Me! And I agree with Mel and disagree with DNJ, especially about the world switching to backing tracks, which is nothing more than Karaoke.

I have owned an arranger keyboard for more than 30 years, ever since they began to evolve from nothing more than a drum machine fired through an electric piano. Then came the bass, which could be programmed for various styles, mainly Latin and some of the more basic tempos.

As time progressed, arrangers became far more technical, and when that occurred, I clearly recall Lowrey Organs coming out with machines that every shopping mall in our area with someone playing a $70,000 monster in the hallway or open area, and people, including a good friend of mine, plopping down their life's saving to purchase one, which usually included a year of lessons. These things were huge, and incredibly heavy. I watched in horror as 5 big guys moved hers into her living room.

When the PSR-500 became available, the cost was $500 at most department stores, while the music stores were asking about $600. I took a test drive at the local K-Mart, and purchased one the same day - WOW. Then I sat down with the manual for the next two months and learned how to play it, plus how to use all the features. This was a big step up from the Mitsubishi I purchased years earlier, which took about a week to learn.

About the same time, I discovered the PSR-Tutorial forum, logged on, and there was about three categories for the user forum. There were a lot of PSR-500 users back then, and I was able to answer most of their technical questions and solve lots of problems. Joe Waters then classified me as "Professor" for which I was grateful, but think he was a bit over optimistic about my skills.

Each and every time I upgraded to the next level of arranger I repeated the learning process, sitting down with the manual and learning as much as possible about the operating system and features of the new board. However, with each new board, I had to add a couple weeks to the learning process. Yes, while some folks claim that the changes by Yamaha were tiny, they really didn't dig into the technical aspects of those changes and what they were capable of doing.

Now, the home player, in many instances, is often a person that will take the time to learn all these things, and over time, they utilize them to enhance their performances for their own pleasure. A classic example of this is my friend in Argentina, Walter, who I introduced to you with some of his incredible creations. He is a home player, but through his investigation of the inner workings of his keyboard, he has accomplished more than any pro player I know.

Well, there are not many Walters out there, but enough of them to keep the manufacturers happy. In addition to the Walters of the world, there are lots of Me to go around. Not only did I take the time to learn the technical aspects and features of the keyboard, I also made a good living with it, enough to support my family, create a retirement program, buy a home and a beautiful, sailing yacht. And, in doing this, I did not use a bunch of prerecorded midi files/backing tracks and sing along to them. I played the keyboard, using both hands, and my audiences, by and large, knew this was the case. Since my forced retirement, I still sit down at the keyboard and play on a daily basis, mainly because I love music and there's not a night that goes by that a song is not playing in my mind when I finally go to bed. And, while I can no longer sing since the stroke, I'm still singing in my mind with my best singing voice and right on key.

Worldwide, arranger keyboards are very, very popular, though not so in the US, which only constitutes a small fraction of the overall market. In the US, there are just too many lazy people that want instant gratification, want to push a single button, and pop music out of their speakers and sing along as if they had created it on their own, which is rarely the case. I personally know at least 5 ladies and two guys that perform at nursing homes that just bring a boom box and sing along to backing tracks they purchased - they didn't have a hand in creating any of those tracks. One, a Sinatra Imitator, had an account at Hit Tracks for a decade. He said he thinks he purchased damned near every Sinatra song ever made by them.

So, while Donny continues to claim, for more than a decade now, that backing tracks will put arranger keyboard manufacturers out of business, he continues to change keyboards faster than some folks change their underwear. I lost count many years ago. The market, I believe, is aimed at folks that are financially sound, mostly in their 50s and older, and primarily home players. But, I sincerely believe there is a secondary market, which is aimed at pro-players mainly who reside outside the US, such as western Europe, Latin America, Mexico, and many of the Pacific nations.

Gary (I could be wrong, though)