ableton is the shit!!!
i make alot of drum and ba** with it, rewire with reason and its all i need!
http://www.myspace.com/sossystemfirst track up there is made with an old sampler and ableton....the only character in that track that is ableton specific is a little glitch fx i did on the drum audio when the mc whispers...but i use that stuff alot in experimental stuff, its good for twisting audio up and changing sounds up with time stretch algorythms instead of using plugins...!
its cheap too, well not as expensive as reason and cubase, specially if u look into the educational discount prices are awesome!!!
peace
oh...and its great for live stuff, the next track ima post on my myspaz is a deep hiphop track, i play it all live in one take on the mpd, ableton is just so easy like that!!
ill let u know when its up...i need to borrow a mic to do the rap!
ezzz