Thanks Chas, there is a difference for certain and I wasn't thinking along those lines.
However, I'll still bet most of these mainstream musicians are totally unaware of even the existence of totl arrangers.
I'm thinking the general perception by them, and indeed the population at large, is one of toy Casio-type keyboards.
Many years ago I was offered a spot on trumpet in the Tulsa Symphony orchestra. At that time it paid pretty well, but circumstances prevented my taking it. (I was still making more money at my "real" job).
However, in our area, the Symphony has endured countless budget cuts to where it is a mere shadow of what it once was, and the shell of musicians still active in it or there more for the love of playing than for monetary reasons. It's truly a shame, but I suppose another reflection of our "progress". I hope it's not like that in other areas of the nation, but I suspect it is.
I believe even the traditional studio musicians are hurting in this respect too, because one person on a synth can replace an entire string section, choir, horn section, etc., for a tiny fraction of the percent of budget that used to be the case.
In fact, an increasingly greater part of pop music is now being created in private studios where one or a few people play and produce the entire song. At the very least, many of the top artists have some type of home studio where they can lay down the basis of a song, and perhaps only need studio help fleshing it out or mastering.
Relating to what I DO know about, I personally know several first-call Nashville studio musicians. Yes they can read charts, although most don't know the music notes, but they are first-call because of their abilities to improvise and create parts within the parameters of the charts.
I think I'm getting far away from the subject of the thread, but Chas always makes me THINK more than I'm accustomed to doing!
DonM