Thanks for the feedback guys. I would prefer a hardware module for ease of use. If I wanted to go the software route, is Ableton considered user-friendly for a beginner?

Also there is the whole morass of ASIO, USB to MIDI, etc. Is there a good primer on this somewhere? I tried once before with One Man Band and went right back to my hardware arranger. I'm sure it's good software, but I wasn't patient enough to sweat through all of the configuration issues.

I guess I will give the Yamaha QY-series a try. Considering the price, if it doesn't work at least I haven't risked a lot of dough.
Thanks again,
Ted