Howdy Matt,

Definitely keep on writing your music

As for hooking up your midi keyboard, it's usually pretty easy to do. Part of it depends on what kind of connections you have on your computer and the midi connections on your keyboard. If the keyboard has the typical "midi cable" connectors ("pseudo circle" of holes for pin connectors), then you'll need some sort of midi to either 1) USB (if you have that type of connections) or 2) joystick port on your sound card.

Or, if your keyboard has a USB connection, and if your computer does, too, then all you need is a USB cable.

Since you're using Composer, you can look in the User's Guide and use the Index, and type in "midi cable". Double click on the highlighted topic, and there is a section that explains exactly how to do this.

After you have it hooked up, you can then use your midi keyboard to record directly into Composer, and have sheet music pop up before your eyes So it's a really cool improv tool, as you can diddle away, and then have the exact same performance play back for you. And of course you can edit it to make it even better, or layer instruments (such as Mark did for his "Space Adventure" piece) and all kinds of fun things.

Have fun!
ttfn,
Sherry