I get your point Bill, as I was once a Yamaha Electone instructor (and course graduate) and played (and demoed) for many years using bass pedals and two manuals (in some cases, three), and yes, it does free up the player to some extent. I have a set of bass pedals (and a digital piano that stands in as a lower manual for my Tyros4) at the studio and sometimes use them when I don't want to work with a style.

However, even with bass pedals, the player is still dealing with, what is essentially, an on-board preset drum machine. Sure, editing is possible, but, if I'm going to be editing in the first place, then using a style is my "go to" method, especially since I can get so much out of them with all the editing tools on-board the instrument (and the plethora of donor styles available). Some of my custom styles have as many as seven variations (as opposed to the standard four-I reprogram the three intros as variations) and often I'll use two or more styles in series (usually when recording) to get even more variety. It is easy to do on today's instruments.

Plus, over the years I have picked up some excellent tips from the company's pro style creators, and the occasional PC based style editing tool, so, I guess, what I'm saying, especially in my case, is that it comes down to personal preference.

So, styles are generally my preferred way of recording/performing...I don't use them to color my songs, I create songs by using styles... they're a crucial part of what I do ... I don't, and have never, considered styles a crutch (or the easy way out) ... they're part of the art.

Ian