Help: How to connect Eleven Rack and MIDI keyboard?

[el biciclista]

My son wants to:
(1) Record guitar tracks and
(2) Create the other tracks using loops, MIDI and virtual instruments.

He has a MacBook Pro laptop computer.
I have a Pro Tools HD system, so I'd like to keep him in the Pro Tools family.

He is looking at an Eleven Rack for the guitar input, and a simple MIDI keyboard like the Oxygen 25 for creating the MIDI tracks to input to virtual instruments.

Here are some basic questions, since I'm not familiar with this gear:
(1) If he buys Pro Tools 9, can he connect the Eleven Rack and Oxygen 25 directly into Pro Tools 9 via USB, or does he need additional interfaces?
(2) Could he go with something like Fast Track rather than Pro Tools 9?
(3) Is Oxygen 25 a good choice for a basic MIDI controller?
(3) Does the MacBook Pro have enough horsepower to handle this?

[nst7]

Both the 11R and Oxygen will work fine.

The 11R needs to go directly into the USB port on the MacBook. The Oxygen can go into a hub (powered ones are better).

11R comes free with Protools 8 LE, but the 11R needs to be hooked up for it to work. You can use the 11R serial number to get the $249 crossgrade to Protools 9, which will then allow him to run Protools with no interface hooked up, which may be convenient sometimes since he's on a laptop.

And the MacBook Pro will be fine for this.

[el biciclista]

Originally Posted by nst7

Both the 11R and Oxygen will work fine.

The 11R needs to go directly into the USB port on the MacBook. The Oxygen can go into a hub (powered ones are better).

11R comes free with Protools 8 LE, but the 11R needs to be hooked up for it to work. You can use the 11R serial number to get the $249 crossgrade to Protools 9, which will then allow him to run Protools with no interface hooked up, which may be convenient sometimes since he's on a laptop.

And the MacBook Pro will be fine for this.

Thanks so much for the info.