We've actually been down this road before... My take: I am hired as an entertainer... as long as I am entertaining the client that's what matters... I could be playing the kb, plugging in a midi, or spinning a CD ...Do I prefer playing and singing myself? ABSOLUTELY!!! ... but if there's a tune or two I don't know and play a midi instead, I have no problem with it ... On some of the 'specialty' stuff ie Macarena, Hot, Hot, Hot, etc. I will turn the kb to 'drums' and do a percussion thing while the midi is playing ...
Some months ago a client called me 2 nights before the gig and requested about 30 songs for a special skit she was planning for her husband's birthday party .. most I had never played before, and there was no way I was going to get the music and learn them in time... did I spend a lot of time on the net downloading midis? ... you bet... and I had to put in more time finding the good ones, changing the keys for singing, tweaking the sounds, etc.
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