Need help setting up Cubase via Midi

[djcatalyst]

Hey Everyone.

I'm just getting into producing and i feel like a total noob even asking these questions but its been like 2 weeks with long nights where i just can't seem to understand much...lol

So I have Cubase 4 LE on my comp. I run it through my lexicomp Lambda and i own a M-Audio Oxygen 49 keyboard.

I set it up so that i have my lexicomp going through usb & my keyboard going via usb. I also bought a midi cable, but the keyboard only has a Midi out. Don't know how to set cubase up to read it.

So far, I installed my cubase & lexicomp lambda. The keyboard is installed in Mac already. I want to know if I am running everything correctly.
My main goal is making beats. So i load up a new midi track, and i see the blue bar going up and down when i hit the keys. But i don't know how to set up samples to it so i dont get any sound back. Is this because im using a usb keyboard? because I set up a GM drum map and i see samples are assigned to the keys, but I cant hear any of them.

Now if i load up a instrument track, then i can add halionone to it and have a basic set up of samples.
What i don't understand is how & where can i get more samples to load onto my keyboard and how do I use midi to do so?

I see in my contents folder that there are alot of fx that i can use, and I have been using them, but i want to get more samples/instruments.

Thanks alot ahead of time...I really tried to do my research before, but i can't find others having this problem...i feel like such a noob...haha

[richiebee]

Virtual instruments (synths, samples etc) in Cubase world are called VSTi's. To find some, I suggest you pay a visit to KVR: Virtual Instruments, Virtual Effects, VST Plugins, Audio Units (AU), DirectX (DX), Universal Binary Compatibility - Audio Plugin News, Reviews and Community - this is the most comprehensive listing of VSTi's anywhere. You can search and filter your results to match your OS and whether or not you want to pay, as well as by type. When you find some VSTi's, you need to download them and unzip to your VSTi folder (not sure where this is on the Mac... probably in a library somewhere - check the manual). When you restart Cubase, they should then be available.