Personally, I think young players already ARE using arrangers. Thing is, they don't call them that. They are called 'workstations', loopstations, groove boxes, basically anything BUT arrangers. (Look how Roland REFUSE to call the GW-8 an arranger, even though it is one in all but name)

There is little that we need for something to be called an arranger that the MotifXS or M3 doesn't already do. All that remains is some small details in controlling and triggering the arps (we would call them style sections) and voil�! Now it's an arranger...

With chord following arps, what is the difference between these and an arranger? The main difference is CONTENT... The younger players love the loop style (although they aren't audio loops) content, but you still have to PLAY them.

And, we can doom and gloom ourselves all we want, and wax nostalgic for the 'good old days' all you want. The truth is, behind every DJ, there's a MUSICIAN that makes his loops, that makes the tracks he samples from, that makes the hits he spins. Always will be. You can jump on the DJ bandwagon all you want, IMO the only people that need to do that are those that can't currently play well enough to compete with the DJ's. Or are so musically fossilized that they wouldn't play any modern music even if the DID have the chops and gear for it...

Personally, I see NO drop off in live music opportunities. I haven't seen a single club round here go from a band to a DJ. They might drop from a full band to a duo, or solo, but where live music is played, live music continues to be played. And, when it is played by young people FOR young people (or older people for young people), the youngsters still pack in.

Don't forget, you 'old farts'... we survived the disco craze of the seventies, in which FAR more live music venues opted for DJ's than have now. And we didn't have to spin vinyl to do it You can either grab your laptops and try to compete on the DJ's level (and you will always lose out, because, let's face it, what kid wants to go out and party at a place where their GRANDFATHER mixes beats? ) or you can grab a WS and add it to your arranger arsenal, and be able to perform in any style they need...

Me, I'd rather make beats FOR the DJ than be one...!