[linux-audio-user] ecasound and software midi controller

Hello, This my first post in this list so I introduce myself. I am non-native english speaker, so forgive me if my english is not correct, I hope at least it will be understandable ;) About my computer skills I'd say that I'm an advanced beginner in Linux and *BSD systems, i'm very far to be expert but I manage to deal with my own problems without much pain now. I work as a Perl/Python programmer and I slowly learn C/C++. For a few days now I've started to explore the world of linux audio-related software, so I'm a real newbie on this topic. I've played a little bit with ecasound (i love its concept) and I wonder if there is a way to control parameters of operators in realtime using software midi-controllers. If yes, what software to use ? What configuration ? Is it possible, and how to perform automation in order to replay what was done manually ? Any information about how to achive this goal is welcome. Thanks.