Since the early days of electronic music - the bleeps and whirring of analog tape manipulation - I have had a fascination with producing music electronically. Before computers were "personal", I built my own 12-note keyboard with parts from mail-order electronic suppy houses. I am amazed at the power at our finger-tips (literally) with today's synthesizer and PC technology. Here's the hardware chronology of my musical hobby: 1) analog tape remixes 2) home-made synthesizer 3) Comodore 64 - SID programming 3.5) + Casio SK-1 keyboard 4) Commodore Amiga 1000 + Yamaha DX-100 4.5) Amiga 3000 + multi-port MIDI + Yamaha DX-5, Roland U-220, Yamaha TX-81z, Roland SC-33 5) PC + Proteus MPS+, Alesis QS8, Korg Wavestation SR In the Amiga era I used Bars and Pipes Professional software. When I moved to the PC I started using Cakewalk software - currently SONAR 6.2 Studio Edition. And now the software allows easy use of virtual synthesizers in real-time. We really are only limited by our own imagination and skills, and with effort, we can improve those.