thanks for your post Dikki. That completely concurrs with the way i use my arranger. The arranger function for me is when i want to jam with myself or simply play grooves and experiment with songs . For example just the other night i was play "close to you" by the carpenters using a country style. Then i thought how would it sound in a reggae style ? Instantly i could switch the up with some horns and a sax solo played over the top. All done in about 45 minutes. And i could change the style again to an RnB version in minutes or reproduce the whole thing again in an accoustic guitar double base and jazz kit drum version in 30 minutes. This kind of creativity is impossible on a traditional workstation and yet if i switched of the arranger functions i could still use the instrument as a standalone workstation.

I look at the yamaha motif and see that they are importing similar "arranger functions " like pads that trigger guitar strums, loop drum patterns, that follow your chords etc into their Work station instruments. I have seen a similar thing on the Roland top of the range RD stage pianos . More consumers are reaping the benefits of arranger functions on "pro keyboards" . The Oasys uses the most advanced arranger function via the Karma technology but it still cant do what an arranger can. But its only a matter of time before there is no dividing line between arrangers and workstations.