soon to get my first basic gear (monitors, amp, scard, mixer) but wot first bits of gear did u lot start out with? and why?

recommendations for next stages once basics have been purchased and why?

curious as to how to get a reasonable start production wise, dont wanna get a load of gear and realise its too hard for me to get my head around. one thing im confused about is samplers. how do i get the samples onto the sampler, eg wot inputs can i sample? wot can i do exactly on a sampler? and how do i record my samples back into sequencer?

that last question confuse's me a lot, how do i record any external samples/synth/drums into my sequencer, i realise via my mixer but how exactly?

questions questions!!!! haha.... want some method to the madness like