Cactus Music
...Time for a nice homemade IPA now see ya.. 

Home-made eh?  I just learned that Sam Adams is now brewing an IPA  ...  but, we digress!  

Another nice "editting tool" you have at your disposal is Melodyne. You can sing or even hum an audio track and then drag that to a MIDI track to get a decent start on MIDI data. This will not capture inflection but allows for quicker editting when your voice is your main instrument.

Good idea!  I've yet to record anything on a midi track.  As we speak,  I'm trying to  figure out how to do that! My Yamaha PSR 273 Digital piano  plugged connected through my TASCAM US 122  AIU is not seen by the Track. None of the vertical meters are affected.   I do have TTS-1  inserted as a soft synth.  I probably need to do something to the PSR 273 so that it becomes a midi controller as opposed to a piano.  
 
I placed the PSR 273 in the PC mode and now it seems to register.  I need to remove the latency however.     

I should have read you post more clearly. When I think of modifying, I think of re-arranging the song to make it feel like my own. The other advice is really good.

I have found that having the correct drivers for the hardware/OS, and the driver mode (as I had my keyboard routed through my interface for a long time versus a USB connection) will affect latency a lot. The Playback Buffer (Preferences->MIDI->Playback and Recording) will also play into this as well (and I forget offhand what most recommend).
 
For editing MIDI, the Piano Roll View (PRV) is my go to for the most part; but for creation, X3 has provided the "ultimate cheat" via Melodyne/ARA integration.... a simple dynamic microphone and drag/drop allows for incredible speed in composition, although I still have had to use PRV at times to tweak things.

Count me in as a multi decade MIDI guru as well.... also, started with the ATARI ST and Dr. T's ... can't tell you how many hours of work I lost because of bad floppy disks... anyhow, my frustration with the platform and the sampled instruments (remember when a sampling keyboard cost well over $50K, out of my league at the time).
 
So, a few years later, PCs were all the rage... and a hard drive for a PC came with the darn thing but all those hours of Dr. T's knowledge.... investigated sequencing software for the PC and lo and behold, CAKEWALK looked a ton like Dr. T's, it even had an event list I could edit....
 
Made the switch and still making MIDI files to this day.  I don't share them anymore and mainly do them for my own amusement (I had a real problem of folks taking the MIDI files I created and tried to make them better and put them back out on the web).
 
When the SB AWE (wave table) sound card came out, that was it, I saw the light of MIDI and sampled instruments and haven't looked back since.  What a great 20 years it has been, the technology has advanced so much, I now can re create old CLASSIC rock songs in my project studio that rival the originals... probably the best investment I have ever made beside KONTAKT was in the UAD platform.. now not only do I have virtual instruments, I have access to virtual vintage hardware as well for tracking and mixing.
 
Life is good and I am happy I stayed involved all these years.
 
Sorry to the OP for not adding much to your question but spend some time and learn MIDI... it is amazing some of the things one can do now a days.  Like Johnnie said, he plays a real bass because he hasn't found a VST that sounds the same...... but, with the right controller and sample set, you can create real great guitar MIDI tracks as well.  I also make my own sample sets now of my vintage instrument collection for use in my projects (including guitars and basses).
 
Good luck and there is some real good advice already in other posts.
 
From one OLD TIMER to da yute MIDI guy,
Jim
 

Hey Jim ... Yu da man!  Wish I had the credentials you have as regards Midi's. Twenty years eh???  Dumb' me  ... What's "yute MIDI guy" mean?  
 
Seriously though, I've seen Kontakt and Dr T's mentioned frequently and am wondering what those programs do.  If you have a minute to explain I would welcome the info!   

You can still use Dr T if you install the Atari emulator, it's all freeware now. 
http://tamw.atari-users.net/dwnloads.htm
 
It was a midi only sequencer used and loved by many, interesting that Cubase was a competitor I think? 
I never got beyond version KCS 1.5  because even back then we are talking $400 for the software. But I see the Tims Atari site has something like version 4. 
 
So Jim... your the dude posting all those songs I stole  , sorry .. I'll send you some beer money OK  :) 

Ricebug
@cpkoch
Just joined the forums and this is my first post.
 
Been a MIDI puke since Bars & Pipes Pro, on the Amiga. Still use it through an emulator because it does some things better, though I'm also comfortable with Sonar's MIDI editing capabilities.
 
If you want some help, feedback, guidance, you can send me a .MID file and I'll have a peek at what you're doing. I don't see an email link here, so...
 

I used Bars & Pipes on Amiga. Ah those were the days.

To clarify.. I play real bass not only because there is a dissatisfaction (by me) with synth bass  sounds, there will also always be a huge missing articulation of the instrument. What I hear in my head as a good bass line comes across with little effort on my behalf on a real Bass. In the bygone days when I had to use midi it was a huge struggle to squeeze that sound in my head out of Midi equipment. I even bought the Roland GR 50 to see if that would help. I spent 1,000 of dollars actually. 
The way we play a keyboard and the way we play a fret board are miles apart. There's all the subtul touchy feely things that midi will not translate, even with a guitar contoller..And don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of actual synth's, synth's for the sake of synthdom,,, I love a buzz saw poly synth and of course my Organs, Piano's and best of all--mr Tramp. Keyboards and drums are what midi does best...fretted instruments, and Wind??? hmmm.. 
I don't even understand why people attempt to emulate fretted instruments with midi, seems that time spent struggling to make it sound sort of like a real instrument would be better spent taking guitar, banjo, fiddle or bass lessons. After all, I myself have become a pretty good keyboard player and even drummer through practice due to necessity. I can't fathom spending hours fabricating a strummed guitar part with midi when it would take 3 minutes to do it with a real guitar.. So to each our own and to each oure love of what midi will do. 
 
Sorry I brought up the Atari and made all us old farts reminiscing about those days.  
And I still say PC sucks at MIDI.... :) ( this was me in 1990 ) 
No it's all good now and sooooo cheap compared to back then. 
Atari 1040 St with 20 MB hard drive 8 MB of RAM = $1,800
Roland MT 32 Midi 8 channel 32 note poly sound module ( now the MS Wavetable ) $1,500
Korg Poly 800 49 key MIDI analog synth  $1,000 
Roland 505 Drum machine $ 600 ? 
Alesis Midi Verb $ 500 
Yamaha 12 Channel Mixer ( 100 Lbs) $800