588 Playing music for milongas
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2002 20:22:34 -0500
From: Stephen Brown <Stephen.P.Brown@DAL.FRB.ORG>
Subject: Playing music for milongas
DJs can approach an evening with one of several strategies. With their
knowledge of a large number of CDs, they can compose each tanda and
program it into the evening's music on the fly. They can prerecord the
entire evening's program in advance, or they can use prerecorded tandas
as the building blocks for mixing the evening's music.
The principal advantage of mixing the music during the course of the
milonga is the DJ can interact with the dancers and adjust the music to
suit their tastes and the feel of the evening. For instance, if the
dancers seem full of energy, the DJ can continue to build tension by
playing music that is increasingly dramatic or quicker in tempo. If the
dancers seem to be having trouble finding the rhythm of the music, the
DJ can respond with DiSarli, early Canaro, or Caló with Podesta. The
disavantage is that the DJ remains chained to the equipment, and could
evolve into a non-dancer who does not share the experiences of the
dancers.
Using prerecorded music has several advantages. The DJ does not have to
remain chained to the equipment and is able to have fun dancing while
finding out first hand what works and what doesn't. (I have learned
that some pieces that sound great at home just do not work at a
milonga.) In addition, the DJ does not need to remember which three
songs on a 20 song CD are the best for dancing and go well together
while playing the music during the evening. Nor does the DJ have to
remember which CD has the best fidelity recording of a particular tango
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2002 20:35:45 -0500
From: Stephen Brown <Stephen.P.Brown@DAL.FRB.ORG>
Subject: Playing music for milongas (part 2)
Wow my previous message was truncated. I continue:
Personally, I like to use preset tandas for the bulk of my program. They
provide the flexibility of adjusting the music to the mood of the evening,
but they allow me to dance,..., mix with people, etc. If I had to give up
dancing to be the DJ, I would never do it. I am also nervous about
strategies that take the DJ off the dance floor. It's too easy to become
an intellectual DJ when you no longer to dance to what you play.
You might think that I would end up playing the same tandas week after
week, but with 90+ tandas, I arrive with about 18 hours of preset tandas
ready to go. In order to keep the best classics fresh, I have made some
variants of the tandas that contain the must be played tangos.
Actually, I use all three strategies. At the beginning of a milonga when
only a few people have arrived, I will typically play a preset program. I
switch to mixing preset tandas for most of the evening. When I find the
situation necessitates it, which is rare, I will mix new tandas from my
preset tandas.
With best regards,
Steve
Stephen Brown
Tango Argentino de Tejas
https://www.tejastango.com/
Date: Mon, 8 Jul 2002 16:09:08 -0500
From: Stephen Brown <Stephen.P.Brown@DAL.FRB.ORG>
Subject: Playing Music for Milongas: diversity and fidelity
Some recent experiences remind me how important diversity and fidelity is
in playing music for a milonga. A diverse selection of music contributes
to the feeling of a more full evening of dancing. Use of the best fidelity
recordings reduces the fatigue that comes from the low-fidelity that
characterize the recordings typically used for milongas. A milonga where
the music is sufficiently diverse and the fidelity is as high as possible
keeps the dancers energetic and keeps them there all evening long.
With the music at a milonga presented in tandas of similar sounding music,
the programming of tandas is the key to providing a diversity of sound.
Each tanda should be sufficiently strong in its own identity, and not too
similar to what immediately preceded it, so that it overpowers the
conscious memory of the previous few tandas and pulls everyone back onto
the dance floor. The use of too many similar tandas in a row, such as
D'Arienzo, Biagi, Rodriguez, and early Troilo creates a dull sameness--even
when each tanda contains great music.
In addition to providing sufficient diversity, the DJ also needs to
accomodate the dancing styles present in the room. Milonguero style
dancers tend to prefer music with a more prominent ric-tic-tic rhythm, such
as D'Arienzo. Salon style dancers will prefer music with a smoother sound,
such as Di Sarli. Fantasia dancers will prefer more dramatic and
theatrical music, such as later Pugliese and some post-Piazzolla music.
With best regards,
Steve
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 00:25:49 -0800
From: Dan Boccia <redfox@ALASKA.NET>
Subject: Re: Playing Music for Milongas: diversity and fidelity
Stephen Brown wrote:
{{" Milonguero style dancers tend to prefer music with a more prominent
ric-tic-tic rhythm, such
as D'Arienzo. Salon style dancers will prefer music with a smoother sound,
such as Di Sarli. Fantasia dancers will prefer more dramatic and
theatrical music, such as later Pugliese and some post-Piazzolla music."}}}
To me, the only thing that is consistent between social dancers and music is
that the truly good dancers dance well with a wide variety of partners to
the full slate of recognized good dance orchestras. The other consistent
thing is that inexperienced, new, or just plain poor dancers can only dance
to a limited variety of music with a limited selection of partners.
Dan Boccia
Anchorage, Alaska
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 13:19:57 -0500
From: Stephen Brown <Stephen.P.Brown@DAL.FRB.ORG>
Subject: Re: Playing Music for Milongas: diversity and fidelity
Dan Boccia wrote:
>[T]ruly good dancers dance well with a wide variety of partners to
>the full slate of recognized good dance orchestras.
I agree with what Dan wrote; good dancers can dance well with most partners
to a wide slate of music that was produced by the well-regarded dance
orchestras. I am simply stating which music has the rhythmic
characteristics that are most compatible with the various styles of tango
dancing. I am further suggesting that DJs play music for all the
dancers--not just the truly good ones, and that most dancers (good and
mediocre) will prefer the music that has rhythmic characteristics that are
the most compatible with their preferred styles of dancing.
With best regards,
Steve
Stephen Brown
Tango Argentino de Tejas
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 10:48:51 -0500
From: Stephen Brown <Stephen.P.Brown@DAL.FRB.ORG>
Subject: Re: Playing Music for Milongas: diversity and fidelity
I am writing to clarify several aspects of my previous remarks. First, a
recurring work conflict as prevented me from attending the Tango Fireworks
for its two years. I hope to make it there in 2003. My comments were
intended to be general--not specific to any particular event, though they
are obviously shaped by events that I have attended during the more than
eight years I have been dancing tango.
Second, I agree with Dan Boccia that good dancers should be able to dance
to the wide spectrum of music that is among the classics of tango music.
Given what I intended in my original remarks, I was concerned, however,
that he might be interpreted as saying that as long as the DJ plays music
from the classics of tango dance music, whatever the DJ plays is
acceptable. Because he never said that, however, I was careful not to
assert that he had.
A private email suggested to me that Dan may have meant something
different--that one should not paint each of the dance styles into a
rhythmic corner. That suggests a possible misinterpretation of the
intention my remarks. I do not think that milonguero-style dancers want to
dance to only the highly rhythmic music of D'Arienzo, Biagi, Rodriguez, and
early Troilo.
All I meant to am say is that at a milonguero event, I would tip the mix of
music in the direction of the more rhythmic tangos. I would still play
Calo with Beron, Troilo with Fiorentino, Di Sarli instrumentals, Di Sarli
with Rufino, and Pugliese. I would just put greater emphasis on the
rhythmic tangos. At a salon tango event, I would tip the music toward the
softer rhythmic, smooth and lyrical music. I would still play the rhythmic
D'Arienzo, Biagi and Rodriguez and the dramatic impressionistic Pugliese.
My original comments were to suggest that DJs should play the full spectrum
of music that is highly regarded for social dance and program a mix of
music styles throughout the evening. Even though each tanda might contain
great music, back to back tandas of D'Arienzo, Biagi, Rodriguez and early
Troilo creates a very dull impression. So would back to back tandas of
DiSarli/Rufino, Troilo/Fiorentino, Calo/Beron, Fresedo/Ray.
With best regards,
Steve
Stephen Brown
Tango Argentino de Tejas
https://www.tejastango.com/
