hey. first of all, i enjoyed reading both dreamers and Uncle Daves posts and scottys and all the others. they were very well written. :-) also, i have to say i agree with Dreamer. using an arranger requires you to know how the music should be arranged, as is implied by the name. while doing jobs, i have gotten some rather contemptuous remarks from classical pianists, who thing that all that im doing is hammering out the tune in my right hand. but everyone who knows what really goes into each song has nothing but respect. and i dont so much agree with Uncle Dave, because it is implied from that anology that everything is already laid out there for you to simply pick up and put together. not so by music, and arrangers. the arranger merely provides the tools, the brushes and paint for you to use to create your musical masterpiece. so if anything, i think that arrangers are more sophisticated and more artsy than piano, for example. thats my opinion. feel free to bash it, if you will. :-) Zack