Total Newbie Question about using Prophet V

[SteveX]

I am new to synthesizers, as far as owning and playing them goes.  I've never owned one before in my life.  Never had a software synth, and have never owned a MIDI-Keyboard.

What I do have is GarageBand on my MacBookPro laptop.  I have been composing some synth and piano music with that, using a computer keyboard.  I am a big fan of John Carpenter's late 70's and early 80's soundtrack scores.  I've done my best to get a similar sound out of GarageBand, but I want something that sounds better (hopefully a lot better).

After researching the synthesizers Carpenter used at the time, and reading about the old Prophet 5, well, here I am..

It appears, but I am not totally certain from reading the details on the Arturia website, that all one needs to utilize the Prophet V synth emulator is the Prophet V software program at a cost of $250.

Is this correct, or is there some other Arturia product that needs to be purchased that the Prophet V interfaces with?  What do I need to actually record and layer tracks that I "play" with the Prophet V program?

Secondarily, must one have a MIDI-Keyboard to actually use the Prophet V?  For example to even try out the demo version of the program.  If you need a keyboard, what is the purpose of showing an image of the real Prophet 5 keys on the screen?  Do they just depress in sync with the keys of the MIDI board, like the virtual piano keypad does on GarageBand?

Any recommendations for a MIDI-Keyboard that is relatively basic, isn't very expensive and is kind of like the keyboard on the old Prophet 5 itself?

Thanks for any help anyone on here can provide..

[aaron aardvark]

If you live in the United States, you can find Prophet V for $200 at Guitar Center.  What country do you live in?  This software will operate in stand alone mode with out Garage Band.  I'm 99% certain Prophet V software will operate fine within Garage Band.  There are lots of virtual knobs/buttons you can operate with a mouse & your computer/screen.  If you live in the USA, you can send me a private message with your phone #, there is a lot to talk about.  Try the software for free (15 day trial version) here:

http://www.arturia.com/evolution/en/downloads/demos.html

Even without a MIDI keyboard you can try it playing one note at a time on the virtual keyboard & computer mouse.  You can download a pdf manual at that link (MANUALS) also.  If you don't think you'll do much knob tweaking, Analog Factory may be better for you, it's $100 & you get several virtual synths.