This won't be news to most of us, I think...

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I'm noticing the same thing Bill. In fact, I sometimes wonder when we will have to start contending with DJ's. For the most part they like younger music today. I find I still have to watch my age mix. I might play a really kicking play list in one place, but the next one has a population that is a lot older, so I'm back in the big band era. It keeps it interesting for me and it's definitely a great job.

Joe

Me personally, if in 30 something years from now I end up in a retirement home and someone walks in with an arranger to entertain me, I'd probably slit my wrists because that would be a far less agonising way to die.

Things will have moved so far on by then that everything will be different. I will be shocked if Arrangers can even be purcahsed 30 years from now considering what the younger generation are into right now.

Tablets will have a huge impact on future music too. Look how much the iPad has already changed things. DJ's everywhere are even using them now and so too are the people writing the songs DJ's play.

Regards
James.

Exactly James...little by little keyboard players are becoming Dinosaurs, relinquishing the old for the new to DJ's which is the norm at a big percentages of venues because the public enjoys it....enjoy it while it lasts, embrace the new technology.........it's the future of music...
meanwhile baby boomers still have enough time in their lives to enjoy what they are playing now, just play timeless popular songs & just do it VERY Well and people will respond favorably every time for years to come.....any Tablet today will be a thing of the past in a year or two with improvements coming out fast and furious all the time...I personally at this time still like a laptop to use on stage. People will always love a singer who plays something age not a factor. Play songs that people know on the first note....off the wall songs lessen the acceptance to an audience.

First and foremost, I hope I DO NOT end up in a nursing home. I still have that fantasy about being shot by a jealous husband at 108 while climbing out a second story bedroom window with my trousers around my ankles and a beautiful, 19-year-old gal screaming "Don't leave me--don't leave me."

If, however, for some strange reason, outlive my body parts, which is the case with most nursing home residents, and end up in an assisted living facility, I sincerely DO hope that someone walks through the door with the latest and greatest arranger keyboard. However, I want to hear someone that can sing, play and most of all, ENTERTAIN! If you can't do this, don't come into MY nursing home. Don't show up with a tablet of sorts and think you are entertaining someone--YOU'RE NOT! I'm not entertained by DJs or KJs either.

James, if you are going to slit your wrists, which ain't likely, it might take longer than you wish. They don't allow folks with your mental state to have sharp instruments in their possession.

Keep in mind that most of us who work in this facet of the entertainment biz are performers/entertainers. If we just sat there for an hour and played nothing but instrumentals we would end up in a rubber room. The people we are entertaining are not getting younger--but we sure as Hell are getting older. The vast majority of OMB entertainers I know personally, with few exceptions, are over age 60. This put them about 20 years under the average NH and assisted living resident. So, if you bump up the music you are currently performing by 10 to 20 years, and you are currently playing 50s 60s stuff, then 70s and 80s music will be what James will be slitting his wrists to.

At age 70 I'm performing late 50s, 60s, 70s and some early 80s songs for nearly all my clients--including those at private parties. They love it. They unequivocally will tell you that they will never hire a DJ, especially someone with an I-pod, Tablet, or a PC and sound system. It's not going to happen--at least not with my client base. They're not only appreciative of what a good entertainer provides for them, they are constantly recommending us to others, which helps expand our client bases. They love our ability to entertain EVERYONE in the audience, they love our vocals, they love it when we schmooze and they reward us accordingly.

Unfortunately, I'm probably not going to be alive long enough to watch James attempting to slit his wrists with an Oscar Meyer Wiener while screaming obscenities from his wheelchair at the nurse/caretaker--but it should he a hoot. However, I sincerely believe that arranger keyboards will still be around long after I've been shot in the back of the head by that jealous husband. Sure, the music will change, just as people will change their musical preferences, and who knows, maybe jazz will make a comeback. But, someone will still be pressing those black and white keys to make the music, and provide the versatility and wonderful sounds made by arranger keyboards.

So, 20 years from now if you see my boney a$$ sitting in a wheelchair with a tall, Margaretta in my hand, and a tall, blue-eyed gal taking my blood pressure, fire up that plastic-toy arranger keyboard and play some Jimmy Buffet songs for me. Give me a good rendition of A Pirate Looks at 40, Margarettaville, He Went To Paris and other songs along those lines. Oh, I hope James, Donny, Scott and the rest of you folks like those songs too--you'll be right there with me.

Cheers,

Gary

Gary make mine a double!!.....it's all coming very soon!

Great post, Gary...and, like you, I have a good feeling about arrangers being around in the future.

If the way they sell now, is any indication, Yamaha will be making Tyros (or whatever it might be called) and PSR instruments for a long time to come.

As a person who works specifically in this field, I know first-hand the lure of the arranger to both the home player and the occasional pro.

Those involved in other aspects of keyboard playing and production, don't really see what is happening in the other areas.

I do.

Six Tyros4 (and a good number of PSR-S910/S710) found happy homes this month alone, in my region...and, I'm only a small spoke in a very big wheel.

If we take the arranger instruments for their intended purpose, which is mainly for semi-pro, amateur, and hobbyist type players (with the occasional pro thrown in) it's definitely providing what it is meant to do...entertain!

My hat gets tipped to those of you who perform in Nursing and Assisted Living Homes...it takes a special person, a unique talent, and a big heart, to entertain at these places.

Ian

On another forum there was a post about how the nursing home audiences have changed over the past 10 years. Someone posted that soon we will be looking out over the audience and seeing little old ladies filled with tats and body piercing rocking out to van halen or Judas Priest.

Thought that was funny until last week when a lady, with a lot of tats, got all upset because I would not play Iron Maiden songs or Lady Gaga songs. Must be getting close to time for me to hang it up.

Deane

Deane just adapt with the flow.....in your arsenal have a little bit of EVERYTHING you never know what will occur....that's why these arrangers can do it all and have the included features....no harm making that lady happy with an mp3 Lady Gaga "Pokerface" for as few minutes to put a smile on her face that's what we do AS ENTERTAINERS .... SINGING, Styles, SMF, MP3's, it doesn't matter as long as you get the gig done and the audience has a smile on their faces! .....what we as players like doesn't matter it's All about the people after all it's a People business no matter how you look at it.....personally I've been always ready to do it all no matter what the gig calls for, I've been adapting for 45 years....versatility is the game today. Stay on top of it all or get left behind... Have fun and good luck.

Hi Garry.



lol.... you would be surprised how deep a paper cut can get when one is highly motivated.



Sorry, I should have taken the time to explain my point of view in more detail as it does look like I'm disrespecting people who currently play in this area. That's soooo not the case here at all.

My generation live in a very different world than the people currently in old folks homes. I have the Internet in the pocket, Skype, and pretty much the best apps you can imagine on my iPhone. All of which have changed the world we live in right now.

I see iPads everywhere, people DJ'ing and people writing music with them. This is only the tip of the iceberg too as the Tablet and Cloud Computing world is set to explode very very soon. It's already starting.

Software VSTi's have even brought the mighty workstation market on a downward trend as more and more people write music a completely different way. It's these advancements that drive creativity and in turn will drive the advancements we are seeing and will see.

My idea of an old folks home 30 years from now is nothing like anything ever seen in past history and what is classed as entertainment now will be far from what we will see in the future.

It will be a world where everyone is connected and any information you could imagine will be available. On-demand services, a global community, Interactivity, and so on.....

I will be shocked if pro end arrangers still exist considering what people are using today to write music.

Regards
James

Good points James I agree.....it's all around us and growing day by day..we are the last generation to have the Pre PC & Todays PC world in our lives...when we are gone sadly they will not know or care what once was....and who can blame them....enjoy your life as much as you can every day your alive.......time stands still for no one!

I think Donny summed it up pretty much with this remark. In the future, it won't matter if there are keyboards or "washboards" to play on. There simply won't be any actual musicians to work them (or even remember them). The world will be a sterile, lifeless environment consisting of robot like creatures masquerading as humans. There will me NO musicians....only machines generating machine music....and "machine operators."

As for old people asking for young music, it's been my experience that it's almost always some "smarty pants" trying to impress others with how hep or cool he is that he's "aware" of "young music."

There's also another reason, which someone actually said to me. She was middle-aged and almost demanded young music (which would have guaranteed a mass exodus by the rest of the guests since they were mostly 50+). She went on to say she didn't want to "feel old." I felt like telling her she should to down to the local gym and do some bench presses is she "didn't want to feel old."

Liking today's music is as it is. But neither of the above situations gave me any indication that they actually "liked" the music.