In the 90's, I had an ATARI 1040 ST with Cubase (MIDI only then), plus a KORG M1 Synthesizer as sound source; I recorded everything else (vocals, git) on a FOSTEX 4-track recorder – and was mostly disappointed in the end how it came out. "If only one could record vocals on Cubase tracks as well", I thought.

Then, big hiatus because of other career paths, until I bought my first Mac and discovered GarageBand: Holy Moly! My dream had come true!
I bought a Line 6 interface to record actually vocals on GarageBand tracks, and with it came a trial version of REASON (8, I think), which I came to like more than I expected, and so I'm still using it (meanwhile in version 12).

But the real kicker was of course the Band-in-a-Box: a band that is always available and plays better than any band I've ever been with.


Essential: Band-in-a-Box. DAW: Reason (formerly GarageBand). Interface: Focusrite.
I only wish I had had all this stuff available when I was young …