yup anything if you know the techniques/composition... meaning if you can translate what you hear into your own music... ok... a pc or mac can run a sequencer which is used to 'record' MIDI data... midi data represents things like played notes, which note, when it is pressed down, how long it is held down for etc etc... it's the data of the song music... NOT the sounds.
That midi data can trigger ANY midi device making it play the midi note data...
midi receiving/sound-generating devices can be hardware (outside the pc/mac in their own case & with their own power supply).... or midi receiving/sound-generating devices can be in s/w playing their sounds out from the soundcard...
midi receiving/sound-generating devices can be samplers, drumboxes, grooveboxes, synths, etc etc... some of them also can send out their own midi data which might for example represent the movement of a synth pararmeter which changes the sound in realtime....
ok.... so you therefore create songs by writing/recording notes as midi data which is used to trigger sound-making devices in hardware or s/w form...
so you need a sequencer - a sequencer records, stores and playsback the midi data.... then you need the sound-making devices....
now we arive at my previous post - the descision wether to get hardware gear, actual units... like say a sampler and a synth and a sequencer... then a mixer to blend all those sounds... some basic fx to add delays & reverb - and that's IT!!
a setup like that is VERY effective and you can play live with it!
or do it all in software - use a software sequencer and software sound-generating devices/instruments -
and there you can use reason, Orion, Fruity Loops etc (self contained all-in-one packages which do it all & in some cases can expand)
or you get an 'open' sequencer and buy software synths/sampler/drums etc and use that to make a all-in-one system. This is the more expensive sequencers with greater facilities (in some cases), they all also have audio tracks which can be EVERY effective for dance of course.... But they dont come with much more than a basic freebie amount of sound-making software synths or drums etc.... so if you went for a main sequencer in s/w, like cakewalk, steinberg, emagic etc, then you'll also need s/w instruments to use with it....
now in the case of s/w instruments... IF you want to play your master keyboard, and actualy PLAY those s/q synths in realtime (so that when you hit the keys it sounds via your pc soundcard), then you need a low-latency card
Lowlatency cards process the audio fast enuff so s/w instruments can be played in realtime (with a fast enuff PC/mac that is)
ok so bare in mind that special soundcard needs to be added to the price (stating at around 160-70 for a starter card of any quality (purpose designed)
with the hardware setup... synth, sampler, mixer, fx units etc you dont need that special soundcard - you can of course still record things into your pc and mess with the audio in the pc and then reload it into the sampler if you go for an all hardware system.
there is a 3rd scenario
a pc/mac running a software sequencer... but with all outboard harware sound generating devices,,,,, so that'd be the middle hybrid between the two of 'all hardware' & 'all software'
make any sense?