MIDI for an idiot

[reco]

help i want to under stand midi but it confuses me . yes i under stand what it is but i need to know how to use it like with a drum machine and a keyboard , and also how to hook it up. right now i have a midiman winman 1x1 card and am geting eather cubase or cool edit pro. i need to know how to record midi track how they can be changed later and how they integrate into a digital hard disk recording setup on my pc.

thanks and sorry for being so long winded.
any help is cool.

 

[drstawl]

What are you using for a MIDI synthesizer and what are you using to record digital audio?
Both of these devices are required although you can get a very decent synth that exists entirely in Software if your PC is fast enough. The Virtual Sound Canvas.
http://www.edirol.com/music_equipment/audio_music_software/vsc/vsc55ow.html

The actual setup revolves around these choices.

 

[jackdaw]

The link below takes you to some great books on the ABCs of MIDI.

Ian Waugh's books are particuarly good, especially the one about digital Recording, (didn't see it listed on the link). It's called MAKING MUSIC WITH DIGITAL AUDIO.
http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/categories/Popular_Formats/MIDI/