So do I believe...
This forum was already under intensive care and I think this topic is killing it...
Condescendance, self-satisfaction, remembering of the past, making divisions, congratulations between happy few friends ...
Arrangers are disappearing and, anyhow, this world and people are changing ...
I don't have the same pleasure coming here and come scarcely since this topic...

I believe I pointed out the fallacy of the title of the original post in my first reply to this thread…

‘Pros’ DO NOT HATE ARRANGERS. The way the thread was titled, it assumes something utterly false.

But conveniently ignores something a lot more difficult to admit. Pros don’t hate arrangers… but they may hate utterly unskilled players using them to make a living and taking jobs away from musicians that can actually play. And this attitude might easily be confused with a disdain for the type of keyboard these kinds of players use.

Perhaps we all need to ask ourselves why we even take a silly question based on something obviously wrong seriously in the first place? If I had a dollar for every time this hoary chestnut was dragged into the light of day, maybe Gary wouldn’t look down on me! It’s a perennial topic, pulled out and discussed with much hand wringing at least a couple of times a year. It’s a toxic weed that seems impossible to eradicate.

Thing is, it seems to reveal more about us than these supposed ‘pros’…. After all, we’re the ones who apparently believe it. Why would we, unless we did harbor some suspicion that they were right a little bit?! Me, I don’t believe it a bit.

But I can see the confusion. I would imagine that pros could quite easily look down on some of the players using them. But don’t worry. They would probably dislike the same player if they were playing a piano, or organ, or synthesizer or workstation. So, stop thinking it’s the type of keyboard.

It’s the player…

Diki, I never looked down on you. You are a very skillful player and,apparently, worked very long and hard to achieve that level. And, you have absolutely no conceivable idea of my playing skills or any of my other abilities, having only met you one time in Florida and you and Randy were the guys playing my arranger keyboard. If you recall, I didn't play anything that evening, and most of the time was sitting around in my motel room talking about things other than playing skills. I remember we talked about the low pay-scale of nite club and bar musicians, and why I switched to performing the senior circuit. That was a long time ago, but my mind has not gone to Hell, yet, so I still can vividly recall events that took place 20 years ago, or more.

Gary

I think this sums it up very well. 👍
(And it probably applies regardless of what kind of musical instrument we try to master).

Same here, Gary. And, FYI, I just sold an old axe for more than I paid for my last house....Think $3000,000 plus. Have sold 13 for more than $10,000 in the last 90 days.

Funds are going to musicians less fortunate that I am.


R.

Well, Gary, I still take gigs more on who I am getting to play with than how much they pay. Guess I still consider it an art, not a business!

Yes, I’m primarily solo these days, but that’s more a function of how few bands there are in my area, and even fewer that play music I like, and even fewer that don’t use tracks! But offer me a band gig with great players, I couldn’t care less what it pays…

Diki, I was never independently wealthy, and the gigs were my sole source of income, to the money came first. My dad always said "If the job is worth doing, it's worth being paid to do it." Dad was pretty damned smart for a person with very little formal education.

Cheers,

Gary