Ableton is known for making excellent audio software, with Ableton Live one of their star apps. This program will allow you to manage all the processes of audio production, from beat creation to adjustments, recording and live sets.

The application, which could compare to a powerful combination of sequencer and sampler, comes with a library full of instruments, MIDI and audio effects to start working with. Ableton offers two sorts of views, arrangement and session, the first being like a traditional timeline, while session lets you add and play around with effects. One thing that impressed me is that you can associate any key on your keyboard with any effect, which makes for a really intuitive track creation process.

Ableton Live includes real-time stretching and warping of audio and even video import to sync audio to video.

Although you'll definitely need some technical knowledge to use Ableton I found the application very well detailed, with the info view box on the bottom left giving clear explanations of everything. Ableton Live also comes with loads on tutorials to master the program.

Ableton is a highly flexible and powerful audio solution for music production. Fitted with a great interface, a wide library of effects and loads of help, you won't find many programs as good as this.