Wow, his head must be reeling with all those explanations and options ..
each is true and a unique view on how to do what he asked.

Now he has to decide what to try first.
To be honest, I usually get things to audio right away when in the studio. Live is another story. There are instances when the knowlegde of those ports are good to know. We used that feature live more than once. Sending the lights out one port, the guitar patch changes and sysex out another along with the synths patch changes and special controls for vocal processors too. Careful use of the 'thru' ports on the devices themselves made for seemingly limitless options.I really enjoyed that part of our shows; making the whole thing work with MIDI. You could be playing one device while another was loading a new patch set, and the light show was timed to the click at the same time. Good times.

Is my 'geekiness' showing?

I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!