I guess I look at this a bit differently when it comes to arrangers. Keep in mind, though, that I'm NOT a musician - I'm an entertainer. I look at an arranger as among the most versatile music tools available today. And, I'm constantly amazed at the number of musicians that come up to me and tell me how great the keyboard sounds.

One of the things I often wonder to myself is how much more can the manufacturers create in an arranger keyboard? Granted, some folks will never be pleased unless the manufacturers make the keyboard exactly the way THEY want it, but generally speaking, the arranger keyboard, in it's present form, is absolutely incredible.

AS for the keys, I agree with DNJ. Give me those light touch keys every day. I tried using a fully weighted controller for a couple hours and thought my wrists would break off. Toward the end it felt as if I needed a ballpean hammer to press the keys. When you perform 6 to 7 days a week, often twice a day, those lightweight keys are a Godsent.

Now I know that I only have a few more years of being a performer left in me at best. I sincerely believe that I can do any musical entertainment job, restaurant, nite club, bar, Nursing Home, assisted living center, retirement community and private party using the S-950 and my current sound system. I don't need tilt, touch screens, weighted keys, cast iron case, larger keys, different color case, more than the 700 voices already in the keyboard, or a cocktail dispenser on the keyboard to be a better entertainer or put on a better show.

As for an arranger being a lazy man's tool, not by any means. In fact, I feel just the opposite. An arranger requires a lot more work than any guitar I've ever played. Not only do you have to tune the instrment, but in addition, you must program the music finder and registrations so you will be ready to perform any song requested. You have to remember which songs you put into the registrations and MFD. You have to set up every aspect of every song, and for many of us, establish an interface with a netbook or laptop PC. Some of us even go to the trouble of creating custom styles or modifying styles to fit a particular song. All of this takes months of preparation to get it right. So, anyone that considers an arranger as a lazy man's music tool obviously doesn't have a clue what he or she is talking about.

In many ways, MOTL and TOTL arrangers are a lot like work stations. They can perform many of the same tasks, plus provide you with a lot more latitude in creating a song. There was a guy down here in the keys two years ago with an MO8 that absolutely loved to play my PSR-3000. We performed together on Saturday nights for about three months, and the night before he left for the Bahamas his wife came up to me and said "I would like to buy your keyboard if you are willing to sell it. When you play, there are lots of people up dancing. My husband notices this as well. He was really having a ball when he played your keyboard and I would love to buy yours and give it to him for his birthday next month." I had to turn her down for a number of reasons and she offered me full retail for the board. Ken now owns an S950 and rarely plays his MO8. Ken is a pro musician and played with a symphony orchestra in Texas before retiring to the cruising life aboard his 50-foot sailing catamaran.

I suspect some folks here will consider my statements of a raving, old codger that is on his way out, and they may be right. But, that's my story and I'm stickin to it!

Gary