Well, there’s definitely a learning curve on each part of that.
The pad/keys performance and learning MIDI part, the recording software part, and looping. EZdrummer’s actually fairly self-describingly “EZ” compared to those other things. 
imho, don’t give up on that Akai keyboard. Akai’s supposed to have some of the better feeling pads, and for me, finding good pads was more than half the battle when I was trying to do the same thing as you are now.
Also, I apparently glossed over the point about “pads” in your first post. Yeah, those probably won’t be quite as plug-and-play with EZdrummer as the keyboard keys themselves. If triggering EZ is working with the keys, I’d recommend using those until you work out all these other things that are new to you.
With MIDI, there are many different kinds of messages. Three of the most important are “Note”, “Program Change” (PC), and “Continuous Controller” (CC). Keyboard keys are pretty straightforward — they send MIDI Note messages. And that’s the kind of messages you need to trigger the different kit pieces in EZdrummer. By default, I would guess that the Akai, on the pads (and the knobs), sends out CC messages. I don’t know if you can change that or not. If not, there are other workarounds to get those translated to Note messages, but that gets into way too many variables and detail for me to try to do on a forum, let alone in one post unless I have very specific info on the other software/tools you are and will be using. In short — that’s probably why the pads aren’t working out for triggering the drums right now.
So, again… give the keys themselves a try. And there, it just takes practice, and lots of patience. Just like learning to play drums or a keyboard, you can’t just instantly be good at it, so expect to invest the time.
On to the software…
Again, there’s a bit of a Mac/Windows disconnect between yourself and me, so what you have already, especially if you have Logic, might be good enough. Otherwise, I like Reaper a lot (there’s a demo, and there’s a Mac version). And Ableton Live may be even more suited to you, since the looping faculties are built into it more intuitively than trying to set up decent looping phrases in Reaper. All of these (Logic, Reaper Ableton) can host EZdrummer and record MIDI. So, with any of them, you can record your ideas and play them back and I’d bet that you can do that just fine using the Akai. Again, with practice and patience, and a few things to learn.
I know I had very similar goals to yours when I was starting out with this stuff (~4 years ago now). [ack… disregard this… it’s Windows only… preserved it anyway for Windows folks that might be reading. ] Some people suggested Jamstix since that will automatically compose MIDI grooves on the fly. I never really got along with it, but other people love it so it might be worth checking out. What I do now, generally, is use or adapt (edit) the included grooves that come with EZdrummer/Superior and the expansions for those and jam along with that MIDI. And if I do need custom drum parts, I’ll usually use a keyboard, a metronome, and multiple takes to compose them, and then I’ll edit them some more afterward to clean them up.
The keys still don’t feel ideal to me, but I’ve almost entirely given up on using pads — haven’t thought about it in a long time anyway. I would definitely like to have an e-kit one of these days, but it’s not in my budget. The urge to get one is stronger now though, since I hooked up my Wii’s Rock Band 2 drum kit to my computer — it’s not bad, but I only get five kit pieces at once, no extra articulations (hat openness, snare rim shots, ride cymbal bell shots, etc.), and — most importantly — no velocity input. Still, not too bad for a video game accessory! 
So, in short, no, I can’t give advice on a setup that’s easy to use. There’s learning involved and no way around it!
Hopefully though, you have a clearer idea of the available paths ahead.
…and the looping aspect will drive you particularly nuts. I’m still fighting with that one.
WinXP | Fireface 800 | Variax | Axe-Fx | Toontrack | Komplete | Reaper http://www.godprobe.com/projects/notemaps/
