The thing is, squeak, the majors already HAVE hired younger style writers. They use them exclusively for making hip arpeggio patterns for workstations. They just need to employ them to make styles, as well. I'm SURE they could use the extra work (Yamaha and Roland only update their workstation line every three or four years) and money!

But I disagree they won't pay for them if they WERE voiced better. They already pay close to TOTL arranger prices for TOTL workstations, and these are more expensive than great sounding mid-priced arrangers like S900, E60, etc.. We already know how much easier it is to produce improvised music on an arranger than a workstation. The minute that arrangers are re-voiced to be good at the same musics that workstations are, the ease of workflow (in comparison to a WS) will decimate WS sales, and arrangers will become the predominant keyboard.

The MotifXS is a step in the right direction, but it takes style control from a WS point of view rather than arranger. If the arps and styles had a more arranger-like control system, this would be the bomb. But cueing up your variations and fills a bar in advance is NOT 'improvising'.

Take the sounds and arps from a MotifXS, or M3, or FantomX, and put an arranger control front end, and you have the WS killer, right there. The only question is, are the the arranger divisions going to let the WS divisions steal the concepts, muddle through the first few generations, repeating all the mistakes the arranger divisions have already made, or are the arranger divisions going to do it, with their wealth of experience at this type of control, and wake up and take control of their own destiny?

It is time that one of the majors made a modern music arranger that ISN'T a toy, unlike the MM6 and DJXs.