Well, I'm glad I'm getting comments from BOTH sides of this discussion...

First of all, let me point out my comments were addressed at NO specific person. And I hope we all realize that they are generalizations, and OF COURSE, cassp, there are some that upgrade constantly that still work hard on their craft, just as there are some that NEVER upgrade, and STILL don't work on their craft either!

But as a generalization, I think it hits home. Sure, if you want the arranger to be an all singing, all dancing do-it-all-for-you piece of kit, staying up on the leading edge of technology will give your act an edge over others at the same skill level that don't. But if your emphasis is on PLAYING music (rather than triggering a machine that plays music), spending more of your time on playing skills, rather than poring over the latest manual seems, at least to me, to be a better use of your limited time.

And 'osmosis'.... Please!!

I never heard a more facile excuse for not cracking the manual in my life. You don't learn an arranger (or any other complex piece of kit) by 'osmosis'. You are perhaps learning to OPERATE an arranger that way (hit a button, see what it does, rinse and repeat), but you'll never learn about sound programming, style editing or creation or more complex uses of the arranger (combining SMFs with arranger play, syncing audio to arranger tracks, etc.) by osmosis.

If this is the depth of your delving into an arranger, this is probably WHY some of you need new equipment to progress. Considerable progress can be made simply by working the styles, working the sounds, utilizing the often hidden power parameters of the arranger you have. But ignore them, and you HAVE to purchase new arrangers to progress. An expensive solution to a simple problem.

Now, before anyone goes off in a huff.... ONCE AGAIN, I am talking generalities here. No-one is being singled out. But as Miden has noted, PERHAPS it is time to take a look at these attitudes, and see if maybe, just possibly, we are using constant upgrading as a replacement for constant improvement of OURSELVES, and our approach to music.

Arranger players are often solitary players, seldom making music WITH others. Often this leads to a lack of peer feedback and reinforcing, and we end up looking to the technology, which is far easier to quantify what is 'best', for signs of visible progress. 'I have the best arranger, so I must be the best arranger player'. Without regular peer review (or what I call 'jamming'! ), who else is going to tell us how well we are playing (or if they like our 'sounds')?

You will rarely ever have another player, after jamming with you, come up and say 'you need to upgrade your keyboard'! They'll talk about grooving, soloing, volume levels (11,11,11...!), comping, all that good stuff. Unless you ARE playing a twenty year old dog, they'll usually go 'great sounds!' no matter WHAT you keyboard play! AS LONG AS YOU ROCK!

But, left to ourselves and our own impressions of our gig, how do we drive ourselves on...? 'I need a new keyboard' is an itch FAR easier to scratch than 'I need to stop rushing' (if I even acknowledge I am doing that!), or 'I need to play less busy solos' or 'I need to learn some newer songs'....

I think the truth is, getting out and playing with the best musicians you can hang with will improve you FAR more than any new arranger. Just play with them ON your arranger (but use NO auto stuff!), and you will quickly find yourself learning sound editing and patch setup that works with real live playing. Then when you return to your arranger, you will have a new set of ears to compare your arranger, and it's capabilities to.

But expecting this kind of stuff to magically transfer itself by osmosis... That only works in fairy tales. The REAL magicians read the manuals....!