How long does it take to do this....

Thats the hardest question of all.

Sometimes, if I know a tune really well, I can get to the "usable" stage in under 3 hours, but this would tend to be with ballads where the various elements are easy to isolate.

In reality I don't really count the time because I know if I did the answer would be longer than I'd like it to be. I suppose the average is about 10 hours, but in real time it's probably onger because I get frustrated and do something else, or worst case get frustrated and start from scratch again!

I admire the people who do this professionally, they must work their socks off!

I suppose the "that's good enough" point is reached by the law of diminishing returns, once I've decided that the version created does sufficient justice to the original.

Also, the nice thing about midi files is that you can always go back. At times my partner in the band has got so frustrated with the time I'm taking on "fine tuning" that we have "gone live" with a version that I personally am not happy with, just to see how well it works. And usually, I must admit, they go fine. But if the version sounds dodgy, at least there's another voice suggesting improvements and the next time is usually better.

Ultimately we are back to that old favourite, personal opinion!