Pre-usb Keyboards And Usb/fiwi Audio Interface, will all keyboards work as a controller? Options

[amswineh]

As I begin to piece together some equipment for composing music, I've decided my first hardware buys are:

MIDI controller keyboard
Audio (USB or FireWire) interface (1/4" inputs, MIDI, XLRs, etc)
Studio Mic

and I'll go from there with appropriate software.

But I was wondering: I could get a USB controller keyboard. But since I am going to get some sort of audio interface (say a Tascam US-122 or M-Audio 410), do the MIDI inputs transfer through the USB/FiWi. For example, if I want to hook up an old pre-USB keyboard via MIDI, will the hardware properly transfer the MIDI calls from the keyboard and send through USB/FiWi to the computer? And will any MIDI keyboard work? Any problems you see with this setup? Did I just confuse the hell out of you?

Also, I need more information on the "debate" between USB and FireWire audio interfaces. I know which one is the best, but it's also the more expensive, and I'm pretty low on money at the moment.

just a caveman,
alphonse

[rcase]

sethjacquay,

Can you explain what you meant by 'my acoustic-electric' guitar? What kind of things are you able to do when running that through the amp simulators in GarageBand (and/or, I assume, something like Amplitube from IK Multimedia)? I have been toying with the idea of picking up a relatively-cheap guitar for some time now, and then learning the basics. I'm a keyboard player, and I am so, so tired of trying to produce realistic guitar tracks on a keyboard. I do hire real, living and breathing human players from time to time; but for simple parts, it would be nice to be able to do it myself. Part of what is holding me up is my uncertainty over which way to go- acoustic or electric. I really will need both from time to time, but I don't want to buy two guitars right now. Thanks in advance for your (and anyone else who wants to voice an opinion) advice!