Re: [TANGO-L] Tango DJ's

[Mark Lad <markw @KWEB.COM>]

Since Manuel breaches the subject of "How To" for DJ'ing a milonga I feel
compelled to go on a rant regarding what I consider a DJ's critical
responsibility: sound quality.

For God's sake learn how to mix sound!  With tango sound quality is
especially significant.  There is no way to get a recording from the 40's
done AAA and a contemporary recording done DDD to both sound good with the
same mix.  They not only need to be mixed differently, but the DJ must be
there to change the mix on a song by song basis!

While there are few people at any milonga who are consciously aware of the
sound quality,  (pop music has killed most people's ears)  everyone responds
to the sound quality subconsciously.

A good example is the Broadway Studios milonga in San Francisco, it was the
premiere milonga in the bay area for many years.  But after shutting down
for a few months and being restarted by another host the milonga failed
miserably.  What was different? A lot of things, notably the 'good' milonga
had the services of Michael "Bink" Knowles, an experienced professional
sound engineer.  The sound was perfect, you could chat in front of the
speakers while at the same time hear every part of the music clearly across
the room.  The 'bad' milonga had almost everyone complaining about the
music, but it was not so much what was being played but how it was being
played.  Here's a hint: if the speakers are rattling at the bass, that is a
BAD thing!

PS: You can get a used Mackie 1202 on ebay for 100 bucks, so there's no
excuse to be mixing with the bass and treble on uncle bob's stereo.