5733  Screaming Tango singers

Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 01:21:41 -0300
From: Shahrukh Merchant <shahrukh@shahrukhmerchant.com>
Subject: [Tango-L] Screaming Tango singers
To: tango-l@mit.edu

Went to see a Tango show tonight ... Corporaci?n Tango's "Vibraciones
del Alma." Perhaps I'll post a review on that later, but mainly was
wondering (again) about the extremely unfortunate habit amongst
contemporary Tango singers, of "belting" their lyrics, often practically
to the point of screaming them.

None of the singers of the Golden Age seemed to need to do this (and
they had arguably weaker amplification equipment); on the contrary, they
were far more convincing in expressing the melancholy and
bitter-sweetness of the lyrics of their Tangos "pensively," rather than
screaming them like an infant having a tantrum (albeit in better tune).

But the audience (Argentine, foreigners, Tango dancers, non-dancers,
doesn't seem to matter) seems to love it. Or is it that they have been
conditioned into applauding automatically the louder he sings?

Is there no contemporary version of a Roberto Ray (just to pick one of
my favourite Tango "crooners," though I could have used almost any of
the classic singers as an example)? Is it an ego thing with the
contemporary Tango singers that they feel they have to overwhelm every
other instrument? Is there even anyone else on Tango-L who feels this
way (or who LIKES the "belting" style, which would actually be better in
some ways so I can try to understand the phenomenon ... even though I
doubt I will actually start to appreciate it)?

Shahrukh

Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:31:27 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Keith Elshaw" <keith@totango.net>
Subject: [Tango-L] Screaming Tango singers
To: tango-l@mit.edu
<61690.65.93.195.175.1250789487.squirrel@webmail4.pair.com>

I am in hearty agreement with the sentiment Shahrukh expresses.

My take from the production side of things:

This vexatious over-doing of singers can come mostly from either the
performer doesn't have sensitive hearing - so they shout for that
technical reason - or because they just haven't enough
confidence/experience/knowledge to get what a compelling performance is
all about.

A great singer knows the difference between "power" and yelling. But, one
has to have finely-tuned ears and a calm, confident disposition to find
the right level.

In their defence, I believe that when tango went into a kind of nose-dive
in the 50's, when arrangements changed to feature the singer right off the
top of the song instead of half-way through; a lot of vocalists turned-up
the sincerity/angst/aren't-I-great thing and that influenced later
generations.

The singer wanted to be/became the "star," as opposed to the song and the
orquesta as it in in the music we all love to dance to.

Really, someone who yells is under-confident and should just calm down.
Don't "try" so hard.

The original singers were such fine musicians. The records were recorded
with all the band and singer huddled around ONE microphone. All of them
controlled their space and kept the dynamics of the music. No one shouted
-even though they all wanted to be the current day male or femal version
of Caruso.

It was in the 50's that singers started crying and over-doing everything.

That's why it's so nice to hear a singer with a modern orquesta do it right.

Such as on all the recordings Ignacio Varchausky has produced for El
Arranque, Vale Tango, Lydia Borda, etc. Adriana Varella on her records. My
dear friend Fabio Rey. All the wonderful singers.

A good singer wouldn't want to offend us or themselves by pretend crying
(as if they were Goyeneche) or shouting/screaming.

I'm with you, Shahrukh.

Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:08:38 -0400
From: jfpaloma@aol.com
Subject: [Tango-L] Screaming tango singers
To: tango-l@mit.edu

?Ditto.?



I think we've come to accept that?louder must be better because we no longer have the ability to appreciate the

quality known as 'finesse.' Everything these days is over the top.




In tango, we teach our students that "less is more". The same should?apply to tango singers.?





Julie

Los Angeles

Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:37:06 +0000
From: c.roques@mchsi.com
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Screaming Tango singers
To: tango-l@mit.edu, genejeanne@comcast.net (genejeanne)
<082020091337.12939.4A8D51820004C1800000328B223045151403010CD2079C080C03BF9C0A9A9E019DD20C@mchsi.com>




Since none of us were around in the Golden Age, all responses will be speculative but two things come to mind.
First, the difference could be that back then orchestras played often at milongas for dancers, not at a stage show for seated listeners, as is the case today. Someone emoting too strongly over a song could be distracting to dancers. (Contemporary with tango orchestras, the great swing bands in the U.S. also had singers that complemented the dancing, often singing in very rhythmic phrasing.) But also there seem to have been singers for listening to and singers for dancing to. Perhaps the line between them was always thin, but certain ones were lauded for their danceability, notably Angel Vargas, Alberto Castillo, Raul Ber?n and others. Even today, there are many tangos played that would not be heard in a milonga, in spite of their popularity, so the emotional rendering could just be the other side of the same coin, and coming from a country that loves opera as much as they do, it shouldn't be a surprise that the songs are belted out. Perhaps that was also the case the!
n. Nowadays most of the orchestras perform for seated audiences, so the singer is the performer. Were the songs in the show sung while dancing was going on, or were they meant to be solos?


Second, how do we know they didn't belt them out when they sang live, even back then? Studio recordings are carefully produced for sound levels, pitch, etc. and purposefully balanced. Even today live bands and singers don't always reproduce the exact same sound as in the studio.


But mostly I would think that the reason is that orchestras and singers no longer perform for dancers.
Cheers,
Charles


-------------- Original message from Shahrukh Merchant <shahrukh@shahrukhmerchant.com>: --------------

> Went to see a Tango show tonight ... Corporaci?n Tango's "Vibraciones
> del Alma." Perhaps I'll post a review on that later, but mainly was
> wondering (again) about the extremely unfortunate habit amongst
> contemporary Tango singers, of "belting" their lyrics, often practically
> to the point of screaming them.
>
> None of the singers of the Golden Age seemed to need to do this (and
> they had arguably weaker amplification equipment); on the contrary, they
> were far more convincing in expressing the melancholy and
> bitter-sweetness of the lyrics of their Tangos "pensively," rather than
> screaming them like an infant having a tantrum (albeit in better tune).
>
> But the audience (Argentine, foreigners, Tango dancers, non-dancers,
> doesn't seem to matter) seems to love it. Or is it that they have been
> conditioned into applauding automatically the louder he sings?
>
> Is there no contemporary version of a Roberto Ray (just to pick one of
> my favourite Tango "crooners," though I could have used almost any of
> the classic singers as an example)? Is it an ego thing with the
> contemporary Tango singers that they feel they have to overwhelm every
> other instrument? Is there even anyone else on Tango-L who feels this
> way (or who LIKES the "belting" style, which would actually be better in
> some ways so I can try to understand the phenomenon ... even though I
> doubt I will actually start to appreciate it)?
>
> Shahrukh

Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 10:02:16 +1000
From: Tango22 <tango22@gmail.com>
Subject: [Tango-L] Screaming Tango singers
To: tango-l@mit.edu

Hey Keith, you could be talking about dancers here. Excuse the
edits...

>
>
> Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:31:27 -0400 (EDT)
> From: "Keith Elshaw" <keith@totango.net>

> ......... or because they just haven't enough confidence/experience/
> knowledge to get what a compelling DANCE is all about.
>
> A great DANCER knows the difference between "power" and AGGRESSION.
> But, one has to have finely-tuned ears and a calm, confident
> disposition to find
> the right level.
>
> The DANCER wanted to be/became the "star," as opposed to the DANCE
> and the
> orquesta as it in in the music we all love to dance to.
>
> Really, someone who FORCES is under-confident and should just calm
> down.
> Don't "try" so hard...................
>

...............In their defence, I believe that when tango went into a
kind of nose-dive
in the 50's, when arrangements changed to feature the singer right off
the
top of the song instead of half-way through;.....................

Not so sure about this paragraph though. Was there not always a
singing genre of Tango?. (Tango Cancion - e.g., Gardel; Libertad
Lamarque; Rinaldi etc., ) as well as the dance genre, where the
vocalist mostly sings "the bridge", as you say, as part of the
orchestra. (Was it Canaro who introduced the vocalist to dance music?
I remember reading that somewhere).

Too many DJ's and dancers can not differentiate between Tango for
dancing and Tango for listening (Tango cancion or Piazzolla's concert
music). The distinction is even more important today with so much
experimental Tango /latin / jazz / pop fusion. DJ's must be very
selective with modern music, but in my experience many will play any
latin or rock beat, as long as it has a bandoneon in the mix and they
can tag it Nuevo.
:)
John