Originally Posted by jorby

For what it sounds like you want to do, Ableton is going to be where you will find the most success. That being said, Ableton is also where you will find the most frustration as its all powerful nature gives it a very steep learning curve. If you have some serious time to put in to it combined with a decent amount of intelligence, you can play live with prearranged tracks, set loops, and do just about anything via your pads and midi keyboard. There a ton of resources on forums as well as many helpful tutorials on Youtube, you just have to be dedicated to learning it. I personally prefer to just play instruments but the Ableton performer is all the rage these days. Wish you luck!