I have used arrangers for years. They are well suited for me if I want to perform by myself or with a vocalist / guitarist.

I have also used them for creating pieces of my own ( or a client's ) songs, though I don't rely on the whole of a style part, but I might take the drums from a style and then mix and match with another part. I also make my own styles, but again mainly for the drum parts and / or for another instrument that I want to give a "looping" effect to.

Using an arranger in this way doesn't differ all that much from using a program like Acid, except that it deals solely with midi loops rather than audio loops ( a few arrangers also have sampling and loop tools ). It also doesn't differ all that much from using a midi looping tool like Fruity loops Studio. The main difference is that in FL studio, I can mix and match a lot faster and I have a piano roll to work with to make modifications. In my arranger, I either have to morph / modify my styles so that I can mix parts or record new ones in real time or via a lengthy style conversion process.

I don't use my arranger much when composing, but that is mainly because of the repetetive nature of the styles and the limitations and time constraints needed to modify styles. I could ( and have )construct ballads or simple blues / rock tunes in it and then do some modifications to the resulting midifiles to get a less canned sound, but I don't always do a lot of those songs, and I instead prefer to go the "from scratch" route. Right now I am working on stuff that is a little bit electronica based but also with an eye toward a few of my favorite musical influences ( Alan Parsons, Yes, ELP, some Jazz fusion etc ), and an arranger won't serve well in these types of tunes.

Also, as is noted in some posts at the GA forum, some arrangers are designed with the home type player / hobbyist in mind, who most often doesn't care about workstation type features like sampling, arps, deep sound editing capabilties, plug in / expansion boards, physical / analog modeling, etc etc... In some of the lower to mid range arrangers the overall build and keys themselves don't feel very sturdy either. Still, my arranger can be summoned in an instant as a scratch pad to try out different ideas that I come up with.

I don't think I'm a poorer musician for having used one though. I can pretty much play what I want to on keys, and if anything, using an arranger has helped to keep my timing skills tighter, as opposed to practicing with no rythym players around me, and it has helped teach me to play better in certain genres and styles that I would otherwise not have played in.

AJ



[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 03-10-2004).]