Post an arranger demo with a FRACTION of the groove and passion of this video.

Look, arrangers are great... I use them myself, remember..? What I don't try to do is convince myself or anyone else that they make music as well as a good band.

We need to reconnect with whatever we USED to be like before arrangers came out... With those younger versions of ourselves, that CARED about a groove, about fun, about making music. THEN bring that commitment back to the arranger, and see what a poor substitute it is.

There are lots of things that could be added to arranger OS's to help mitigate the rote beatbox they are... more Variations, more fills, breaks, Parts that voice lead better, Parts that change depending on surrounding chords, or note density, or velocity, things like that. And even if those get added, we are still a long way from what a good band can do.

What you have to understand about NOLA and other cities like Austin that pride themselves on being live music destinations is that a beatbox just ain't going to cut it there. People come with an expectation of seeing music made the old fashioned way, you know, by 'musicians'! I guess, if they want to see someone hold down a chord and play a one finger melody, they can stay where they are!

I don't believe I am insulting the entire forum. But I believe that a few here might take offense, if they no longer recognize great music when they hear it, and prefer their arrangers!

Yes, your are too insulting in a lot of your posts. Your not in our world and we're not in yours. Sort of like going to Washington and expecting to see the Lincoln Memorial. Nothing else will suffice on your trip. Yours is a very specific tourist destination where real live band 's are the norm and expected. Ours is a business where regular people just want to have a good time and don't care how it is being presented. We didn't make the rules, we just play the game. Reconnect with a band, and play where ?
If I could have a real band and get gigs I would but it ain't gonna happen and I do know great music. Been there, done that like many on this forum.
I'm with a Blues Band now with limited expectations of gigs and money but we are doing it for the love of playing. The rehearsals are their own reward with a great groove, fun and making real music.
Will I ever revert to Mp3 back rounds, I doubt it, but then again, I said I'd never do DJ work. The times are changing.
Get over it and look at the whole picture. The negativity is getting boring.

Only those feeling guilty should feel any insult, Bill. If your conscience is clear, what do my words matter?



It seems that at least you can tell the difference. Some here, apparently, cannot.

Please remember... I am one of your number... I use an arranger, to do solo or duo gigs from time to time. The only difference I can see is that, while I use them, it is reluctantly, when I can't get a full band gig, and I don't EVER try to convince myself or anyone else that it is actually BETTER. I'd rather have real musicians any day, warts and all.

The truth is, if money is the sole object of life, pretty much any of us could make a better living than playing music. Most of us do, actually! So, if we do decide to make our livelihoods making music, let us not lose sight of what music IS. That by circumstance or even choice, we choose to use machines is one thing. But conferring on them the ability to be better than a live band, in any respect other than how cheap they are to work strikes me as a bit desperate.

In any major city, there is at LEAST as many live bands playing any night as there are round my little area. The opportunities are out there. But most of them require rather more in the way of chops than I have heard here on the whole, with notable exceptions.

This thread has been quite enlightening, for me at least. The first post puts up a song with a groove and a joy that no arranger has ever captured, and asks the question 'Anyone doing this song.....?' as if anyone here has even HEARD of Galactic, let alone covers anything by them! Then says it would be great for Mardi Gras (which the song doesn't mention), as if that is the only reason anyone would want to play a song by a band from New Orleans...

All I'm trying to point out is that NOLA is MUCH, much more than Mardi Gras, and that great music, infectious grooves, and great players abound every night of the year. Mardi Gras is such a tiny part of it! And, sadly, these kind of grooves seem to be the LAST thing you'll find in a modern arranger. I have long asked for more of this kind of stuff, but arranger's ROM's (and 3rd party styles too), if they do anything NOLA at all, merely trot out hoary dixieland or styles you can play 'O when the Saints' with.

If you are a lover of the Big Easy's laid back, funky gumbo of grooves, sadly, you are pretty much out of luck! That is a city of exceptional musicians, and there are so many great drummers there, it blows your mind... Trying to do anything from that city on an arranger is an uphill battle!

... not yet !!! wi fi - SOMETIMES !!!

Wow, I feel off-topic for going back to the original topic... Galactic is one hell of a groovin' band! Their drummer, Staton Moore, has a deep knowledge the of New Orleans second line drumming tradition. A true keeper of the flame.