IMO, arrangers are way, way, way too much designed for the older crowd. The young are the future and if arrangers are not made more for music from 1955 to the present, there won't be any strides made in the USA.

I hear ya about some of the kids liking standards but I do not see those songs ever again having a MASS following. Time moves on. Even I don't care for many standards earlier than the early 50's. And I love music! Many of the songs talked about on this forum, I've never even heard the song. And I'm 52.

That generation will be dead in less than 20 years. I am talking in general.

I think modern arrangers should defocus on all sounds except the following: piano, organ, synth, guitar, drums. That's about it. Forget sax. Forget flute. Forget horns. Etc. Again, I mean, in general. Make a box that rocks. It's real simple. Rock, pop. Plus, country music touches. (Stringed instuments and styles.)

The styles should reflect music from 1955 to present. That should be the bulk of the styles. Rock, pop and country.

I think country music could make more inroads into more mass appeal in the future. Due to the overwhelming dominance of rap/hiphop/r&b in the pop charts, plus the fact that modern country, for the most part, is actually country-rock of old.

I don't care for rap, hiphop or much of the modern r&b stuff but the kids sure do. Build that into the box.

If I said anything conflicting above, in general, it boils down to make it for music from the birth of rock and roll forward. With a few sounds/styles to cover some standards before that.

Then, build a marketing campaign to appeal to youth.

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Bill
Yamaha PSR2000