need help with apple MIDI audio hardware/software

[swedbird@gmail.com (Erik Swedberg)]

OK, my goal is to play the sounds/instruments from Music Studio 2.0
for the Apple IIgs with a keyboard, live. I have an apple IIgs, an
M-audio Oxygen 8 25-key midi controller, one of those 1-in, 1-out
"Apple MIDI Interface" boxes, and a copy of Activision's "Music Studio
2.0".

how do i get this stuff to work together? 

is there a simple way to test whether or not my MIDI interface box
works? is my interface good enough for what i want to do, or should i
look for something like an Opcode Studio+2 ?

i am confused by the 2gs BIOS setup, where you can set the slots to
"Your Card", "modem", etc, and configure the modem & printer slots,
which is where you plug in the MIDI box.

i am confused by the Music Studio 2.0 program. The dropdown-menu
option "Activate MIDI Input" is always greyed out, preventing me from
selecting it. Could this be because the hardware/bios isn't configured
correctly to recognize the midi device? Or that my copy of music
studio is somehow corrupt (it is a backup) - somehow wasn't copied (w/
copyIIplus) correctly?

Are there any other good music programs for the IIgs that i could play
with MIDI stuff with? How would i go about getting them?

Are the Music Studio 2.0 sounds only usable in Music Studio 2.0? (the
instruments are saved in strange files named like "rock.wbnk")

Would the simplest way to do this be to just strip the sounds i want
with a sampler, and play the midi controller through that?

ALSO - different question: Has anyone got a nice homebrew way to tap
the audio out signal to a mono signal? The audio jack is a weird
stereo/mono thing that confuses me, and confuses all the radio shack
1/8" adaptors i stick in there... i always get the best results by
having to pull the 1/8" adaptor out ever so slightly -- obviously not
a good live music solution. I have the IIgs hardware reference, and
i've tried getting the signal from that little J-whatever molex
adaptor on the motherboard, but if i remember, it was real
static-y/noisy.

thanks for any help/ideas.

-erik swedberg