@Jimmy and Knuckle.
Thanks for the audio tip. Yeah, that did it. I can now play YouTube videos while Cubase is open.
As for equipment, I’m not completely set up yet because I have to get my PC upgraded. I purchased some heavy duty VSTs (ESQL Hollywood Strings, Choir and Symphony Orchestra) and I’m running bare bones here at 3 gig mem. I’m upgrading to 16 gig as soon as my tech gets around to it. I don’t even have a keyboard yet because the studio keyboards I have are too big for my PC area. So I’m going to purchase an M-Audio 49 key that I can plug into the USB port. My other keyboards aren’t even USB compatible and I don’t have MIDI ports in this thing.
My biggest obstacle is going to be having to convert from orchestrating (I use Finale 2012) to playing live. A lot of the VSTs don’t transport well from Finale because of the keyswitching problems between Finale and CineBrass.
Fortunately, I don’t plan on writing anymore piano concertos or symphonies as the royalty free music biz deals with mostly very short pieces, especially for those looking for stings.
With all my frustration right now, I’m really excited and looking forward to diving into this full force. I remember trying to program old synthesizers back in the late 70s. I guess if I can do that I can eventually get the hang of this stuff.
We certainly have come a long way.