There is no shame attached to it. It's a legit tool on a digital instrument. Just like a capo for certain fingerpicking techniques on guitar.
A seasoned player MAY be able to accomplish the same thing without it, but maybe not.

Digital gear has forever changed the way music is created. 40 years ago there wasn't even a catagory for digital instruments. We were taught that even electronic organs didn't qualify as legit instruments because they didn't make any sound on their own.
The four groups presented to me at Temple were:
Strings
Brass
Woodwinds
Percussion
No where was there room for anything that created sound without moving air through a speaker first.

To quote Mr. Zimmerman:
"The time's they are a changin' "