New to MIDI - Need Help!!!

Hey guys and gals. I'm a bass player in a band and we're getting into some sequencing and sampling. I have some piano experience, but zero MIDI/Sequencing/Sampling experience. I bought an Alesis Fusion 6HD synth so I should have the majority of tools. I currently own Cakewalk Sonar Home Studio, but now that I see Pro Tools M-Powered supports my Audiophile 2496 card, I'm going to switch over to that.

Anyway, we're just looking to do some fairly simple stuff. I'd like to learn how to download and manipulate a MIDI file, etc. I've gone to my local music store looking for lessons (I have no problem paying, etc.) but they didn't know anybody that gave that kind of instruction. The Alesis tutorials are good, but don't really nail what I'm trying to achieve or do.

Any thoughts? I live on the Wisconsin/Illinois border about an hour north of Chicago.

Thanks.

Downloading shouldn't be a problem; hook the Fusion up to your computer and the disk should show up as an external harddisk (USB Mass Storage/Removable Drive). Copy the MIDI file from your computer to the drive. See page 36 for the basics.

Then you should go in Song mode and the MIDI file should show up there. The manual is indeed kind of vague about this, but from the Quickstart I could infer that you should be presented with some kind of file browser. Another issue would be General MIDI (GM) sounds; for MIDI files there's a default set of 128 instruments that are used to get a hunch of how the end result should sound. I can't find if the Fusion should have a GM soundbank, so you might have to replace the instruments on certain tracks with those built into the Fusion.

I hope this helps you at least a bit; several people own a Fusion here so they should be able to help you further .