Diki, you missed the point of my post. No need to defend arrangers or justify why you use them...that's nobody's business but yours. Rather than trying to explain it, I'd just ask you to go back and re-read it.

For the entire 15 or more years that I've posted here, any post that doesn't glorify arrangers or declare them to be the end-all/be-all in music is generally regarded as arranger bashing. It's not true. While I freely admit that I will never view them as a comparable substitute for 'live' music played without the assistance of computers or AI, I can certainly see them as a viable substitute in certain given situations. HOWEVER, we mustn't ever forget that their whole purpose in life is to imitate/emulate their competition; traditional instruments played by competent musicians. Frankly, I just posted this to remind us of the professional and quality levels we're trying to attain (by whatever means).

For the record, I'll listen to Marco Parisi play arranger (or washboard or anything else) all day, proving Paul's point..."it ain't the keyboard.....".

BTW, glad to see you back, missed you.

chas