Ya know, Fran, I don't think Scott's preference for arranger vs. SMF's has anything to do with the "quality" of the sound, but rather with the more "dynamic", "interactive" nature of using styles vs. the "hard-wired" programming of an SMF. With the arranger you can make adjustments to the tune on-the-fly according to the mood of the audience, adding an extra verse or two if the song is going well and you wanna keep 'em dancing, or shortening it cleanly if the mood says it's time to move on.

Granted, with a SMF you can make it sound more like the original CD (which may be important in certain contexts), but you loose the ability to "adapt" the song to your own creative ideas and the give-and-take between the artist and audience in real-time.



[This message has been edited by BillErickson (edited 11-18-2005).]