It seems like Rodney Dangerfield's line "I can't get no respect" pertains to arranger keyboards too.

Just got back from visiting a national chain music store in my area, inquiring about arranger keyboards and the sales guys (week end warrior type musicians) gave me a weird look like "why would a 'real' musician be interested in playing an arranger keyboard". There seems to be a strong (unjustly so) mis-conception amongst some pro musicians (especially here in the US), that arranger keyboards are simply back up accompaniment machines (similar to karaoke) designed for people with no real musical talent or taste. Only after sitting down and playing them a few tunes in full keyboard mode were they finally convinced that the arranger keyboard can truly sound very professional.

Could it be that these guys feel threatened by ever improving arranger keyboard technology and fear they will be replaced by us? Of course I would prefer to play with other 'live' musicians, but the fact of the matter is, you make more $ as a solo 'one man band' act.

As an arranger keyboard musician, "you" are both the band leader (conductor) and all the performing members of the band as well. The arranger keyboard offers 'new' creative challenges for the 'live' performing keyboard musician. This includes knowing when to trigger drum fills (at just the right moment) for added spontaneous realism; incorporating a variety of arranger playing styles/modes and implementing vocalizer backup for added variety/spice, and perfecting playing techniques specifically unique to arranger keyboards (style, orchestration, chord voicings,on bass lines, panel memory, etc). To achieve the highest level of professionalisn, arranger keyboard performance requires not only musicianship skills but many other specialized skills specifically unique to arranger keyboards as well.

I play the Technics KN5000 with hard drive and have scores of songs stored which contain customized song specific styles (organized by genre). I also store a bank of styles which cover a wide genre of song styles for those 'audience request tunes'. This makes for quick access (almost instantly) to just about any song style or specific customized song as needed, because for live perfomance, you don't want 'big gaps' between songs which might bring down the house energy level). I also use a 4 pedal foot controller unit + a single pedal foot controller. These are used for triggering drum fills, style & sound changes, and other parameters. To stabilize and keep the pedals in a "consistent spot" beneath the keyboard, I built a lightweight wooden pedal holder (out of plywood) which is secured between the keyboard stands' legs (simple Quicklock X stand). This way I can be always confident that I'm hitting the correct foot pedal without having to look down.

Interested in hearing from others of you re: your indiviual arranger playing style, techniques, tips, opinions, etc.

Make music and be happy,



Scott

San Francisco Bay Area (California), USA