Diki, you are about to get the old "well this is an Arranger forum, if you don't like Arrangers, why are you here?". This forum is, in many ways, much like certain political parties, THE TRUTH DOESN'T MATTER. There are those that are slavishly devoted to Arrangers and those who recognize and acknowledge what an Arranger really is, a specialized computer designed to make basic, technically perfect but uninspired, simulations of live (as in music played by professional musicians on mostly acoustic instruments) music. Further, they are designed to be operated by NON-musicians, amateur musicians, singers with minimal pianistic skills, basically anyone other than professional pianist/keyboardists. The design objective behind every new whizbang feature seems to be to make playing (operating) easier. They are also used by songwriters, arrangers, and OMB's (where they can be effective in the hands of a talented professional).

Much of the above is ONLY true in America and apparently, their use in Europe and Asia is much more widespread. Diki is correct in that hearing the same style over and over again, no matter how good, will ultimately get to be boring. But for me, what kills the realism is the very thing that an arranger is best known for: PERFECTION. Tempo never so much as a millisecond off, every instrument perfectly in tune (even if sans dynamics), never a bad note, chord, or phrase (within the backing parts), ect., etc. etc. WE ARE HUMAN, WE are not PERFECT. Dynamics is key to giving music feeling and emotion. It's why if you had a live band play the EXACT thing an arranger was playing, every single person in a completely blindfolded audience would be able to tell you which was live and which was the arranger.

Yep, the arranger is quite a little piece of technology; a source of inspiration for some, a source of fun (expensive hobby) for others, a source of somewhat limited income for others. They're neither good nor bad, just a very versatile tool awaiting your type of usage.

chas