On reflection (Have Arranger KBs died out ?), I would question whether they were ever really 'alive'. I don't believe they ever caught on to the degree that the auto-accompaniment home organs did. Of course I don't know this for sure but I seem to remember that about a third of every middle class household had one. If they (arrangers) were meant as the successor for this market, you would have to conclude that this was a dismal failure. Young people won't buy them (any more than they'd buy a nice Conn or Lowry organ), music schools won't buy them (defeats the purpose of learning an instrument), 'Pros' won't use them (with the exception of OMB's) viewing them as too restrictive, Studios won't use them (for obvious reasons), and finally, Home players won't buy them (in large numbers), presumably because of the cost and the lack of the 'furniture' factor - let's face it, a Tyros 5 (with cables and crap hanging out all over the place) just doesn't cut it in the Living room or 'Parlor' and Five grand is too much to plop it in the rec room for the kids or grandkids to bang on.

Now bear in mind that I'm only speculating on the scene in America; Europe and Asia could be completely different. On THIS forum, it seems like everyone has an arranger kb, but in the 'real world', and especially on the live music scene, they are as rare as hen's teeth. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if up to 60-70% of arranger kb owners belonged to this forum. I'm guessing they make up less than 5% of all KB sales. So will they die out? Probably, except for a few boutique instruments. Limited sales volume will always keep the prices high, especially the TOTL models, plus, new ways of making music will leave arrangers in the dusk...in other words, they will simply have no role to play. I predict that all the things that they do well ie. sketch pad, demo arrangements, ect., will be taken over by some form of computer. I think you've already pretty much established that today's audiences don't really care where the music is coming from - especially if the vocals are good and the 'entertainment' quotient is high.

JMO, of course.

chas