Great post Bill.

99% of my Tyros clients are home players, generally over 40 years old, usually advanced skills and not beginners. I do see a few Tyros go to single acts; Scott Yee is one that comes to mind.

Many of the PSR-S-series seem to go to single and duos that perform...usually a singer guitar player, or a guitar player with a singer (usually female) and the PSR is generally used to play SMF for the entire gig.

So, in my experience, the higher end arrangers seem to go to the "keyboard players"...most of whom played keys in a band and are retired and want to play and have fun, mostly at home...again there are exceptions.

The playing business has certainly changed a lot, especially in the past 10 years.

My gigs were always restaurant background music, so the competition, at least in my area, was small, but, I must say I'm glad I was able to take time away from it (I was 11 years in one place-always learning new material) over the past winter, and now this summer.

I miss the trio setup as well...organ, guitar, drums, although, I don't miss hauling around all that gear.

Any luck with your B-3 yet?

Ian

Dave and I rarely disagree, but this may be one of those rare instances. I look at an arranger keyboard as a unique instrument, one that fills a lot of voids. Like any instrument, piano, sax, guitar, you must learn some basics, but there are distinct differences between those instruments, all of which require some technological training and expertise. The same holds true with an arranger keyboard. It's not a lazy person's instrument anymore than a guitar is. In fact, I found it much easier to play a guitar than it was to learn the intricacies of an arranger keyboard.

I'm no Captain Russ on the 12-string, but I managed to get by while performing in honky-tonk bars for a dozen years. Same holds true when I played an acoustic 6-string and sang with a band. I agree with Tony--the arranger keyboard will be around many, many years after we've all passed into the great unknown. They'll be played by a host of entertainers, production specialist, composers and others who see the arranger as an essential tool of the music trade.

Over the years I have spent an enormous amount of time teaching others how to navigate their way through the keyboard's complex operating system, while at the same time helping them improve their musical skills through the use of modern technology. I sincerely believe this is the wave of the future, and arrangers will, IMO, play a large role in the wold of music.

Cheers,

Gary

I never meant to suggest that playing an arranger was lazy. I just think players in general are getting too reliant on technology. Tabs instead of notation, cut and paste instead of playing all the way through ... that stuff makes me sad.

Playing an arranger at it's most basic level (simple chords and melody), is not a lot harder than playing a guitar by learning some chords and how to strum.

However, to be able to take an arranger to a level where people will actually pay money to hear you play, is no different than an accomplished guitarist.

For me to have an arranger set up to where I am happy with how it sounds takes a lot of work and preparation...no different than a guitarist who sets up his guitar with the right kind of pick-ups, the best sounding amp, the proper effects unit (and setting it up)...the bottom line is, we both still have to play well enough to keep the listener's interest.

Mastering Yamaha's SA and SA2 with the proper technique to make them sound true to the instruments they emulate is a skill that regular piano players do not have to deal with, for example, plus playing with proper phrasing in regards to style you are using.

I think it would be safe to say that you spent a lot of time making your arranger sound the way you wanted (and needed) it to sound, and that is a skill in itself...I think you'd be more likely to be using technology to your advantage, rather than be a slave to it.

Ian

Amen to all that, Ian.

Ian ,

I think you only need to look at the number of T4s sold and that should tell you,
all you need to know, the other KB manufacturers are just playing at it.

Technology is a slippery slope. Half the folks working in Lexington now couldn't beg a job before Mp-3's, sequences, harmonizers, pitch controllers, etc.

That's fine, but technology, in my mind, will never replace ability. The top folks here can really play. The rest are simply reducing price to steal the remaining jobs. Available technology means more people (people of less and less talent/ability) competing for the same jobs. Sadly, some club owners/managers don't know the difference between hackers/posers and players. Rates are the same as they were in the 70's.

Thankfully, it IS possible to combine performance, ability and ethics and carve out a meager living.

It's just getting harder and harder to pull off.

The key is to use technology, but don't count on it to compensate for lack of ability.

Thus, my "love-hate" relationship with arrangers and other "helpers".


Russ

There are only a few arranger instrumentalists I would pay to hear play; some on are this forum.

They take the arranger to a level that I feel is worthwhile spending my time and money to listen to them.

They have obviously spent time learning the instrument and how to make it shine, and are beyond simple chording and/or playing over commercially produced midi files.

Same goes for guitarists, organists, piano players, etc.

Some are just able to take the instrument farther than others.

Ian

And what the hell do you think you are playing over when playing an arranger? Professionally produced midi files!!! well duh!!....
They are just smaller, and in the case of Yamaha, far more boring. Unless one adds ALL the sampling and other NON-standard sound parts that some users spend WEEKS on adding and refining.

It's simple for me....I make my own styles...that gets rid of any "boring", if there was any to begin with.

That's what Style Creator is for...being "creative" with styles...duh!

People who make (record) their own midi files, and play over them are far more impressive in my opinion than those who play over commercially available midi files.

Ian