4346  Encouraging DJism

Date: Wed, 31 May 2006 16:35:45 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Trini y Sean \(PATangoS\)" <patangos@yahoo.com>
Subject: [Tango-L] Encouraging DJism

How about a useful thread...

It has taken four years for Pittsburgh to finally get
a really promising local deejay - one that has the
time, energy, and technical expertise to study the
craft of deejaying. But, like all of the other
talented graduate students, he'll probably leave to
find a job elsewhere. Sigh.

So for milongas, we usually bring in a good
deejay/organizer from Ohio or the Ann Arbor
deejays(they have 5!).

So I am curious about how a community can encourage
more people to become deejays. We have had some
deejaying seminars and will be having another one with
Diego Yepes, who has deejayed for over ten years in
BsAs this Sunday. But I'd like for something to come
out of it - like one or two more promising deejays.

Other things we do include sending people to Stephen
Brown's website (www.tejastango.com), encouraging a
lot of partying, and encouraging interaction with the
deejays that do come to town.

Any suggestions?

Trini de Pittsburgh



PATangoS - Pittsburgh Argentine Tango Society
Our Mission: To make Argentine Tango Pittsburgh's most popular social dance.
https://www.pitt.edu/~mcph/PATangoWeb.htm

Date: Thu, 01 Jun 2006 16:33:37 -0400
From: tanguerochino@netscape.net (Tanguero Chino)
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Encouraging DJism


Trini wrote:

> I am curious about how a community can encourage
> more people to become deejays. ?We have had some
> deejaying seminars ....

I hope you do get one or more of the seminar attendees interested in DJing.

Unfortunately, I don't think people can be convinced to take up DJing like
they can be convinced to try dancing. For one thing, the start up cost
for DJing is prohibitive, especially if one insists on purchasing all the
music through the proper channels.

Most DJs teach as well as organize milongas. Teaching allows them to
indulge in their passion, providing a source of revenue to offset the cost
of purchasing their equipment and music.

There may be a few who start as music collectors because they love the
music and the dance, and eventually be convinced to start DJing as a way
to share their collection.

The only other case that I have seen is a milonga organizer training
someone to DJ, providing both the music and the equipment. This allowed
the organizer to take care of other aspects of the milonga.

Good luck





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Date: Thu, 01 Jun 2006 18:21:37 -0400
From: "TangoDC.com" <spatz@tangoDC.com>
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Encouraging DJism
To: tango-L@mit.edu

Hi Trini,

This isn't my area of expertise, but I have a few observations that
might be of some help...

First, it takes a real music lover, plus a lively audience, to produce a
fine DJ. You need a tanguero with the discriminating taste of a
collector, not just a milonguero who's passionate about dancing. So with
that in mind, you might consider recruiting people from the larger pool
of DJs-- people who already collect other kinds of music, and who might
get turned on to tango. I know of at least one such import in the DC
area, and he's solid. He doesn't even dance (or so he claims), but he's
got the tango bug, and an awful lot of recordings, which he cleans up
and tweaks himself. (His cortinas are also refreshingly creative.)

To recruit someone, you might offer free dance instruction in exchange
for the commitment-- and for learning how to follow the dancers' tastes
and desires in your area. That might give a salsa or club DJ more of an
incentive to get kidnapped by the tango.

Also, whether or not you follow the above lead, you might look at your
rates and your milonga schedule, and figure out how to make both more
attractive to a regular DJ. DJs are freelancers, and need a gig to be
worth their while if they're going to commit not only their paid time
(which takes them away from other and perhaps more lucrative gigs), but
also their unpaid prep time, which can be very extensive. It's got to be
good business.

If you've got dancers who are venturing into the DJ side of things, I
don't know what else to suggest except getting them in touch with as
many people as possible. I've observed that DJs don't like to share
their hoards unless there's some kind of swap involved; but like most
fanatics, they're more than willing to talk shop with anyone who
expresses a genuine interest in their great store of knowledge. (Same
goes for college professors, incidentally... Pick a subject, pick a
college, and write a few emails: you're bound to enjoy a lot of
expertise.) Also, really applauding your young DJs, and supporting them
by giving them a chance to learn things by trial and error, is
invaluable, from what I've seen. Give them an opportunity to make
mistakes, and more often than not they'll succeed without even realizing it.

As for music collections... Yes, they're expensive, but share them
anyway. As an artist, I'm fully aware of the intellectual copyright
issues involved. I'm also aware of the atrocities committed by record
companies, both to public domain recordings and to living artists-- not
to mention the consumer. The companies ruin careers on purpose for the
sake of tax write-offs, to offset the lost promotional costs caused by
their own failed projects; they distort old recordings to the point of
absurdity, and re-release them under the name of the original (and now
almost unrecognizable) artists, trying to turn a profit off the names
they don't even respect; and they flood the market with crap nobody
wants, only to complain that MP3 technology is lowering their profits.
Meanwhile, event DJs have been spinning tunes for 30 years, and the
record companies have been following Them, while (illegally) paying
radio stations to give their releases airtime. Why? _When people hear
songs they like, they often go out and buy the recordings._ It's that
simple. But nobody gives credit to event DJs. So forget about
intellectual copyright issues. If anything, DJs are providing free
advertising, and the record companies don't even deserve the sales they get.

I hope all that's of some use to you!

Jake Spatz
Washington, DC


Trini y Sean (PATangoS) wrote:

> How about a useful thread...
>
> It has taken four years for Pittsburgh to finally get
> a really promising local deejay - one that has the
> time, energy, and technical expertise to study the
> craft of deejaying. But, like all of the other
> talented graduate students, he'll probably leave to
> find a job elsewhere. Sigh.
>
> So for milongas, we usually bring in a good
> deejay/organizer from Ohio or the Ann Arbor
> deejays(they have 5!).
>
> So I am curious about how a community can encourage
> more people to become deejays. We have had some
> deejaying seminars and will be having another one with
> Diego Yepes, who has deejayed for over ten years in
> BsAs this Sunday. But I'd like for something to come
> out of it - like one or two more promising deejays.
>
> Other things we do include sending people to Stephen
> Brown's website (www.tejastango.com), encouraging a
> lot of partying, and encouraging interaction with the
> deejays that do come to town.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Trini de Pittsburgh
>
>
>
> PATangoS - Pittsburgh Argentine Tango Society
> Our Mission: To make Argentine Tango Pittsburgh's most popular social dance.
> https://www.pitt.edu/~mcph/PATangoWeb.htm
>
>
>
>
>

Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2006 14:05:06 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Trini y Sean \(PATangoS\)" <patangos@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Encouraging DJism

I?d like to thank everyone who shared their thoughts
with me on encouraging people to become tango deejays.
Several who wrote privately indicated that it was
sheer necessity that motivated them to become deejays.
Basically, there was no one else to do it.

The idea of looking toward non-dancers (either deejays
of non-tango events or music collectors) that a few
people suggested was new to me. That makes sense
since many dancers like to focus only on dancing.

The milongas here are all organized by teachers, so
that is what everyone is used to. So it was
interesting when Diego presented his workshop with the
idea that deejays would eventually like to do their
own milongas. Another way to cover those expenses.

Another thought ? our budding deejay is Greek, the Ann
Arbor deejays are all Indian, there are Russian and
Turkish deejays. There are American deejays, of
course, but the proportion of foreigners seems high.
Think there is a connection?

Trini de Pittsburgh



PATangoS - Pittsburgh Argentine Tango Society
Our Mission: To make Argentine Tango Pittsburgh's most popular social dance.
https://www.pitt.edu/~mcph/PATangoWeb.htm