"Like most musicians, I wear a lot of hats: electric violinist, director, composer, writer, booking agent, bookkeeper. I had been searching for a small MIDI keyboard I could use for simple note entry. What I got with the Prodikeys is much more than that, yet is still very easy to use. No complicated set-up and no weird MIDI problems. And it's part of my regular computer keyboard; how simple is that?

The latest hat I've been trying on is film composing. Again, I need something simple that interfaces with various software packages, including Sibelius and Sonar. I also want something that lets me experiment with sounds, chords and ideas. The Prodikeys software is a cool tool that lets me mess around with musical thoughts and just have fun. It's also a wonderful thing for kids, encouraging them to take their computer time beyond just homework and games to a whole new level of creativity.

My studio now also includes the Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum eX sound card. It's a serious piece of hardware for musicians, gamers and audiophiles. Creative Labs is making it easier to have a small, fully functional studio in a fraction of the space, for a fraction of the cost."