John's Sampler is a free virtual instrument built 1:1 on the DJS-1000 workflow — the same 16 pads, the same step sequencer, the same moves. Learn it here for free, and you'll walk up to the real hardware already knowing it. Finger-drum with your mouse, touch or keyboard, flip to SELECT to program any pad's steps, then save & share your beat as a link. Real sound, no download.
A sampler is a box full of sounds. Each of the 16 squares holds one sound. Tap a square and you hear it. Tap them in time and you are playing drums with your fingers. That's the whole idea.
The squares have short names on them, like SUB, RIM and SHKR. They're just drum names — you don't have to learn them. Tap one and your ears will tell you what it is.
There are a lot of other buttons on this page. You can ignore every one of them. Or press them and see what happens — nothing here can break, and nobody is watching. If you'd rather build a beat step by step, the Groovebox is the calmer one.
John's Sampler gets the workflow into your hands for free. The full DJS-1000 guide teaches the depth — sampling, scenes, FX chains and 200+ grooves to steal.