Here's my current setup A lot of times I just sit down and mess around. I'll fashion a chord progression, work on sound synthesis, shape up some custom drum samples, whatever. It's very rare that I'll sit down with the intention of moving in a direction, and it's even more rare that I don't walk away from that mentality frustrated with a lack of results. If you make your only intention having fun, that's when you'll lay the most golden eggs. Here's a result, one of my best so far (I think). I started with a mic, an acoustic guitar, and garage band ~3 years ago. Watch your wallet, these toys can get expensive... Oh, and playing with a metronome sucks, but I bite the bullet, I hate being off tempo and then trying to clean it up later. P.S. let me know if you need help deciphering that crappy flow chart.