OMG! I'm so tired of anyone equating sequences with FAKING! (This is not directed at you, Bill) Arranger player/users seem to be anti sequence player/users - WHAT GIVES?

I play till my hands hurt, and I use sequences, live trax, NO trax, and arranger patterns. I VERY often turn on just the drum part and play my own bass lines.

I'm so sick of the notion that "how many" notes you play is some kind of judgment of your abilities...or how many chord substitutions you know, or how many tunes you know, what you read, blah, blah, blah ...

Sorry for the rant, but I get very emotional when people trash others for doing "less" when we all take advantages of the technology AS IT SUITS US.

That last phrase is the meaning for my craziness. We need to be more aware of teh individuality of each other. Do we fault an organist who plays bass pedals, or a guitarist with a midi guitar? How about a drummer that listens to a click track?
I'll get off the soap box now, and sit quietly, but please remember ONE THING ...

We ALL use technology. It provides us with tools to do our jobs better. We can be more productive and more creative if we utilize everything in our arsenal. Please don;t be petty about how others use the same technology. Arrangers are sequencers, in some fashion, and most of us that own these kb's are STILL keyboard players. It doesn't matter if you started on accordian, organ or piano - we still need more than just two hands and two feet to make it in today's advanced world of music technology.

Play from your heart, sing from your soul, and share your talents with humility - you'll please more people than you don't...and that's the definition of success.