Hi Guys - You're so right! I have worked a lot of conventions and from my perspective, what they want is entertainment and atmosphere. I have worked by myself as well as w/balloon twisters and fortune tellers within 100 feet of me. One of the conventions I am doing will have two massage tables and a caricature artist going. Many groups could opt for a DJ, but my experience has been that a live musician tends to enhance the atmosphere.

In the past, many of the folks I worked with in duos and trios either used mini-disks which they created from midi files (reliant on the quality of the sound card used when the mini-disks were recorded), or played midi files directly from a laptop, often with a 'less than optimum' sound card. With the arrangers, we have access to considerably better sounds as well as the ability to make the songs our own and to have complete control over where the song is going to go.

Arrangers have given me an advantage. They make me more marketable and a more versatile musician.

Randy


[This message has been edited by saxxman (edited 04-18-2008).]