fairly intuitive. Koala also, and it adds sampling capability, which is fun, even on a basic level.

I have not seen any hardware that approaches the level of ease of use of those apps.