....but why stop there? Why not just a 29.95 portable CD player and a nice Radio Shack mic; heck, you could even afford to get a second CD player as a backup. Oh wait, isn't that a DJ? Seriously though, when used in a OMB situation, unless you have the skills of a Michael V???en (the T2 demonstrator, i forget his name), what is the difference between singing to (or playing over) a SMF and a DJ using two turntables for efx to enhance a tune. If you aren't trying to fool the public, how many of you are willing to get up from the keyboard during a tune, leaving the keyboard playing a SMF, and do your Frank Sinatra impersonation? How do you then go back to the keyboard after that, knowing that the audience knows that you are merely a prop imitating a musician playing live music. Of course you could ignore the SMF/CD/MP3 when performing live and just use the arranger function and not worry about sounding like the record (even if the SMF is pretty accurate and sounds like the record, YOU probably don't). I partially agree with Fran (will wonder's never cease) in the sense that if you can sell your audience on the total package, it matters little how you get there (except to other dumb-ass musicians ).

chas