What are DJs doing wrong

itwillhappen said:
..in the so-called GA... It was practically impossible to select a specific track or even listen to the same one twice in a row..
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Well, there certainly were a lot of record stores in Buenos Aires. The photo shows the flagship store of Pathé —the predecessor to sello Odeon— in 1915. Judging by their clothing, the people in the photo were certainly there for classical music—after all, tango didn't become a mass phenomenon until twenty years later. Furthermore, people back then wouldn't have listened as analytically as we do now. That is precisely why Christine Denniston described the Golden Age as the low point of tango history.

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Eleven! said:
I suppose I am spoiled by dancing a lot in Europe (I am UK based) and can choose to travel to events with large orchestras - which I do. So far this year I have danced to large live orchestras seven times. This includes Sexteto Cristal, Hyperion Ensemble, La Juan D'Arienzo and El Cachivache.
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Yeah, nothing like that over here. We did have one medium size orchestra perform here; I think they've been here twice. But I missed them. It's expensive to travel here between airplane tickets and visas, not to mention food and lodging. I'd have to go to B.A. to hear the modern orchestras perform.
 
Eleven! said:
I suppose I am spoiled by dancing a lot in Europe (I am UK based) and can choose to travel to events with large orchestras - which I do. So far this year I have danced to large live orchestras seven times. This includes Sexteto Cristal, Hyperion Ensemble, La Juan D'Arienzo and El Cachivache.

The most interesting was an orchestra called Tango Experience who are based in Finland and billed as Europe's biggest tango orchestra. Tango Experience has 8 bandoneons, 6 violins, 2 cellos, double bass, piano and singer!

I have also danced several times to small groups of musicians when I have been to an event and they were there - I didnt travel specifically for that music - and I have to agree that in many of these cases I would have rather listened to recordings! That having been said I have danced in the past to a solo piano and it was wonderful.
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Perhaps I am spoiled. I regularly dance locally to large orchestras and small duos/trios too. Most of the time the music is excellent. At one particular venue, you get all three. A small duo or trio, later an hour of full orchestra joined by the duo or trio or quartert, and DJ. At this particular venue the DJ selection is generally underwhelming since it tends to rotate between the same two or three DJs that I have never liked.

I am surprise to hear that small group of musicians don’t excel.
 
Eleven! said:
To expand on that. I don't know whether the GA led tango to be danced unmusically because of the wide musical choice or whether the changes in the music would lead to better musicality or not. unless someone invents a time machine and I can go back and see for myself.

But I actually listen to 3 or 4 hours of music a day, many days a lot more. I listen to a lot of tango music obviously, but I listen to a lot of music. I've been a metal head for more than 40 years. In my twenties I listened to a lot of classical music particularly piano and string quartets. I went to classical music concerts almost weekly and big rock/metal concerts probably monthly (cant afford to now of course). I even went to the Opera. I enjoyed Trad Jazz and Blues and Ska and Folk Music. My wife at the time was a belly dancer and I listened to Arabic Music. I listened to Taiko Drumming. I've now discovered Symphonic Metal and I go to open mike nights in the local pubs. But now that I dance tango I listen to a LOT of tango music. I think that my appreciation of GA is due to the rest of my musical tastes not in spite of it (but mainly because I am dancing). And I'm fairly sure that the musical atmosphere swirling round me is much wider than someone in Argentina could experience in the Golden Age of Tango by listening to the radio.
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With so much discussion on musicality between three of you, I wonder whether a distinction should be made between the musicality in ear and musicality in legs.

What I see is an assumption being made that musicality in dancing requires musicality in listening. That the latter is in some ways a prerequisite for the former. I am not certain if I agree with that premise. Listening to music when not dancing can certainly enhance appreciation of subtleties in the music. However I do not buy the argument that listening every day or frequently to the music makes a better dancer (musically) or is required to master musicality in dancing. Otherwise most musicians would be musical dancers. Which they are not in my experience across different genres of dancing. Listening to music is only knowing the music. It is not knowing how to dance musically.
 
opendoor said:
Of course. But bear in mind that I’m not just replying to you or pianistamediano. I know the public is reading along. And I simply want to clarify that musicality seminars—I’ve conducted them myself—only serve the ego or the wallet.
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I think the vast majority of people only attend those seminars so that they get satisfaction and get to say "I've been working on my musicality" without actually going further. :)
 
Bailango said:
..musicality in dancing requires musicality in listening. That the latter is in some ways a prerequisite for the former. I am not certain if I agree..
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I can't recall the source right now, but a great tango dancer once said: "Dance the second violin, even if you can't hear it!"
Bailango said:
..Listening to music is only knowing the music. It is not knowing how to dance musically.
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You're absolutely right. Listening to tango music too much only reinforces your own taste and narrows your horizons. As a beginner, I was always amazed at how precisely the experienced dancers hit the final note at the end of a piece. Certainly, some of them had learned the pieces by heart. But over time, a dancer learns that every arranger subtly prepares the ending. This way, you can hit the ending even with unfamiliar pieces.
 
Bailango said:
Listening to music when not dancing can certainly enhance appreciation of subtleties in the music. However I do not buy the argument that listening every day or frequently to the music makes a better dancer (musically) or is required to master musicality in dancing. Otherwise most musicians would be musical dancers. Which they are not in my experience across different genres of dancing. Listening to music is only knowing the music. It is not knowing how to dance musically.
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I agree completely. Being able to appreciate music does not lead to being able to dance musically.

I like your ears and legs description and may well steal it!
 
opendoor said:
Well, there certainly were a lot of record stores in Buenos Aires. The photo shows the flagship store of Pathé —the predecessor to sello Odeon— in 1915. Judging by their clothing, the people in the photo were certainly there for classical music—after all, tango didn't become a mass phenomenon until twenty years later. Furthermore, people back then wouldn't have listened as analytically as we do now. That is precisely why Christine Denniston described the Golden Age as the low point of tango history.

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Clearly, gramophones and shellac records existed - otherwise, we wouldn't have these recordings today. It would be interesting to know just how affordable private ownership was for the tango dancers of that era. The audience in the picture looks quite well-off.

The cost-benefit ratio of a modern smartphone was certainly not matched back then. For instance, I like to stay in bed in the morning and listen through a "list of interest" that I’ve put together the evening before on my DJ laptop. I might only play some tracks briefly, while listening to others several times in a row. Well, doing that with a paper list and a hand-cranked gramophone would likely be a chore.
 
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