This may sound strange coming from a software arranger developer, but I think most of you are better off with a hardware arranger. A hardware arranger is compact, has a nice control panel with a lot of neatly labeled buttons and you can start playing as soon as you opened the box. So why do I continue developing OMB? Here are some cases in which OMB would be useful.

The editing tools for creating arrangements and styles are much easier to use on a PC with OMB then on a hardware arranger. Some Tyros players use OMB only for creating and editing styles. Some studios use OMB as a pre-production tool for quickly trying out ideas and then port the resulting MIDI file to Cubase or Logic.

A lot of live perfoming artists use MIDI files for accompaniment with a PC and a piano keyboard that has an XG or GS synthesizer but no auto-accompaniment. With OMB you can add auto-accompaniment and still be using your current setup that you may prefer over any existing arranger keyboard because of the quality of keyboard feel and sound.

You go for the best quality. You might be very content with your Tyros, but imagine you're a concert pianist. You are used to Steinway pianos, what would you think of the keyboard feel of a Tyros? You are normally accompanied by a hundred profesional musicians, would you like the sampled instruments in a Tyros instead? With OMB you can make your own choices for MIDI keyboard controller and soundfonts. But you must realise that the USD 50 you pay for OMB is only a fraction of the cost that you will spend on such a setup. A master keyboard with 88 hammer action keys is not cheap and the best soundfonts are expensive too. And you will be spending time too setting things up and tweaking styles.

Jos