Sorry, Chas, my post wasn’t really a response to your OP, but more to Bill’s points. Sorry we took it a bit off topic. But you DID open the door a bit talking about why kids in a band don’t use arrangers!

The truth is, at this level, probably the kids aren’t having a tough time getting booked (or at least, once Covid vaccinations get the clubs and theaters reopened) but the fact is, compared to say the 80’s, the number of live club level venues has been completely decimated, at least in my area. An area that had 20+ full bands playing most nights of the week has contracted down to maybe 5 playing one or two nights and only one or two venues doing week nights.

But plenty of solo guitarists, some with loopers or canned backing. It’s just a taste thing, I think, more than any real reason arrangers aren’t getting used by youngsters. There aren’t ANY young keyboard players working solos in my area. Whether on workstations, loop stations or just piano... It’s mostly acoustic guitarists.

I’m pretty confident that, if the demand was there, youngsters would find the arranger as useful as it has ever been if they could find any solo work in the first place!

To a certain degree, as a young inexperienced keyboard player, we all tend to start out wanting to use the gear we see our contemporary stars using, no matter if it’s a PITA to use and haul around. My back has never really recovered from lugging B3’s and Rhodes’ around and surrounding myself with every synth I could afford! I’m watching the Super Bowl pre show as we speak, and on stage is a huge Moog modular, which will only be used for one sound! Bet you that kid’s going to be using something more practical in a few years’ time!

I’ve never thought of arrangers as simply arrangers, and I have little doubt that if my BK-9 was available at the time I was a kid and playing at their level, I’d have used it... Yep, I might have got a road crew to set up the heavy stuff for TV exposure, but if I’m humping my own gear, screw that!