Seems like a long while that anything new has come to market or any rumors or talk of new KB products regarding Arrangers KBs. have they over saturated the market with too many in the last 3 years as there's not much left to add.
Or Are manufacturers doing a whole NEW REVAMPing design and going in another direction when it comes to the traditional Arranger keyboard units as we know them to accommodate the latest technology? And to satisfy the younger market in some way if at all. As the older hom,e organ players fade away which is the heart of the market what will be the next wave of the dying breed known in years past as the Arranger KB?

Well I don't know about you, but I plan to be around for a while longer. ;-)

I think there are still enough of us to keep things moving along in the arranger market and at the price they get for them now, they can do with less volume.

Since innovation left the building more then a decade ago, and arrangers have just become more of the same with slights improvements, they stopped attracting new players. They are build for old men and are slowly dieing..

Unless they add new features, that attract younger musicians...

If they create an arranger that combines Ketron audya styles, with Korgs Karma and Ableton lives interface ( or maschines) .... And allow the build in sounds to be expanded with VSTs... And still stay true to the high quallity and reliabillity standards of todays top arrangers, .... Add a huge touchscreen and dedicated knobs and sliders... Throw in a top of the line keybed ( choice of 61, 76 and 88 weighted) ... And add some more feautures that would pull in the workstation and computer musician crowd.... Only then arrangers will be saved.

I also think it's time for manufacturers to give the player total freedom to EDIT and Mix and Match style parts in anyway they like in an EASY TO DO FASHION as to create all kinds of music anyway a player wants using the Arranger KB. As Styles are the lifeblood and need to be easily edited to suit what ever musical purpose needed. Pretty much as it stands now it's very antiquated for today's music scene lets face it.
Most of today's music isn't created on an arranger KB...if they don't get with the program it will remain an old man wooden home organ alternative as it is now.

Personally I think the market is full of enough things. Live entertainment is evolving and actually playing an instrument is being pushed aside with the spotlight on vocalists. Its been said before, for most venues no one cares how the music is coming out as long as its good and the attention is all on the singers. Last Friday on the Today show they featured another flavor of the week new band. Behind the singer I noticed some classic Fender amps. Nothing plugged into them and the whole act was done to pre-recorded tracks. The drummer did actually hit some drums but I guess he couldn't fake that.
Milli Vinilli was ahead of their time.
If a situation calls for a live act as in Jazz or Classical then it needs to be totally live. Even if its just a piano player in a restaurant. Just play the piano, thats whats expected.
For the rare occasions that will allow some arranger playing I think there is enough variety out there to cover it. I'm really happy with my BK9. It does all I want or I think I will need. I think Roland realizes that too, how much do you need to justify the selling point. Would I like an Audya, sure, but would it justify the cost, no. For the hobbyist who wants the greatest, sure.
I don't think young musicians really know much about arranger as there are numerous keyboard that will just provide bcking tracks and recording so they are pulled toward those.

Another factor is that many people included the younger set have no idea even how to play keyboard let alone an arranger KB. And really why should they when there is so many other avenues to take to create music today besides learning how to play an instrument which takes years of dedication & determination. This new generation is 100% computerized vs the baby boomers who only have a 50%/50% computer upbringing midway in life & that is a big factor also.

Donny, your absolutly right. It's all about instant gratification and the digital age making it easy for everyone to be a star. Saw it when I tried teaching private piano lessons at a local studio. The kids thought just showing up for the 1/2 hour lesson was it. When I gave them a practice schedule they dropped out. Next door in the guitar room it was "Smoke on the Water" right off the bat.
Its I'm going to be a singer or rapper and be rich and famous.
When I did Piano tuning I saw a few dedicated kids who were playing for the love of playing and residual benefits it provided. Not withstanding it always seemed these were the kids who were also top of their class students because they (or their parents) realized the positive results of putting some work in.

Last week I sat in with the "Billy the Kid " band. 14 year old guitar wiz with his father on Bass and a drummer. Kid can play all the classic rock stuff and kept bugging his dad to get a keyboard player. I did Hammond and Piano and we had a ball. Dad tells me the kid is already bored and doesn't want to practice anymore. Sort of "How come I'm not famous yet" attitude. LOL ! To their credit the parents are on his a** with school so they understand the real world.
So all is not lost --yet

I think arrangers played with-out midi files are tough to work with for some genres & eras of music. As my repertoire begins to add more and more content from the 80's and 90's, it doesn't play to the unit's strengths, which are styles.

Don't get me wrong-I'm not abandoning arrangers anytime soon. No way...they are terrific for many, many useful kinds of musical performance.

As new wave became popular, the construction of a typical pop song was different than it had been prior. Instead of the band chunking along from chord to chord, there emerged the use of "lines" - melodic riffs, that would be built upon by other instruments. Sometimes there's a suitable workaround that sounds fine, sometimes there isn't. If you try and play "Take on Me" without the signature riff, its usually sucks. Stuff from Duran, Duran, the Police, the Talking heads, etc...doesn't seem to translate well.

Sometimes, as I've said, there are creative, well-played modified versions of tunes that work...but its cumbersome to get the arrangers to do it well.

I am moving closer and closer to adding a high end loop machine like a RC 300 Boss RC -300 to some of my performances.

That opens up a world of possibilities that are difficult to attain right now. I'm also thinking of adding an electric/acoustic guitar to the mix that would also be a game changer for me.

Its more expenses, more stuff to carry, and it wouldn't really be suitable for 100% of my shows---but I think in time, it would be. Its as much me trying to think ahead of the game-prepare myself so I stay relevant in the SW Ohio music scene.

Plus, the idea of developing a guitar/loop machine component to my act sounds like a helluva lot of fun.

I disagree that there are not a good number of excellent keyboard players out there. In both the commercial and religious fields I see lots of young talent emerging, and they're playing organ and piano along with their keyboards.

As for arrangers, they IMO are great for established music genres, but not for doing much with the newer music. Even Donny has to admit that he uses mp3 and smf to augment his arranger styles. I just bought a new keyboard; it plays .wav and mp3 files. All I have to do is transfer my smf to either type and go. As for the 15% of arranger styles I use, I can build a song using my arranger keyboard, record it as an audio file and play it on this new 73-key beast of keyboard.

As much as I agree that the simplicity of an all-in-one keyboard is the way to go, I must also admit being limited to arranger styles is not the wave of the future. We already have 'live drums,' why not live guitars, saxes, synths, etc...

I started this drummerless thing with a simple Roland drum machine and it worked fine for a long time. Then I switched to an i3 and thought that was going to be it. I'm now on my fifth Yamaha and have had several Rolands in between. I'm actually going back to a regular keyboard with a BK7m as a sideman and may even start using my PK5 pedals. Since most of my music is already prearranged one way or another, I rarely need an arranger keyboard.

That said, I'm still using my beautiful s950 for the foreseeable future...

Arrangers have always been easy play as they are designed for the home hobby player, and if they bought the styles (Loops) and sounds up to date, then with the correct marketing they could be accepted by the younger market. (Most older players would probably moan though as most don’t consider anything post 40s to be real music)
One thing is certain though, there is no substitute for practice and talent as seen here https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=VCED5cVnxxY

Enjoy

Bill