Hi John:

I spend more time arranging than recording after I've written an original song and melody. Because I don't play well, arthritic hands, I look for styles that will enhance the intro, breaks and outro of my songs. Then I'll spend hours "arranging" the instruments (Yamaha calls them voices), then varying the volume of each... sometimes changing out the instrument(s) for others, adjusting the tempo... and, above all, making a written record of all the settings. Yes, I save the settings in the memory banks but eventually lose or over-write a location.

We all have our favorite brand of keyboard and I don't care to learn a new system but have owned a Mini-Korg and really liked it... but Yamaha's new models are fairly easy to learn and the layouts don't vary much.

Having the ability to create a backing for a song with an arranger (no matter what brand) is a Godsend.

Merry Christmas, ----Dave Rice