I'm looking for the best software for music performing.  This would
run on my Windows laptop and interface to my keyboard and drum machine
through MIDI.  I'm looking for flexible software that also does some
tablature; making charts and transposing chords, etc.  I'd like to
keep it under $500.

I am an educator at an audio school and here is my advice. I think the
best program on the PC for midi sequencing is Cubasis by Steinberg.
You can get it in many different version, the one that only does midi
sequencing is less than $500. You can get a midi and audio pro version
called Cubase VST which is more expensive but allows you to do some
very professional things. One thing to consider. Most professional
musicians I work with use their keyboards built in sequencer instead
of the laptop route. This allows for less setup and everything is on
the keyboard. If you have a keyboard that can handle this I would
probably go that route.

Hi - Thanks very much for your reply.  I checked out Cubasis and it
looks like a valuable tool, however it seems to be geared more towards
recording.  That's a nice feature, but my interest is more in the
real-time performance side.  I'm essentially trying to create a
drummer and bass player for my combo using a good drum machine.  I'm
looking for a flexible way to program it for various songs and a
convenient way to access those programs during a live performance
situation.  As a bonus, it would be nice to have the software organize
our charts (lead sheets) and be able to transpose and/or transcribe
music into different keys, etc.  (Full notation is not necessary, just
chords or guitar tablature.)

BTW, my keyboard is a Roland A-90 Expandable Controller; very MIDI
flexible and yet it has no on-board sequencer.  I have a couple of
drum machines (both with sequencers); the most programmable one is the
Boss DR-3 (Dr. Rhythm).

Can you suggest anything that might better suit my needs?

You know Cubase SX is actually really good for this if you have a good
sound card you can use it to simulate a bigger room / etc. M-audio
makes some excellent hardware for this. We used to use an older
version of Cubase on the old Atari ST hardware for playing music live.

Have you checked out Cakewalk? Its good for Midi Sequencing and
interfacing stuff with your pc, but I really think Cubase is much
better, you've got to learn a lot to use it though.

Maybe you would be interested in a "Band in the Box" combo? I'm not
sure, can you describe how much of the pc side of hardware you have
is?

I'm hoping to use my old Toshiba Tecra 740CDT laptop which runs on a
Pentium MMX processor, but I'm prepared to upgrade if I need to.

I worked extensively in a group where we performed live using Creator
on a Atari computer (just me on sax and a keyboard player). He ran
midi out to his D50 and a drum machine and then mixed the outs of
those instruments in an 8 channel board. This crashed rarely, and my
only fear was a lack of backup (we didnt carry a second computer).
Now, I am trying to do the same, but with just me performing. I have
Cubase SL and Echo Layla and am trying to get everything up for
performance. I am very frightened of using midi during a live
performance with the laptop since so many things can go wrong (bad
commands, patch changes, channel screw up, etc.). I am thinking of
taking all the midi tracks and converting them to wav. and then using
that. Is that nuts or prudent? Thanks.