Remember also, that almost all of the top level pros (on TV/Concert circuit etc)do not need to provide more than their ONE part at a time ... there's a band for that. There are exceptions to the multi-taskers in Rock & Jazz history - consider John Paul Jones (Zep), Jimmy Smith(B3 master), Ray Manzarek(Doors) - all played bass while holding down the keys. That was the early suggestion that maybe one man could do more with better tools. Well, we have better tools now, so I intend to use them to their capacity. The argument of playing sequences as "boring" baffles me ... didn't we all start out just playing our parts while all the other parts were played by the rest of the band? (digital, or otherwise?)I see performing with a sequence as equal to performing with a band - I do my thing, and what I can't, or choose NOT to do ... is handled by other sources. Typically, I start the night with simple arranger patterns - left hand bass, right hand Rhodes and drums - as the night advances, I add more backing parts and use sequences or MP3s as called for. Some tunes just can't be beat in their original format, and the crowd responds in kind.
I love the flexibility of using all the tools, as I see fit to orchestrate the night. The best arranger? ME, of course ... I'm the guy at the helm - the big cheese, the lead vocalist and the caller of the tunes. It's GOOD to be the king.