I think I often detect a bit of defensiveness from those that consider themselves as pure 'entertainers' and not musicians. I don't have any problem with it, however you do your show is up to you, and if your audience is fine with it so much the better! If you are enjoying doing it, life is sweet...

But I often feel there's some pretty dodgy advice offered from time to time, from people with little experience with how a 'musician' plays. I generally find it better to offer hardware advice on the assumption that a keyboard is being played at a pro level, which will work fine for the less skilled, but advice from someone who plays very little, or very lightly, or with one finger, etc. can often lead better players down the wrong path.

As far as I'm concerned though, if you are enjoying performing in public, it doesn't matter a hair HOW you achieve it. But as a 'player', I must confess that the art of playing needs to come into the performance. It is primarily why I play, the audience's satisfaction is secondary, and the paycheck probably last! Truth is, there are LOTS of easier ways to make more money than gigging, with far less effort. If my skills deteriorate to the point where I can't enjoy the playing, I'm not going to go one finger, or karaoke. And the truth is, if money was the object, I'd already be running karaoke shows. I have a friend who has a great duo with his wife, they sound great, they use audio tracks, sound like the record, yada yada yada, but he gets paid significantly more to sit on his ass and run a karaoke show at the same venues he used to play at!

He can do that, but I can't...

I love PLAYING!

By the way, as a side note, I also hear a lot of defensiveness about using an arranger. So often I hear the old 'You don't see real 'pros' using arrangers' claim and I have to groan... That's a problem with the 'pros', not the keyboard! This is one 'pro' player that has been using arrangers almost exclusively for band gigs and studio work for 30+ years, and never have I once received a sideways look or a funny comment about it. The truth is, 'real' pros don't give a damn what you are using, as long as YOU make it sound killer.

And that's the rub. In a non-sequenced, non auto-accompaniment environment, can you actually PLAY? Because, if you can, the arranger offers a FAR friendlier live playing tool than almost any workstation keyboard. Faster access to the sounds, faster set up of splits and layers, consistent across the board volume evenness (a real weakness of most WS's) and fast and easy access to most meat and potato sounds (which are often buried in a pile of fancy synth sounds you'd rarely use on a WS). That few 'pro' band players haven't yet found this out is THEIR problem, not yours!

But what you WILL get is sideways looks and groans if you EVER use any of the automatic stuff while they are around! Stay off of that, play like a demon, no pro will EVER criticize what you play...!

Be proud of your choice...