Thanks for all the props!

I'll say it another way, to anyone here who plays or sings: I think the most important thing you can do, if you have the slightest ability or desire for it, is to learn how to make a simple recording sound good at home. Get that basic ability down--a clean recording of something simple--and you can make things happen.

Here's one way to begin:

A DAW (Recording software)
An interface
A good microphone (Begin with an SM57, I say...move up later)
A MIDI keyboard controller

That's all you need at first. With those four tools, you can make just about any sound under the sun. All the rest is coloration. Focus on recording things cleanly and mixing them down to proper levels, and you have submission material.

That was my challenge, and that challenge leads to a lot of creative activity--lots of new reasons to write new music.

And check out this latest cool plug-in for people who don't play piano: http://www.sweetwater.com/feature/ezkeys/

So I say learn to record yourself digitally! It is a lot of fun, and opens up a lot of doors for old songs to find new opportunities. smile

http://www.soundclick.com/MarkKaufman