Jupiter

Hang in there - I think I know where you might be coming from in trying to use the strengths of a workstation and arranger - and it is without a doubt that these instruments are moving closer together - or they wouldn't be putting so many full accompaniment patches on all these so called work stations. Creativity is often inspired by having a template in front of you to save time and therefore energy for the project. Now our templates are getting more sophisticated. Hats off to your dad for encouraging you to play the piano as an instrument. A good grounding in keyboard technique and two hand complexities should certainly enhance your ability to use the modern tools in arrangers and workstations.

The way that people use arrangers for the most part is why they call them "arrangers" and not "writers". They seem to have alot in common with guys in the production studio who choose from alot of different tracks and takes for the final cut. Is this making music? Sure? Is it the same as playing the music? Not too sure about that. Is it important - probably not.

Terry seems completely right about one thing - and that is we can never forget that the primary beneficiary of our music is our own selves - and I have always told people that I believe this is the highest and best use of music. sound for its own sake. On the other hand - as soon as we put our music out for public consumption - we open ourselves to scrutiny on alot of levels besides just personal taste - and that includes all the historical standards by which music is evaluated - melody, harmony, complexity, diversity, sonority, rhythmic interest, mood stability, voice leading, nuance, musical humor, quality of flow, use of repetition and motif, chord quality, individuality, creativity, balance.

Accomplished musicians like your father who made little or no use of modern plug and play accompaniments - can be admired for their successes without thinking they have the corner on what music is. On the other hand - musicians who rely on these new tools to put out music for other than personal enjoyment - have a tougher road to acceptance - which is proportional to just how 'canned' it all sounds. Playing live - the challenge is all the greater.

I'd like to think that arranger keyboards will rise to the challenge - and that musicians from all walks of life will find them usable.

regards
Mike