Are you addicted to style playing? only?...or do you delve into the features of the arranger and play SMf songs,
or use the sequencer to create songs in your own way. Or just use the sounds and play along with a band or backing tracks?

It would be nice if styles could play different time signatures in different variations.

I used to do that on Yamaha arrangers using
"multiple registrations setup buttons"
..Eg:Louie Primas "Buona Sera"
which goes from Tango to Swing....etc..

I do Styles and SMF's. I am leaning towards Styles more as I feel more invloved and sound more like me than an SMF. All my Styles and SMF's are very edited and simplified.

Love Louie, no one could do d Shufle like him. Must of been fun to see him in a Vegas Club back then. From what I hear on other forums its all acoustic guitarists with backing tracks now. Live bands have taken a back seat.

ok Let's get back to OP addicted to style play......
all good points Bill for sure....
but to me flexibility playing in many ways is always a plus.
But some players totally block out all else that is available to them within an arranger kb for whatever reason that may be.

Forgot to mention one important feature on my BK9. When you hit the track mute button ( which is programmable ) you get just the bass/drums of a Style. That way you can do a piano trio setup without reprogramming Styles. As you said much more flexible and another reason for 76 keys.

Sorry I got off topic and rambled before. Bored here waiting for Hurricane news. Damn ! they even closed the Bowling Alley so the PD could use it.

I am so far from being addicted to arranger style play..

Maybe 10 percent of the time.. Even then I filter out all the un-necessary parts.. I want bass, drums, guitar and maybe a sax( if not over played) .. I play piano and EP, in piano mode.(like I said .. 76 keys are a must)

Usually the only time I use a style on stage is to handle a quick request.. very generic.

I try to use it all - styles -factory or self modified (song specific or not), SMFs, mp3, dedicated button to kill all acc tracks but bass and drums, etc. ...
I've modified styles to switch from Latin to Swing or whatever, but changing meter - 4/4 to 3/4 takes more than that ... for those situations I will line up the two styles one after the other either in the User Style section or in the Songbook or a Playlist and switch the meter as I want ...

This was all SO simple years ago with my technics Kn6000 and its Panel Memory (registrations) ... gave me 8 different setups per style ...

Of course each of us should use what we are comfortable and happy with ...

Styles are all I use for a number of reasons.

1. I cannot play a piano.
2. I have arthritic hands.
3. The arranger allows me to get the "gist" of the song
across to my listeners... other publishers, producers and
artists looking for new material.

Multi-Pads are great for improving certain songs. Naturally, I would love to see more intros, fills and outro variations. Then there is always the need for better instrument emulation in country, bluegrass and similar genres in the form of dobros or flat-top resonators, etc.

I consider myself very lucky to have arranger technology available to me for improving the sound of my catalog of songs.

I use my Pa4X for style playing, singing and playing over SMF, CDG Karaoke, and playing in my band without accompaniment.