I want to get into music and have no idea where to start. What instruments / software should I start with?

Robert J

For instruments, either a guitar or keyboard, depending on your interests. If you get a keyboard, make sure it has MIDI out or both in & out; preferably "real" MIDI on five pin sockets, as that allows connections to other MIDI equipment in the future. (Ones with USB sockets for supposed MIDI cannot work with anything but a PC). For a guitar, you need a "USB Audio MIDI interface". There are several reasonable makes. The Focusrite Scarlett series or Presonus ones are good, for a couple of examples. The difference between a proper music interface and a "sound card" type device is that normal sound cards have long delays due to the amount of data teh buffer. That's OK for just playback, but for recording in time to an existing track or rhythm, it totally messes things up. External interfaces are also generally much better quality and lower noise. For software, get Tracktion. That is completely unlimited, not tied to any make of hardware or software and you can use any instrument and effect plug-ins (VSTs) as well as recording, using samples, importing audio or MIDI tracks etc. Get it here: https://www.tracktion.com/products/t7-daw I've used if for several years & it's better than anything else I've found in over 20 years.. Get the sample projects that come with it, they give you more ideas of what's possible and how it can work than a week reading the manual.