Many thanks for this discussion. It's very interesting and educational for me. As noted by Mac, it seems the tendency is to make it an "either or" situation re: midi v. real tracks. I probably don't know what I'm talking about, but they both have their very useful applications, IMHO. I guess we could go on and on, but for me, the bottom line is just use what you have to to get the sound you want. FWIW.

Cornet Curmudgeon