I have been recording music for close to 12 years now and have worked with Pro Tools, Reason, Cubase/Nuendo and Live. So far Live is my favorite program for making tunes. It’s simple enough to not interfere with the creative process but advanced enough for other stuff if you want it to be.
I used to use a lot of hardware, but now I primarily use Live and an Axiom controller.
Just got the latest version of Reaper (had much older version, like 1.x). I think I’m going to stick with this for now. I have Cubase and SoundForge 8.0, but looking to build a freeware box running nothing but free, open source, and or shareware, especially for these kinds of apps.
Reaper has a pretty small footprint (minus VSTs) and I’m familiar with the interface. Just looking to do some drum/bass tracks and sample cut/mixing on the road (really in the air) while I’m on biz trips with no instruments.