Instead of being an alternative to other non-automated instruments, I have come to think of arrangers as alternatives which allow for more flexibility, meaning more opportunities for work and income.

While a full 70% of my work is either studio or traditional instruments, I do use arrangers for film score roughs and other project "shells" and for the occasional job that requires a little more than a guitar or piano.

That means that, if you add a little for the contribution of the arranger in the process of writing, playing and producing film scores and other audio, arrangers are used in over 50% of my work.

This week, for instance, while I'll use an arranger for only 2 "almost live" performances, I worked on 5 different recording roughs. the final projects will not incorporate the use of an arranger, but the process would have been much more tedious and time consuming without one.

Other work included jazz guitar as a single (4 jobs), solo piano, B-3 with a drummer, mandolin and tenor banjo on a recording (if you tell anybody about that, I'll deny it), and controllers with a whole bank of samples for recording. For sentimental reasons, my work on upright with Jazz arts type groups and philharmonics is very personal to me (and very hard on my fingers LOL.

I would NEVER want to use an arranger exclusively, but I sure do use them and will continue to do so.

Wish there was a way to make a great living playing jazz on traditional jazz instruments. There is, but it takes TALENT!

OH WELL,

Happy holidays, everyone!


Russ