Granted, the ThumpMonks have a limited following at this time, but I often get emails asking me what gear/software we use. I used to feel like I was giving away trade secrets, but that’s ridiculous. It’s not the stuff you use, its the music you make with it. I’m not worried about anyone reading my mind and stealing ideas. SO, here’s the gear, in short.
Apple Macbook pro.

I don’t wanna have the old Mac vs PC argument. My Mac works and I spend less than 1% of my time figuring out what’s wrong with it if it crashes (which it almost never does). No PC I’ve ever used could boast the same. It’s more the OS than the hardware, Vista users, good luck running a home business on that. NOT being smarmy, really. There’s no excuse for a late project with a client. Excuses (like say, oh my computer didn’t feel like working) lead to other people getting hired instead of you. So I use a Mac.
The Macbook pro beats my G5 by a few ticks and was a real help when I had a dayjob. Portable studio. Heaphones, Macbook, work. I programmed the majority of Steven Curtis Chapman’s record This Moment on it. Yes, at my dayjob. I’m not proud of that, but in my defense, I was being phased out and given very little work for weeks at the time.
Ableton Live

I also use Logic pro, but I think Ableton Live is a revolution for programmers, sound designers, and even composers. I’m not as dead-set about the sequencer you use as I am about the OS you work in, so if you use Logic, Sonar, Cubase, ProTools, or what have ye, great. This is a matter of taste.
To me, the key to picking a good sequencer and recording program is not the plugins it comes with or the snazzy looks. Its workflow, workflow, workflow. If someone is paying you to do a demo, you have to gauge the price your charging against the time it will take you to complete the demo. The ‘on the fly” audio editing I do in Live would take me 3 times in other sequencers I’ve tried because they have a different workflow. Live also has a great way to access your sample libraries in its left column. The plugins are great for drums and the EQ and compression is decent. You might be faster in another program.
I use a LOT of plugins, Nuff said.