Not defensive at all, Donny. I just seem to have seen a lot more arranger keyboards in action over the years, even in the nite clubs, restaurants, private parties, and bands. I know many of these guys personally, and have helped many get started in the musical entertainment biz over the years. They all seem to be doing very well, but the people making the best incomes, from what I've seen, are the arranger keyboard entertainers performing the NH circuit. The guys I know still playing the clubs are making the same rate of pay they made 30 years ago.

Gary

Gary 25 years ago ..my trio got $300 a night for steady club gigs..
When I left my most recent trio , 3 years ago.. we got $600 a night for steady club gigs..

Go back 55 plus years the 5 piece band I was with... got $60 a night as the house band..

All of the above were the top pay at the times..


I love the solo 1 hour gigs for $150... and 15 minutes from home...

Fran, I got paid the same for 1-hour solo gigs during the past decade, and every one of them was 10 to 20 minutes from the house, middle of the day, weekdays. Love it!

The solo club performers around Baltimore, Washington, Virginia Beach, Richmond, etc... all get on average of $100 for 3 to 4 hours on week nights and $150 for 3 to 4 hours on Friday and Saturday. Most of the places here do not have music on Sunday. This is the same rate of pay those clubs and restaurants paid 30 years ago.

I guess you can get more in Jersey because the cost of living has always been much higher than it is south of the Mason/Dixon Line.

Gary

Don't forget all the tips $$$$

Donny, locals don't tip here, or in the Florida Keys - but the tourist tipped very well. Very few tourists in Baltimore.

Now, I am probably one of the few individuals that reported their tip income on my 1040. I did this for several reasons, the most important of which was that it was the right thing to do. Additionally, this just might have prevented my from an audit, which no one really wants to go through. Finally, it allowed my to take the legal write-offs, which made my tax burden far less.

Gary

As Bill said, not many arranger keyboards are used anywhere , so why would expect to see them in a nursing home? I know a sax player/singer that keeps very busy playing at nursing homes. He brings his alto sax, an old boom box with a CD of about 100 backing tracks. He strolls around with his sax and sings ( without a mic) and the old folks absolutely love his show. He plays and sings his ass off with a bare minimum of equipment. Watching his show made it really hit home how talent/musicianship/showmanship and good people skills completely trump all the fancy gear.

Very true but probably falling on deaf ears. Trying to make yourself sound better than you really are is not the ONLY reason people buy arrangers, but it's probably the BIGGEST reason. Second biggest; most (but not all) can't play a regular instrument well enough to impress anybody, let alone get a paying gig. Stay tuned for a flurry of rebuttals and angry denials.

chas

Ditto Paul...
there are so many ways to entertain people and put a smile on their faces...

Very true but probably falling on deaf ears. Trying to make yourself sound better than you really are is not the ONLY reason people buy arrangers, but it's probably the BIGGEST reason. Second biggest; most (but not all) can't play a regular instrument well enough to impress anybody, let alone get a paying gig. Stay tuned for a flurry of rebuttals and angry denials.

chas [/quote]

Chas
I agree but in a limited way. I started using drum machines when my drummer moved and I couldn't find a decent replacement. Then on to Arrangers so I didn't have to carry two keyboards, bass pedals, and a drum machine. I can play piano and Hammond pretty good but your very limited in the Styles you can play with those alone IE: dance music.. Using an arranger has expaned my songlist greatly. Things now are changing again and its DJ's and Karaoke acts or a million Acoustic Guitar player/singers. I'm trying to go back to solo piano and vocals if I can fine the right place.
For home players the Arranger is just a lot of fun and does allow a mediocre player to up his game.

To be honest regarding live music the "war of the generations" is raging on big time, too much crammed into too short a period time in the last 30 yrs,.....but in 20 or 30 years that will all resolve itself when all the baby boomer players are gone and so is their audiences,...
so sadly enjoy it while it lasts, get the purists chips, snobbishness, & big egos off your shoulders and be glad you had a chance to be part of it for a while.
life is too short.