For the past decade I've used an old video game soundtracker called ModPlug Tracker (now known as OpenMPT; http://www.modplug.com). It's usually used for electronic music, but I've always found it very useful for layering and looping any kinds of sounds. I used to compose entire pieces of music on it, but nowadays I just use it for drums.
It's a super old program, but it feels almost vintage now. And it's kind of funny to make rock 'n' roll using software for video game music.
