To cap off a beautiful 1st Singapore Tango Marathon, small workshop with Damian Boggio over cup noodles and instant tea in the cosy setting of Tangopura!
Notes!
DJ tips for creating a memorable night
Role of the DJ
- Phrases of music and the energy variation is very important. You can string together 4 straight tandas of 1940's golden age music, but sooner or later the energy level becomes too stagnant, with variation, no one should be asking for nuevo - that is your goal as a DJ to achieve
- 1940's music was created for the dancer, hence you cannot go wrong selecting a tanda from the era, but be wary of choosing too much from a particular time period as most orchestras would be following a particular rhythm and style that was almost the same for all of them during that time
- The DJ is a "service", people do not go there mainly for the music or the DJ, they are there for the people and to socialise
- The best milonga is one where you are unaware of the DJ, the milonga has to be enjoyable with the music as a backdrop and as a landscape, the minimum thing that has to be gotten right (other than temperature, drinks, dances, dancers which are all variable)
- The music organises the time within the milonga and is something subliminal, it should influence people's moods but they should be unaware that it is doing so
Variations in music
4 big things to watch out for and to contrast:
- Tempo
- Vocals vs. instrumental
- Rhythmic vs. melodic
- Sound quality (fidelity)
additional: timbre (violins vs bandoneon taking the melody line)
- Tempo (pace) may be the same between songs, it isn't necessarily "faster" in the sense of the tempo, but it can seem like it depending on the rhythm
- Note the years in between tracks, from 1940 to 1956 there is a 16 year gap where technology advanced with recordings, this will affect the sound quality and the fuzziness you get with it, track fidelity will differ greatly (also the recording process where they would record one track in one go, warts and all), so you get very different sound quality and nuances
Arranging the music
- TVTMT = 40 minutes to the cycle - encourages quicker turnover
- TTVTTM = 70 minutes to the cycle - encourages longer staying power
Milonga as a marker - because less people dance this
Vals as a marker - the price is higher for both a vals and milonga tanda
- Consider the following:
T1 T2 V T3 T4 M T1
Melodic Rhythmic Rhythmic Melodic Melodic
Slow Fast Fast Slow Slow
- At the beginning of the night, can afford to play faster music to perk up the mood and get people on the floor to get a good first tanda
- There are more tracks with singers than instrumental; don't play two consecutive tangos with singers, this keeps the variation going (T2V; VT3; T4M; MT1 can have vocals)
- You end up with variation like this (1930's rhythmic tango, 1950's melodic tango, Milonga)
- Do not put a hard song (e.g. Pugliese) in every cycle, skip a cycle and choose easier danceable songs
Colours
- Orchestras have their own unique stamps
- Big 4:
- D'Arienzo - rhythmic, punchy, danceable
- Troilo - Variation (1940's rhythmic, 1960's melodic)
- Di Sarli - was rhythmic and sounds like D'Arienzo in the 1940's, but quickly changes to being melodic
- Pugliese - harder to dance to, no more than 1 or 2 tandas in the night
- Other orchestras then fill in - e.g. Fresedo inspired Di Sarli (Vida Mia), Biagi follows D'Arienzo, Gobi follows Pugliese
- Calo as a joker - if it follows D'Arienzo then it is slow, if it is before Di Sarli, then it is fast
History of Tango Music
- Tango is the music and the dance; origin of word is lost, could be Tambor (drums) - onomatopoia; could be Chango (god of thunder)
- Tango started at the cabaret (El Queco); initially frowned upon
- Few influences:
- Gauchos - melody and guitar
- Africans - rhythm
- European - lyrics (opera/classics)
- Tango started at the borders of B.A. - not in the city itself
- French company in early 1900's came to take Tango to Europe - first performances and recording around 1906
- By 1910, on Argentina's 100th year of independence, Tango was selected as a cultural representation of the country and thus became acceptable as a dance
- Recording companies would have two segments, Gaucho music and classic music, which eventually married together to form Tango music (Hotel Victoria - first recording in 1912) - no lyrics
- As the music became more widespread and accepted, the recording companies started recording more of the music and more orchestras popped up - now permanent fixtures on-site (Canaro 1916)
- The flute and the guitar were replaced by the Bandoneon and the piano - which could not play as as fast, as a result, music also slowed down in tempo; also the orchestras became more fixed at a site (couldn't lug a piano around)
- At this point in 1910's, tango had no lyrics - this came about by 1917 with Gardel and mi noche triste
- In the 1920's orchestra players would hop around the different orchestras and play for different ones, so style ends up being quite similar
- In Canaro's orchestra - the singer had a smaller part (estrabillo)
- Radio started playing Tango regularly on the airways; Tango orchestras would also play on the stage at cinemas before screening (silent screening)
- By 1930's where the films started having music (American films); the orchestras were less in demand - D'Arienzo + Biagi (pianist) opened up a new generation of music for dancing in the 1930's
- By the 1950's and 1960's, rock n roll was the new in thing, Tango was considered old - even Piazzolla had more success in Europe
- Tango died for 20-30 years until its revival in Tango Argentino (1980's) - to create the new, you must understand the old; music is forever evolving
- When playing cortinas, think about this, the music is old, but the moment is shared in the present - yet, when the cortina plays (e.g. Queen), this is a part of someone's past - so thus the old becomes the new and the new becomes the old
Notes!
DJ tips for creating a memorable night
Role of the DJ
- Phrases of music and the energy variation is very important. You can string together 4 straight tandas of 1940's golden age music, but sooner or later the energy level becomes too stagnant, with variation, no one should be asking for nuevo - that is your goal as a DJ to achieve
- 1940's music was created for the dancer, hence you cannot go wrong selecting a tanda from the era, but be wary of choosing too much from a particular time period as most orchestras would be following a particular rhythm and style that was almost the same for all of them during that time
- The DJ is a "service", people do not go there mainly for the music or the DJ, they are there for the people and to socialise
- The best milonga is one where you are unaware of the DJ, the milonga has to be enjoyable with the music as a backdrop and as a landscape, the minimum thing that has to be gotten right (other than temperature, drinks, dances, dancers which are all variable)
- The music organises the time within the milonga and is something subliminal, it should influence people's moods but they should be unaware that it is doing so
Variations in music
4 big things to watch out for and to contrast:
- Tempo
- Vocals vs. instrumental
- Rhythmic vs. melodic
- Sound quality (fidelity)
additional: timbre (violins vs bandoneon taking the melody line)
- Tempo (pace) may be the same between songs, it isn't necessarily "faster" in the sense of the tempo, but it can seem like it depending on the rhythm
- Note the years in between tracks, from 1940 to 1956 there is a 16 year gap where technology advanced with recordings, this will affect the sound quality and the fuzziness you get with it, track fidelity will differ greatly (also the recording process where they would record one track in one go, warts and all), so you get very different sound quality and nuances
Arranging the music
- TVTMT = 40 minutes to the cycle - encourages quicker turnover
- TTVTTM = 70 minutes to the cycle - encourages longer staying power
Milonga as a marker - because less people dance this
Vals as a marker - the price is higher for both a vals and milonga tanda
- Consider the following:
T1 T2 V T3 T4 M T1
Melodic Rhythmic Rhythmic Melodic Melodic
Slow Fast Fast Slow Slow
- At the beginning of the night, can afford to play faster music to perk up the mood and get people on the floor to get a good first tanda
- There are more tracks with singers than instrumental; don't play two consecutive tangos with singers, this keeps the variation going (T2V; VT3; T4M; MT1 can have vocals)
- You end up with variation like this (1930's rhythmic tango, 1950's melodic tango, Milonga)
- Do not put a hard song (e.g. Pugliese) in every cycle, skip a cycle and choose easier danceable songs
Colours
- Orchestras have their own unique stamps
- Big 4:
- D'Arienzo - rhythmic, punchy, danceable
- Troilo - Variation (1940's rhythmic, 1960's melodic)
- Di Sarli - was rhythmic and sounds like D'Arienzo in the 1940's, but quickly changes to being melodic
- Pugliese - harder to dance to, no more than 1 or 2 tandas in the night
- Other orchestras then fill in - e.g. Fresedo inspired Di Sarli (Vida Mia), Biagi follows D'Arienzo, Gobi follows Pugliese
- Calo as a joker - if it follows D'Arienzo then it is slow, if it is before Di Sarli, then it is fast
History of Tango Music
- Tango is the music and the dance; origin of word is lost, could be Tambor (drums) - onomatopoia; could be Chango (god of thunder)
- Tango started at the cabaret (El Queco); initially frowned upon
- Few influences:
- Gauchos - melody and guitar
- Africans - rhythm
- European - lyrics (opera/classics)
- Tango started at the borders of B.A. - not in the city itself
- French company in early 1900's came to take Tango to Europe - first performances and recording around 1906
- By 1910, on Argentina's 100th year of independence, Tango was selected as a cultural representation of the country and thus became acceptable as a dance
- Recording companies would have two segments, Gaucho music and classic music, which eventually married together to form Tango music (Hotel Victoria - first recording in 1912) - no lyrics
- As the music became more widespread and accepted, the recording companies started recording more of the music and more orchestras popped up - now permanent fixtures on-site (Canaro 1916)
- The flute and the guitar were replaced by the Bandoneon and the piano - which could not play as as fast, as a result, music also slowed down in tempo; also the orchestras became more fixed at a site (couldn't lug a piano around)
- At this point in 1910's, tango had no lyrics - this came about by 1917 with Gardel and mi noche triste
- In the 1920's orchestra players would hop around the different orchestras and play for different ones, so style ends up being quite similar
- In Canaro's orchestra - the singer had a smaller part (estrabillo)
- Radio started playing Tango regularly on the airways; Tango orchestras would also play on the stage at cinemas before screening (silent screening)
- By 1930's where the films started having music (American films); the orchestras were less in demand - D'Arienzo + Biagi (pianist) opened up a new generation of music for dancing in the 1930's
- By the 1950's and 1960's, rock n roll was the new in thing, Tango was considered old - even Piazzolla had more success in Europe
- Tango died for 20-30 years until its revival in Tango Argentino (1980's) - to create the new, you must understand the old; music is forever evolving
- When playing cortinas, think about this, the music is old, but the moment is shared in the present - yet, when the cortina plays (e.g. Queen), this is a part of someone's past - so thus the old becomes the new and the new becomes the old
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