Re: Music, Tango, & Dancing...

[Stephen Brown <Stephen.P.Brown @DAL.FRB.ORG>]

Roger Pick wrote:

>>And Steve, I hope that soon someone can send you a listing of hundreds of
modern recordings filled only with the best of music for dancing, that when
played by a live orchestra will satisfy almost any hall filled with
dancers...<<

I do too.   :-)
It would be wonderful to have such recordings available.

One can actually find quite a few recordings made since the early 1950s
that can be used for social dancing, but those recordings offer the DJ only
a limited sound pallette.

1) The recordings on which modern orchestras recreate the sound of vintage
tango orchestras are quite limited in number.

2) After the golden age, tango music made a transition into several
different concert sounds.

3) One concert sound emphasized lush, dramatic orchestration.  The
recordings with lush orchestration all begin to sound similar and
repititous when used any more than sparingly.  You maybe able to get one or
two tandas in an evening before putting the dancers to sleep....

4)   Another concert sound was profoundly influenced by the progressive
rhythmic and melodic developments pioneered by the Pugliese, Piazzolla and
Salgan orchestras.   The recordings with a progressive concert-oriented
sound that are useful for social dancing tend to work best for late-night
dancing--a territory for which the Pugliese orchestra has many excellent
and reasonably high-fidelity recordings.

Consequently, the DJ must look to older recordings to provide a full
evening of quality dancing.

The shift in sound from dance to concert music owes to both artistic and
economic reasons.  1)  As Roger pointed out, the potential audience for
tango dance music is considerably smaller than the audience for tango
music.  During the golden age of tango, much of the broadly popular tango
music also had a dance beat.   2)  Musicians are not content to simply
offer what has been created by others.  3)  Old recordings provide a very
good substitute for newer recordings that seek to maintain or recreate a
vintage sound.

With best regards,
Steve

Stephen Brown
Tango Argentino de Tejas
http://www.tejastango.com/