My name is Mike and I have been a musician for a lot of years... A guitar based musician and also a MIDI music musician with computers and synthesizers for some time as well... there is a distinction you know... Computer Music Composer or NON-COMPUTER musician... I'm both!

The difference is that some computer musicians can't jam. JAM as in improvise with other musicians LIVE in real time! I love composing on a computer but I also like to jam with other musicians! It's a blast!

I do not feel like counting but I first bought an electric guitar in 1980 and soon after was learning how to play as I formed my first band. Those were the days! Hiwatt head and Marshall 4 x 12 speakers. The earth would rumble and it all centered from my bedroom (or garage). But as much as I was a die hard guitar maniac, I was starting to develop a soft spot for keyboards. Maybe that had something to do with moving to California from Chicago, or maybe it was finally OK to admit to liking progressive music like Yes and Genesis to name a few. I had a 4 track cassette recorder and was composing my own music and laying down tracks with all the instruments. But there was something missing. While I was still deep into AC/DC and Judas Priest I did mange to get my first electronic toy that was non-guitar related in the early 80's and it was a Sequential Circuits Tom Drum Machine.

Man, that midi drum machine changed my life. While initially for jamming along to beats and rhythms with my guitar I soon found myself having a Casio CZ 5000 MIDI music keyboard in my possession. It was actually from a friend of mine that was a manufacturers rep for Casio and originally I asked for a CZ-101 (one of those tiny keyboards) and he said - no - you need the CZ-5000 - it's full size and does a lot more with MIDI than that little toy.

New! Music Production - keyboards and midi music software.

He was right - it sounded spectacular and shattered all my misconceptions about keyboards sounding cheesy (I hated cheesy organs and such!) And there I was - hooked on keyboards and making music using MIDI! Even though I had no formal training it seemed easy to fire up the drum machine and start jamming with the keyboard. Then using the 4 track I'd add a bass line or some vocals. Boy, what an exciting time!Since then I have been a musician and have been recording my own music at home with the aid of a computer and midi sequencer software. I've had a number of music keyboard synthesizers including Yamaha, Korg, Roland, Kawai and others.

I'll spare the dirty details on my midi music composing history will say that but my first MIDI music computer was an Atari. The Atari 520 ST had built in MIDI and had the most advanced MIDI recording software at the time. My first MIDI sequencer was was Dr. T's KCS (Keyboard Controlled Sequencer). Soon after I got me an Atari 1020 Ste. Apple did not seem interested in the music market at that time so even though I really wanted a Mac it was lagging behind the Atari. I remember going to the NAMM show and Atari was aggressive - Apple was not even showcasing music apps. That sealed the deal fo rme. Atari and MIDI were the cutting edge of music making on a computer. To make a long story short, in a few years the Mac caught up and I became a Mac User doing everything from photography to writing and soon even MIDI and digital music recording.

Digital music recording followed my foray into MIDI music composition which began with a sequencer. Atari was not up to the task of digital music recording and was fading fast, but the Mac was up to it with meaty processors and so I bought a G3 just for music. I used it with Cubase VST which handled both MIDI and Digital recording. I'll jump to current day. I have since abandoned the Macs and the Ataris and am currently making music on the PC. In short the PC has the broadest most diverse range of MIDI music recording software available. I was tired of the Mac not being able to use software like Acid or one of the thousands of incredible free music software and MIDI plugins. No bad feelings towards Mac people but I was tired of that elitist "I'm better because I'm with Mac" when in reality as a Mac User I was missing out on the best new cutting edge software. Much it was free too! How you can justify being a Mac Only musician is a mystery to me. I know there are some purists out there saying - it's not the tool - it's the music composed. Yes, that can be true but let me tell you - I am often inspired by a piece of music software. Ableton Live was like that. Sonic Foundry Acid was like that. Native Instruments Reaktor - oh my God! That software has inspired so much music! Native Instruments Absynth! Another monster that has inspired songs to pour out of my brain.So, I'll skip past the platform wars and just say that we are currently living in a very exciting time. I'll be offering insights on the best new MIDI music recording software as well as reflecting on programs and platforms that have been used in my past. It's an exciting time and I look forward to interacting with all you die hard computer music making maniacs out there!