The cortinas sure tell you a lot about the dj as a person. An email I received prompts this comment.
My friend wrote: "You know how I've been thinking about these cortinas and what they say about the dj and after an especially sweet and cozy tanda the dj last night puts on this aggressive r'n b tune and obliterates the mood in the room and I said to myself, That's it. She hates the mood that tango creates. She doesn't do any of those romantic dances with anyone and she hates where it takes people. And that's like hating tango."
Whether the dj in question would think that a fair comment or not, it IS fair when coming from her patron ... that's how he feels about her choices.
Sounds to me like the dj was playing her cortinas on-the-fly from a cd unedited. Lack of preparation. Kiss of death.
Aside from the utilitarian function of the cortina in guiding the dancers through the evening, I consider cortinas a key programming tool; a powerful element in making a wonderful evening happen.
I'm one who really hates poor cortinas. Or when the dj plays the same one all evening. The energy of the cortina ought to both match and inspire the moods. They are a transition element as well as a signal. How can one repeated cortina possibly serve the purpose? Not possible.
To date, I have made over 200 cortinas. (Some might get used only once a year. Some are sitting there waiting for a special event. The night James Brown died, it was great to have a variety of cortinas from his songs). I cut them to length and most do not fade out. I use all kinds of recording tricks to make them end cold if I can. If I can't - well, I can accept a fade if the music itself was great in serving the purpose. I have many cortinas which come from a song as it progresses; so a series of cortinas is moving forward even though they are from the same song. Familiarity - but without repetition.
With such a wide variety of cortinas - across a wide range of musical styles - I can move the mood in any direction I wish depending on the energy and dancers on the floor. I can inject fun or seriousness or any number of moods by cortina selection. To me, they are bridges connecting new mood-travel experiences.
Length is crucial. Too long kills the momentum of the evening's build. (How I loath the straight and no-energy cortina that is played over and over). One of the ways in which I seek to make time disappear is by paying particular attention to small increments of time. I want things to start exactly when my gut tells me it's time. So, some of my cortinas are 14 seconds. The longest is 42 seconds. Normally, they run from 26 - 32 seconds.
The level you play them at, of course, is CRUCIAL.
I don't believe they should be used slavishly. Like many, I won't use them early in the evening when there aren't many people yet. I also would never use them between every tanda. Two tango tandas, then a cortina before the vals or milonga is plenty.
Selection of cortinas is a great opportunity to be creative and knit a nice fabric.
A popular dj in Montreal uses no cortinas at all; but he introduces what tandas are to come by talking and that marks a lot of his style. People like it. In a way, he uses his voice as a cortina.
So - dj's - if you want to be considered a professional, take great care in your use of cortinas. Through your choices, you reveal a lot about yourself.
I like to have the light control at my fingertips. It needs constant attention as the night progresses. Light, sound and air are the ingredients for the bubble I like to have dancers walk into. It should strike you at the door or coming up.
Inside my bubble, time can slip into another dimension. You can "lose" it easily. The mood textures of the moments that keep flowing carry you off somewhere before you know it.
When you fill the air with beautiful music, you create a tango womb (filled with a bunch of twins).
I let the orchestras play. I guide the spotlight from one bandstand to the next. They play my requests. I ask for their best songs from a certain year in an order that makes sense to dancers. (We took the time to clean and enhance everything in advance).
Our milonga offers nourishment through diversity, challenge, surprise, pleasure; the flow gracefully back and forth between new and old sounds. (I wonder if anyone could play more old AND more new music than moi).
People say it's nice to hear upbeat tango when I work. I keep the mood positive over-all rather than weepy. The easiest way to do this is to be generous with instrumentals.
Because I'm always on the move with the flow, everyone's tastes are catered to in a timely fashion. I watch the floor like a hawk and make note of who likes what. Just seeing a face will tell me what orchestra to call up now, or soon.
We glide from mood to mood with each new tanda. Gut feelings lead. I mostly jump right on requests, because that's part of playing the room and making everyone happy. I figure if this person wants this now, chances are someone else wants it, too.
Salsa and Latin, Swing, Blues, Rock 'n Roll all have a moment (if it's a long night) when they should come on for release and refresh from the tango tension.
Perhaps vals will bring back the traditional music if I've gone into a couple of modern songs. Anyone that's been sitting will usually jump right up.
Generally speaking, every 28 minutes, there will be either a vals or milonga tanda. Sometimes back-to-back for variety.
Ah, variety. Another favourite word: context. I think most people prefer it if the tandas have a consistency of era and style. Within that, there are ways to surprise and delight.
Well, that statement could perhaps use some elucidation.
I have perhaps 36 Canaro tandas of 4 songs each so far. He recorded such a wide array of styles that by just staying in one time period you have a wealth of different feels to chose from. Playful; dramatic; sexy-bouncy; joyful.
By having gone deep into Canaro's catalogue, I've got a mood for any occasion. And most of the music will get this response: "WHO IS THAT?"
People love Canaro ‚ they just don't get to hear a lot of his stellar tracks.
Now, read that last sentence again and insert the name of every tango orchestra. Same same. That's how the world looks to me.
I play a LOT of tracks that dancers have not heard. I can get asked, who is that ‚ and it's Di Sarli. This happens all the time. There's nothing strange about the cut, it's just been missed by the dj's they've heard.
Again, that's what happens when it's cleaned up. It has a whole new sound.
I keep the technical sounds uniform in each tanda ‚ no old, old together with something from the 50's. However, a slight progression in quality from one to the next is never a bad thing. I use this device frequently. Never the other way! This is where you put a cortina so you can "start over" with new sounds and feelings.
I have all the orquestras organized into sound and feel so that I can push a button and the feeling/atmosphere/energy I want comes out.
Someone asking for a particular song will get it wrapped in a blanket of context. When their favorite song comes on in thoughtful placement, they can't help but go, WOW - I hope!
I admit it - I go for "wow's." That's actually what I look for at the end of every tanda. It has built in such a way that your emotions pop at the climax.
I believe the key is to always be moving forward. Well, that's my style.
And be deep. My book is large because I work so much. I've done as much as 24 hours between Thursday and Sunday. Many times. To keep it fresh, you have to be deep.
To be even and win consistent approval, you have to be prepared.
I really enjoyed the switch to using a lap-top. Having spent my life in broadcasting, I use a radio station program for scheduling - it affords me great flexibility. I have built 60 hours of tandas and could actually have them run one after the other if I wanted to. However, I seldom just let a playlist run; I'm always inserting or deleting to match the mood of the moment.
I took great care in preparing the files. You can't just lift tracks from a CD because you'll have too long a pause between songs. So, I cut them all to a uniform ending time. And it is critically important to level every selection to peak at "0" db. It's terrible to have a song come blasting on or equally start at a too low level.
All my mono files are 2-track mono. The files are twice as large, but the level between old and new is standard this way.
All of my cortinas are cut to the shortest length which makes sense. Many are 30 seconds, but some are only 15. I avoid fade outs of cortinas as much as possible. I also use stand-alone separators as short at 6 seconds instead of playing too many cortinas, which I find can be boring if repetitious.
Sophie and Keith
