Classical Pianist Seeking The 21st Century Experience, so many options, so little time Options

[Ananda77]

Dear Friends
Please excuse my absolute ignorance of your world. I have suddenly woken up from the 19th century bubble of Chopin, conservatoires and Steinway pianos. I have now decided to invest 6-9 months of sabbatical on '21st century learning'. Electronic music; Final Cut to learn video editing; Dreamweaver and Photoshop to learn web design.

My budget for the music component is around 1000 pounds ( about 1500 us). I have a new iMac.
Here are some wishes of what to do and what to buy, slightly over budget:
Akai controller keyboard MPK 88 (600 pounds new , 900 us, obviously can buy cheaper used one.)
Motu Interface microlite. (88 pounds 130 us)
Software: Tracktion 3 (165 pounds, 225 us). Possibly Absynth 5. (375 pounds 560us)
I could try a music course in London such as Audio and sound engineering course, to dip my toe in the water. They do a day course for around £100 (about 150 us)

I want to achieve three things: 1) simply to get myself started in electronic music, so not scared away by the technology, but relaxing into / engaging in the process.
2) see if I can create big bands of interesting ambient sound. Im guessing with this wish its better I buy a midi controller that has lots of keys like a piano? Or can I get away with a smaller controller and spend more on software? I have a clavinova Yamaha which is nicely touch sensitive, but I guess I need a midi controller.
3) I want to explore audio/visual interface, to make sophisticated, creative music videos for youtube. I see this as being a new creative outlet for me when/if I can get to that stage of feeling comfortable with the technology. These might be of classical piano or of electronic music, I'm interested in the dovetailing of sound and image.
Any pointers in the general direction much appreciated! Thanks a lotl

This post has been edited by Ananda77: Fri 3 Dec 2010, 22:46

[houstonmusic]

opinions vary. here's my two cents, as an accomplished pianist and electronic film and theater composer.

use two controllers. hook up your clavinova AND a small controller with knobs, sliders, and pads. keys from the clav, tweak from the knobs, etc.

decent monitors matter.

think about Propellerhead's "Reason" as an all in one solution for sounds and sequencing. it's a powerful, well established platform that is super robust and easy to learn. well supported on the web by users and third party developers. sounds great.

you'll experience some aesthetic knots.
to massage them i advise:
1. focus on the SOUND, not the harmony.
2. make a crappy piece EVERY DAY. some of them will be good. you'll notice what's important to you faster.

let us hear some of your work...!
good luck.