Ableton

As the name suggested, it was originally developed as a performance tool for electronic artists, but Live soon also found its way into many studios as creative artists found its clip based cyclical workflow an inspiring alternative to the more linear staples from Emagic (Logic) and Steinberg Cubase at the time.

Inspired by old music trackers like Amiga’s Ultimate Soundtracker, Ableton Live adopted a vertical cyclical base layout using audio clips. Originally Ableton Live accepted only audio files but since Live 4, MIDI was introduced transforming Ableton into one of the most flexible and powerful DAW, allowing for the creation of elaborate performances and compositions as well as using its own Virtual Instruments and effects.

You're now just as likely to see someone using Live and Ableton's Push controller on stage, as in the studio or in the DJ booths, and Re-Wire works a dream within Pro Tools or Logic should you want to use Live within those other DAW's.

There are two versions :  Live Suite version provides more samples, over 3500 extra sounds and Ableton soft synths - whereas Live Software provides teh same rock solid timing and audio manipulation but without the extra large sample library and soft synths.