For multitouch devices, Electrum has a multitouch pad dialog as well (See Menu->Play Multitouch pads) where you can play just like an MPC by hitting the pads.
LATENCY OF THE MULTITOUCH PADS DEPENDS ON YOUR DEVICE. SOME DEVICES HAVE VERY BAD LAG RESPONSE. TESTED AS FAST: GALAXY TABLET, DROID X, DROID 1. KNOWN BAD: HTC DESIRE.
HTC WILDFIRE IS TOO SLOW OF A DEVICE TO run Electrum effectively. Sorry, upgrade your device, it's just too slow (523Mhz only).
Please NOTE: The pads on the main screen are not designed to play real time because they are not multitouch. Use the multitouch pads for that.
Also check out my ReLoop music sequencer, which allows you to sequence loops just like Garageband or Sony's ACID.
PERMISSIONS:
PHONE STATE/IDENTITY - used to stop playing if a phone call comes in. IDENTITY is NOT used for anything and it not read at all.
SDCARD WRITE/READ - used to read sound files, and to save settings, patches, and drummkits
