Tom, seems to me you're trying your best to make this a personal thing. I basically said two things, one a personal opinion and the other a personal preference. I believe I'm allowed to have both. So that there is no further misunderstanding on your part, I'll say it again.

1. Personal opinion - watching a guy making very complex CD-like music which could not possibly be played by one individual, by triggering phrases and pushing buttons seems very "fake, plastic, and artificial" to me, especially when presented to the public as a musical performance. Others differ, but that's MY OPINION. You have yours and believe in it strongly, yet you jump all over me for having one.

2. Personal preference - I choose to use a non-automated keyboard when playing in public because I believe (rightly or wrongly) that the public is paying to hear me play and play at a higher level than an amateur at a house party on an auto-accompaniment organ. The people I play for are used to hearing 'live' musicians and would not accept anything else, especially poorly disguised 'canned music' packaged as a traditional live jazz group. There are obviously MANY other audiences in many other genre's that find this perfectly acceptable, BUT NOT JAZZ AUDIENCES IN JAZZ CLUBS. AND THAT IS WHERE I PLAY, UNDERSTAND?

Tom, I think you're being very predictably defensive (along with several others) and see this as a 'put down' of arranger keyboards in general. That only tells me that you're reading what you want to into what I actually said. Ian, who also disagrees with me, at least acknowledges my point of view (and my right to express them) and seems to understand what I'm trying to say. Spalding also disagrees, and like you, through a misinterpretation of something I said. Let me state clearly, that when I refer to using an arranger keyboard on a gig, I'm referring to USING IT AS AN ARRANGER, IN STYLE MODE (OR MP3 PLAYER OR ANY OTHER FORM OF AUTO-ACCOMPANIMENT). Obviously, just using it as a synth or ws strips it of it's 'arranger' status and changes the game (we are no longer talking about playing 'arranger keyboard' on a gig).

Hope this clears it up for you. One other thing (unrelated to your post but related to some earlier post), I WOULD NEVER switch my child from piano lessons to an arranger keyboard just to keep him interested. I say, take the money you were going to spend on an (probably entry-level) arranger keyboard and continue the piano lessons by (if necessary) bribing him/her with a brand new laptop loaded with games. That way he can learn both technology and how to legitimately play an instrument at the same time. JMO.

chas