5538  What defines tango music for dancing

Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2008 13:41:44 -0700
From: "Oleh Kovalchuke" <tangospring@gmail.com>
Subject: [Tango-L] What defines tango music for dancing
To: tango-l@mit.edu
<e5c6fa070802031241v45b7dc13h6ddcd2d1f626e274@mail.gmail.com>

To me, as a dancer, good tango arrangement has to include these five elements:

1. A variety of rhythm: single-, double- and occasional
quadruple-time beats, as well as silent, implied beats.
2. Smooth, flowing melody.
3. Surges in the melody (that "swinging" feel).
4. A variety in the arrangement, where different instruments or
voice interweave and come to forefront of the orchestra.
5. Bandoneon.

As a dancer I hear and express the qualities 1-4 to in the dance.
Bandoneon, with its ability to produce either bellowing, or sharp, or
quick keyboard sound (sometimes all three are overlaid), is
particularly suited to express these qualities.

Here is good introductory article on Bandoneon technique:
www.inorg.chem.ethz.ch/tango/band/shalev/Bandoneon_Technique.pdf

--
Oleh Kovalchuke
Argentine Tango: Connection, Balance, Rhythm
https://www.tangospring.com/

Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2008 15:40:48 -0800
From: Norman Tiber <natiber@charter.net>
Subject: [Tango-L] What defines tango music for dancing.
To: tango-l@mit.edu

I think we need to keep in mind the evolution of Tango dance music.
At the beginning, Tango was like an urban folk dance. Live dancers
and musicians interacted with each other and improvised, based on
what they were experiencing at the moment. Even when Tango sheet
music was published, it was devoid of metronome markings. It could
be played at varying tempos depending on the mood of the dancers and
musicians.

Like many Tango dancers, I usually dance to recorded music and miss
out on the interaction between dancer and musician. In the modern
Tango scene, I think it is the D.J., in his/her selection of music,
that tries to make up for this loss.

Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2008 09:31:17 -0700
From: "Oleh Kovalchuke" <tangospring@gmail.com>
Subject: [Tango-L] What defines tango music for dancing - vals and
milonga
To: tango-l@mit.edu
<e5c6fa070802040831x190c0943o39b8af5dac2aafa7@mail.gmail.com>

Tango vals and milonga share the same five qualities. In vals they are
overlaid on top of vals signature "1-2-3-pause" phrase. Some turns fit
this signature perfectly, hence turns are often used in vals. However
this rule is not set in stone. Here is an example of perfectly musical
vals dancing by Alberto Dassieu with few turns:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orgGazxNz64 .

Milonga has more incesant drive than tango (quadruple-time and silent
beats are de-emphasized). That's why "electrons-plus-drum" adaptations
of milongas (Milonga Sentimental, Baile a Beneficio) by Otros Aires
manage to stay fairly close to the original feel. Classic tangos by
the same band (La Yumba, Niebla del Riachuelo), of course, are
necessarily bastartized.

By the way, if you you are interested in the electronic tango, Otros
Aires is a good choice - by far better than the mechanical
compositions of Gotan Project or the plain dumb arrangements by
Bajofondo Club.

To me, as a dancer, good tango arrangement has to include these five elements:

1. A variety of rhythm: single-, double- and occasional quadruple-time
beats, as well as silent, implied beats.
2. Smooth, flowing melody.
3. Surges in the melody (that "swinging" feel).
4. A variety in the arrangement, where different instruments or voice
interweave and come to forefront of the orchestra.
5. Bandoneon.

As a dancer I hear and express the qualities 1-4 to in the dance.
Bandoneon, with its ability to produce in a skillful hands either
bellowing, or sharp accented, or quick keyboard sound (all three can
be overlaid), is particularly suited to express these qualities.

--
Oleh Kovalchuke
Argentine Tango: Connection, Balance, Rhythm
https://www.tangospring.com/

Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2008 10:03:31 -0700
From: "Oleh Kovalchuke" <tangospring@gmail.com>
Subject: [Tango-L] {correction} What defines tango music for dancing -
vals and milonga
To: tango-l@mit.edu
<e5c6fa070802050903s378012c4r347d03df83df233b@mail.gmail.com>

I wrote:
"Milonga has more incesant drive than tango (quadruple-time and silent
beats are de-emphasized) etc."

This statement is incorrect. Quadruple-time beats potato-and-beans of
milonga. They are expressed by dancing milonga traspie.

--
Oleh Kovalchuke
https://www.tangospring.com