I have been a musician for as long as I can remember. I began singing when, as my Grandmother put it, I should have been too young to carry a tune. I had my first solo in a first grade choir at the First Baptist Church in Lafayette, Louisiana. By the time I was 10, I had been in a professional musical, a Christmas operetta with my church and was receiving one's in the University Interscholastic League Solo and Ensemble competition. I have spent in total about 22 years in various voice training and choirs including the Houston Symphony Chorus.
I began to get serious about piano at about 14 years old. Because it was so easy for me to pick out music by ear, I never learned to play by reading music. (Which I regret to this day...) I can read, mind you, just not quick enough to sight read. When I was 19 I got my first synthesizer and then things really took off. I had been involved with computers since I was 15 and worked all summer to buy an Atari 800. Now I saw how the technology behind modern digital keyboards, and especially in regards to MIDI, used the same concepts I had become familiar with in computers.
As time passed I accumulated more equipment. When PC soundcards started to be able to offer some real musical benefit I got a good one and wired up my keyboard rig. I bought Cakewalk Professional (back at version 2) to handle the sequencing. I started really writing music and was able to work around my handicap with written music.
Now days this is my Rig...