Personally, I am glad I retired and left the gigging scene. Over the past several years, there were signs that it was time to move on.

It's not only the arranger player/singer that is being phased out due to the change in music, audience and venues...it's singles (guitar/singer/smf player) and duos (2 guitars/singers/smf player) that are also a dwindling presence on the stages in clubs.

Solo singers singing over mp3's and smf can't provide enough vocal variety for today's demanding (and younger) audiences.

DJ's will soon be the sole solo acts in bars.

Nowadays, I play and record for personal satisfaction only, although I do make CD's for friends and still enjoy making custom styles for other Tyros4 users. At 65 I'm glad to be out of the loop, which was becoming smaller and being replaced by new loops of performers.

Looking back, I had a great run, both as a keyboard player in various groups as well as a solo arranger player, so I have no regrets.

I agree with Donny...the audiences for solo arranger keyboard performers are being reduced drastically...even the players in their 50's feel the difference.

I doubt if the arranger keyboard itself will die away soon, but its use in stage performances certainly appears to be less than before, and its use for hobbyists and home player/song writer/composer will increase (as it will for their cousins, the Workstations).

Change is, and was, inevitable.

Ian