As usual the thread went South, but this actually is a good thing, and I think now I can understand what you all mean, in terms of where your main interest in music comes from.

I certainly like arrangers because they can do what I can't, play strums/drums/bass/etc for me, but....

I really don't think that pushing some fill/OTS/patch change/vocalizer buttons in the right moment constitutes something more than mere "technical" skill (on lack of a better term), as opposed to musical skill.

On the other hand, what you play/sing/communicate to the audience when you are NOT pressing flashing buttons, is purely musical skill, and that can be as mediocre as mine, or in the same level as the one exhibited in the videos posted above.

See for example Michel Voncken, in this old video, demonstrating Tyros 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXeE2YZL8sE&p=131815C54A394153&playnext=1&index=79 especially in the songs beginning at 2:15 and 6:15 respectively.

I can easily learn to press the flashing buttons in the correct time and order, but actually playing the music even with half his skill is out of the question. This guy can also probably play the lone Steinway very well, thank you, which I can't, even if my life depended on it.