Artist/animator Seeks Help!, what equip do i need to setup? Options

[rustik]

hey all you masters of music....i am an collage artist/flash animator seeking to come up with her own sound tracks for my animations. although i have had over 15 years on the mac working in graphic/web programs, i have no experience whatsoever in the music arena. I have read a few posts but i get dizzy because i know so little!:( i assume the basics of input are similar to art however.

i would like to find out what hardware i need to be able to compose..add to...and change my own songs...here are some questions:
1) is this mode of thinking correct?
you use a digi keyboard to input a basic "tune". this tune is then brought into the mac via a) the input audio on the back of the mac or b) "some hardware" maybe that MBOX box?
shall i assume the mac audio is lamo or inappropriate for most needs...and i would want some other part to bring in the sound? is it necessary? me thinkin costs here...you know.
2) then a software interface is needed to bring in the tune...as in photoshop being your interface to twain up a scanner....? is this protools? logic? reason? i have seen an mbox on ebay that came with protools...makes me think this is the interface...? really lost here.
3) finally, is protools ( or whatever software...) also able to warp out these inputted tunes¿ i would like to add sounds from my house, like beer cans smacking together, and add them to my tune. what will i need to make the basic tune sound like a guitar? or a sax? or a clarinet?
(please don't tell me, a sax, a clarinet and a guitar!!!!)

i know know i am lost with questions. i have looked all over for a decent "you need THIS" article, but the sheer volume of choices and equipments prevents me from finding it!

HELP!!! i am eager to melt visual and audio into one experience!

J>

[rickenbacker]

A dummy Midi keyboard is just a £100 hunk of keyboard-shaped plastic that can't do anything on its own - you can't turn it on and make sounds with it. It has to be connected to either a Midi sound module, which might contain things like pianos, synth sounds, basses, trumpets etc, or your computer (probably via USB connection) to control a virtual synth. Which is...

...a program you load on your Mac which simulates a real-life synth. Like Painter simulates real-life watercolour. Depending on the app you buy, you can emulate grand pianos, analogue synths, Hamond organs or completely new synth creations.

You're playing the keyboard on your desk, the keys are triggering Midi signals, which are sent to the Mac and the app in question, which is producing the sounds you've selected to hear played back. Kind of like a Wacom tablet for drawing.

Reason is surprisingly easy to get to grips with. Storm isn't so straightforward and takes a lot of CPU. Once you get a handle on this whole computer music thing, all the software works pretty much the same.