Tango DJ-ing

[opendoor]

..The music recorded by any orchestra.. is generally very diverse and shouldn't all be danced the same way. Putting all di Sarli or Troilo or Pugliese in the same mental basket is not something I would like to encourage..

I don't think anyone would. When DJing, the rule of coherence always applies. Since the sound of the tango orchestra has changed continuously, only pieces from one recording session are put together to form a tanda. Sometimes there are exceptions, for example if not enough recordings were made in the year in question. Then the DJ tries to substitute in a style-conforming way. Of course, this requires knowledge of the entire field. Orchestras have often split, then the secessionists play a similar style. Insofar one can substitute d'Arienzo with Polito or Salamanca in certain years. Piazzolla too initially continued Troilo's style.

 

[itwillhappen]

Today I use "album art" for the projection of the information. I can photoshop faster than laboriously changing tags back and forth all the time.

Okay - but I can bulk change my tags in SQL on the mixxx library database with write down to the files or with mp3tags on the files and read up to the library.

 

[itwillhappen]

I guess my question in general is... does projecting information really enhance the experience of the dance at all or is it just an intellectual distraction?

I'll simply check that out at the next dj set - what else?
As a small finesse with a display timer of 20 seconds, except for cortinas.

 

[itwillhappen]

1) I don't think they should have to. That's the DJ's job.

Maybe. But I don't think it's the DJ's job to decide that.

 

[ArbeeNYC]

Well, that's the 'apprenticeship' method

Maybe you didn't check which orquestas were playing on the way in? Or you didn't ask the DJ what that tanda was?

Not every AT afficionado can, or wants, to study the history of the various orchestras, singers, groups, bands, recordings, etc., or listen to an AT music stream.

How about the idea of informing dancers what's going to be played beforehand? And do it in useful, unobtrusive, snippets before the tanda? Might even educate some dancers. Might even spark an interest in, say, d'Arienzo or Canaro (other orchestras are available). Maybe they seek out that music and even do some practice to it. Or tell the DJ that the awful digitisation, complete with scratches and poor dynamic range, of some obscure 1920's piece just wasn't danceable, but there's a later recording which is.

Oh, I've read about the orchestras for sure. Some fascinating history there. And I never talk to the DJ during the milonga about what's coming up; I don't like to disturb them. Once in a while I'll ask about a tanda if it's something I have never heard before, but not often. I do, however, frequently thank them for playing a good set at the milonga. (If it's really bad, I might tell the host.) I don't want to know what's coming up; I can usually tell from the first few bars of the music if I want to dance or not. And with time your ability to identify the music improves. There are gray areas (for me), of course, and I'm not great at identifying the singers. More and more I feel that learning the music is an integral part of learning the dance. I don't really see why anyone who dances wouldn't want to know the music as well as possible. That kind of knowledge can improve your dance a great deal.

 

[opendoor]

...can bulk change my tags in SQL on the mixxx library database with write down to the files or with mp3tags on the files and read up to the library.

Good point. But I use one synchronized database on 4 different platforms. Using mixx and changing tags would spoil that unity.

 

[itwillhappen]

Good point. But I use one synchronized database on 4 different platforms. Using mixx and changing tags would spoil that unity.

As a music collector you'll have different requirements than a DJ, and DJ by DJ also.
My main goal is to hold all in files and playlists, so that I can mirror that to my smartphone.
For "tango to go", DJ set failure scenarios, and finally desaster recovery.

 

[Rabbit]

I don't think anyone would. When DJing, the rule of coherence always applies. Since the sound of the tango orchestra has changed continuously, only pieces from one recording session are put together to form a tanda.

That's a bit too strict, I think. Stylistic match matters but the specific recording session doesn't matter that much - almost no one can tell the difference in sound between something recorded in 1941 and 1942 by the same orchestra/vocalist unless one of the transfers is low quality. Often the tanda composition can be better when recording dates are mixed within the same general period.

 

[Rabbit]

As a music collector you'll have different requirements than a DJ, and DJ by DJ also.
My main goal is to hold all in files and playlists, so that I can mirror that to my smartphone.
For "tango to go", DJ set failure scenarios, and finally desaster recovery.

What software do you use to play your music from the phone? I find the file size is a problem, and usually just resort to Spotify

 

[itwillhappen]

I use Poweramp/Android (not available for iPhone, afaik) because this converts also absolute paths in my playlists (m3u8).
And I pull the 256GB SD card of my phone from time to time and do a sync with PureSync/Windows of changes in my 60GB music files.
It's quite handy for me to prelisten intended tandas for possible quality issues, including invalid characters in filenames or tags.

 

[Greybeard]

I can usually tell from the first few bars of the music if I want to dance or not. And with time your ability to identify the music improves.

Knowing what you like without reference to the band is important. You dance to what you like.

Knowing which band is playing is important when a follow has told you she would like to dance to DiSarli with you. A display of the band name can teach which band played which song.

I'm advocating display more as a way to learn than a way to choose dances.

 

[JournalInTime]

Knowing which band is playing is important when a follow has told you she would like to dance to DiSarli with you [...] I'm advocating display more as a way to learn than a way to choose dances.

Yep. This is undersold in importance.

I know several DJs who use projectors, monitors, tablets, or even flip charts to tell everybody what's coming next. Some announce it over the mic as well; at least one has recorded voice intros for each tanda. And all of them say the same thing: It isn't about teaching dancers the music blah blah blah – it's so that people have advance warning to find partners they want to dance X with in the chaotic milonga environment. Maybe it matters less if you don't have 50-100 dancers milling about a dark room.

Also, it isn't a given that both partners will clue in. Whether due to limited musical knowledge, bad hearing, noisy conversation, or distraction, it's easy not to realize what's playing at first. My girlfriend loves Di Sarli, but also has some neuropathic hearing loss, so if I wait for her to realize what's playing and find me, we'll be waiting too long. Whereas one local DJ who knows us both uses a screen and, if he sees her, tells her, "Your Di Sarli is next!"

To me, that's the sort of thing that distinguishes a good DJ aside from a mediocre one.

 

[ArbeeNYC]

Knowing what you like without reference to the band is important. You dance to what you like.

Knowing which band is playing is important when a follow has told you she would like to dance to DiSarli with you. A display of the band name can teach which band played which song.

I'm advocating display more as a way to learn than a way to choose dances.

I know a couple of DJs who display the names of the tracks being played. It's a nice feature if you're in the vicinity of the information.

 

[ArbeeNYC]

To me, that's the sort of thing that distinguishes a good DJ aside from a mediocre one.

For me, it's the music they play.

 

[opendoor]

For me, it's the music they play.

You don't need to be a good DJ to do so. A good DJ can also play the music you don't like if the organizer or the majority demands it.