Hi all, I just wanted to get some advice about how best I could get into composing music for video games. It has been something I have alwyas wanted to do since I first heard the music from the Streets of Rage series. I was advised to first purchase a keyboard - one with MIDI/PC compatibility - to help me practice. Is there any speacial that the keyboard ought to have apart from the MIDI input/output? Also, is it essential to have had some formal music training, such as the piano....or that you need to learn how to play a piano? I ask this because, although I do not know how to play a piano - I''m always dreaming up melodies and ballads in my head. It sounds like a cliche'' I know, but thats the truth. I have used preprogrammed music software namely ''Rave-eejay'', although is is''nt much, what it allowed me to do was practice the ''arrangement'' of the song, like the crescendo/decrescendo and the timing of various instruments. I have spoken to Richard Jacques (who composes music for many sega titles) he advised me to learn how to use musc software applications such as Cakewlk and CuBass. I own Cakewalk version 9.0 and am learning it now. Lastly, I''m 21 years old now and I feel that I may be starting out a bit too late, especially as I have not had any formal music training before (except basic music in Primary/secondary school). I know it is a difficult industry to get into but I''m really determined to at least try my very best. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, many thanx, Koncise.