Hi Bob,

From the sounds of what you want to do you probably won't need other modules for the time being. That is, unless you are unable to save your banks to a hard drive and such. It all depends on your sound playback requirements. If all you need is simple arranging like piano, guitar and bass, then the ESI-32 with some good CD Roms should be more than adequate.

Even if the samples you load in are large and don't fit into the sampler's RAM, you can either record them to hard disk using your computer or use smaller samples for your initial arranging and sequencing.

Regarding MIDI, you'll typically record the MIDI tracks first. This is not audio but sets of numbers representing notes, velocities of the notes, volume settings for each MIDI channel, etc.

Bob, I know you want to start off on the right foot. I've been there myself where I was green and didn't know very much. You would do yourself a great big favour by researching MIDI on the internet. As well, there are some books available (I think Wizoo?) which explain MIDI seqencing really well. I hope it doesn't sound like I'm brushing you off but MIDI sequencing is a subject unto itself and would take a long time for me to explain many of the things that go on.

I know that this doesn't help ramp you up very quickly but it *will* lead you in the right direction. Another thing you can do is hire someone locally who will show you the ropes. Take a few lessons from someone who is quite knowledgable. A local music store may help you out. If you decide to take this route, figure out what is fair for you and the instructor as well as what you will be taught during your sessions.

HTH and good luck.
Fernando