Hi,
SOFTWARELIST:
nuendo
absynth
embracer (comes with nuendo)
EW Symphony orchestra Silver Edition (for the chior stuff)
I used a Spectraphy Limiter on all the keyboard parts and also the choir stuff. Spectraphy has a drive function that makes your sound a little more analogue sounding (very cool plugin and very cheap!)
Guitars are -> LTDMH1000 -> OD808 to PODXTpro to G-major for effects to digital out to computer (m-audio 24/96, soon to be replaced with a RME Fireface 400)
Computer is a DELL dimension with a pentium 4 HT 3ghz, 3 gig ram, 700GIG. Nothing special and also soon to be replaced with newer stuff.
About the synth programming. It's all about choosing the right sounds for the right parts, listening to the original en breaking it down to various parts.