I understand Diki...actually my comment "No wonder workstations are cheaper...you actually have to "work" to make a song, so you should be at least compensated for your efforts" was extremely tongue-in-cheek.

I find arrangers are perfect for studio work when I want a quick demo, or to lay down a rough accompaniment to a song.

You probably use them the same way.

A friend of mine and I do work for a song writer who does "filler tunes" for Nashville artists...we mostly use "country" styles that I have modified/assembled and mainly keep them pretty simple, as these tunes, when submitted, have to be uncluttered enough to showcase the meat of the tune.

If we were using a workstation, it would would take longer, and the results would be no better....the mega voices in the S900 save a lot of time and all I need is the basic chord progression to lay down a quick track of bass, drums and some simple chord strumming parts...my friend is an awesome guitarist and adds some simple but effective candy and I might add a string or organ pad, but the arranger lets us work quickly and painlessly.

Having the registration memory is wicked for doing time signature changes, and even transpositions...plus, I know the instrument very well.

We can do quite a few tunes in an afternoon, and the guy we work with is a prolific writer, so it lets us keep the cost of studio time to a minimum and production and profit to a maximum.

It just happens to be the perfect tool for the job...and, the lazy part of me just loves it.

Ian

[This message has been edited by ianmcnll (edited 01-10-2009).]