Tony, it’s like sharing a meal with four friends --- you get their impute in life, and you share yours. And you get to share your ideas, and learn from their idesa --- and you have some to talk to, a OMB is just me.

There is so much more. Great post Tony, John C.

PS, when I left the band and started playing as a OMB, I lost a lot.

I agree,but there is always loss and gain to going OMB. We all know what they are,so we figure out what, or if there is a net gain,and go with it. I,however,tend to think of the great joy of making great music together,and forget the fights,no shows,weak sisters,and the like.

Arranger may not be QUITE as good, but most folks would not know the difference...just look at some of Peter Bartman's demos...ON GENOS

Good live music is wasted on those that can't tell the difference.

chas

+1

Lee - MOST Folks would not know the difference?!? ... MAYBE, if they are just casually listening, but otherwise I must respectfully disagree ... JMHO

As for the video, as we can see & hear, the drum kit is digital, so the only part which may sound different from an arranger is the bass guitar.

I tried to play with a semi-professional band and I didn’t really enjoyed that.

If we compare playing an arranger to playing with a perfect band which is in perfect conditions, surely, the band will be much more superior. But in a lot of real-life situations, sorry to say, PSR’a saxophone, piano or classical guitar would sound more “authentic” than real things. People have their “images” of how instruments should sound like based on listening to studio recordings, and when they deal with the reality it’s often not quite the same. In the same time, Yamaha, for example, recreates the very “studio” sound of those instruments.

It’s true that people would rather pay big $$$ to listen (or rather to watch) a real band; and there’s no much use of an arranger in a studio working on something which also involves a lot of $$$, but my point is that not always a band of decent musicians sounds better than an arranger.

Also, I keep in mind that each sound and style in my Yamaha is made by real people, and I always admire how professional, intelligent and tasteful they are. I must say, that in “intro” part of most styles there’s so much idea, so much essence of the genre that it’s really hard to compete with that (that’s why I only use short ones).

Surely we tend to polarize things for the sake of the conversation. There’s no real limitation on using it all, and the choice is often made by a specific conditions and demands we are dealing with right now, not because of some ideology.

I agree with Lee - at least that has been my experience over the years, most would not know the difference, and in reality, they don't really care. Lets be realistic, the vast majority of our audiences don't have a pro musician sitting down there and thinking, "He should have used an F-maj7 instead of just a plain F in that measure." as if he had the sheet music sitting in front of him or her. Our audiences, just like us, want to have fun, and be entertained. There is no other reason for the audiences to be there, unless it's a restaurant and the food is great. At that point, they are just casual listeners, as Tony calls them, and the music becomes secondary to the meal.

C'mon Chas and Donny, if you are only playing for those that know the difference, then you are, obviously playing for a very, very tiny audience, and more often than not, no one other than yourself and a few of the guys you are playing with. When I performed with a small, country band many years ago, most of us were average musicians at best. Sure, I could play a guitar and sing pretty good, but no matter how hard I struggled to provide a perfect performance, I knew in my heart that I was just average and never dreamed that I would eventually make a good living as a musician/entertainer. Yep, we played LIVE music, for LIVE audiences, and I, personally, never thought I was wasting my time playing music to people that didn't know the difference between various notes in the song. NOT ONCE! Had that thought ever crossed my mind, I would have got out of the business and found another way to make a living.

Good luck,

Gary

Gary....
do you consider playing an automatic arranger kb playing
LIVE Music?
Or consider operating an automated combination of small
midi style files combined with some right hand sound reinforcement?
Nothing wrong with doing it that way as we all know.....
sometimes it seems the easy way out but the bills gotta be paid right?

Many times it's better to for the listener just close your eyes, listen, & enjoy
versus seeing and knowing what is actually going on thinking it's a karaoke show of some kind due to lack of knowledge which most unfortunately without being their fault succumb to...
Hope I am making sense?

+ 3. Major difference: No passing chords or passing notes on the bass.

R.