Well this looks like a very interesting heartfelt exchange of thoughts on this topic...aside from many of the replies above which I agree with myself, I would like to add a few for me.....

Ive been playing arrangers since their inception professionally.....& what I love is the POWER to be able to be the "ORCHESTRATOR" of my own music.....an arranger is a very powerful tool to create music in so many ways....I can use a style, SMF, Multi track Seq, etc etc .. & in whatever way I CHOOSE & play music MY WAY....how it's done is up to the player, how easy or difficult is up to you, resulting in a sound YOUR happy with. If your a Pro or a Beginner the arranger can make you happy either Solo, Band, or whatever & whomever YOU want to play it....every night I get a thrill controlling all the parts & sounds into my own little arrangement of a song & do it DIFFERENT every time with no problem at all at my discretion using all the features at my disposal on board. Im happy playing it...Im happy making a decent living with one....& I am mostly happy making my audiences Glad they came to dance & hear me play an arranger. Ive seen many improvements though the years & if they never make another arranger KB after today I'd be very happy at what we already have to play.......!

"Play Music Every Day!"