I've been a user of Cakewalk's products since they came out with cakewalk Home Studio Version 3.0 for Windows 3.11. I've bought various renditions of their software since and continue to use them to this day. They currently offer a variety of software packages but the one that is most affordable at this point is Cakewalk Music Creator 5. For musicians who can read and write music notation, this program gives you a lot of great options. I'll give you an example using one of my own songs. It's a little piece called "A Song For Someone." and the process went like this:

First I recorded an acoustic guitar track along with the internal metronome. Then I wrote a score in notation around it, using the sound card's internal sounds and one of the  virtual synths that came with the program. The Edirol VSC, to be exact. You will need a wave table soundcard to get the most of this program and Creative Labs offers the best cards at their price range. The program has a console that looks like a standard mixing board. There are some plugins that come with the program such as built in midi effects and other effects such as reverb, chorus, flange, delay and an amp simulator. To hear what I created with this software, listen to a "Song For Someone" which can be heard on this page:  http://www.Craypoe.com/bob/index.html  Below, on the left,  is a picture of the Cakewalk Music Creator console view and on the right is a picture of the staff view.
 

This program also offers MIDI and digital audio recording on multiple tracks. You also have a choice of using the computer's built in MIDI sounds or an external MIDI device. So, to sum it up: This is the program I'd recommend for musicians who read and write music notation and want to do some home recording.  Until next time................... Cakewalk Music Creator 5