I did my first Tango DJing in 2005 as resident DJ with Thames Valley Tango at the Eton Milongas.  Then in 2007 we created Tango South, running regular classes three times a week, plus our own monthly Milongas, Práctilongas and Prácticas, as well as special evenings with live music.

Live music
We ran Summer Balls where we had guest appearances from Tango Siempre, and twice with Los Mareados, with whom I was invited to play.

Providing and managing the sound system for live music  creates additional challenges for the DJ – it’s vital to have the right gear and to understand the technical requirements to provide a good experience for the both audience and the musicians.  Regrettably, I have seen otherwise popular and successful DJs have problems providing good quality sound for live musicians.  Live microphones don’t behave themselves like mp3s!

Music at Milongas
It’s vital the dancers can engage fully with the music without being distracted by any aspect of the music or the sound.

The sound of the music as experienced by the dancers is dependent on the quality of the recordings, the sound system, the size and acoustic qualities of the venue, and the number of human bodies dancing – and sometimes talking – in the room.

Regarding recording quality I invested in several thousand specially re-mastered tango tracks.  The audible hiss and crackles often associated with old music has been removed and the sound now represents the orchestras as they would have been heard when playing live.  Sometimes the early years of tango music can sound very thin, partly because of the original recordings, but equally because of the way it has been reproduced and modified through the vinyl years, then on to CD.  The resulting narrow frequency range can be very wearing on the ear after an hour or so. People sometimes believe a thin and scratchy sound to be “authentic” because that’s the only way they have ever heard this music. I’ve even had dancers complain that my Canaro was not genuine Canaro because it sounded too good!  I used to laugh and ask whether these orchestras would have sounded thin when they were originally danced to at Milongas – live!  I specialise in offering this gorgeous music in a way that reproduces the original live sound as closely as possible.  After all, this is what it was meant to sound like for dancers to enjoy!

The music source is one side of the equation.  It must be complemented with carefully selected sound equipment, adequate to fill the room with sound, without being too loud or too quiet anywhere.  It needs to be adaptable so it can be tuned to the acoustics of different venues, and controllable to adapt to the ever changing dynamic and energy throughout the evening. Often one, or even two speakers at one end of the hall are not enough, especially when it is crowded.

At one point a acquired a very large sub-woofer which I hid under the DJ’s table.  At the end of the evening I asked how people had found the music.  A number of people said it was as good as usual but and some said it was somehow more moving emotionally, but couldn’t say why.  Had I played a lot of different music than usual?  (which I hadn’t).
The conclusion I drew was that they weren’t only hearing the music in their ears, they were feeling it in more their bodies.  This was great, as it definitely enhanced the dancers’ enjoyment, although I had made more work for myself as the sub had to be a permanent feature from then on.

Sound quality varies significantly from ochestra to orchestra, sometimes even within the same Tanda, and I believe it is vital to have good equalisation instantly adjustable at the DJ’s fingertips – not buried in a sub-menu of the laptop.  In the later years of the Golden Age vocalists increasingly dominate the recordings.  Expressive singers are not noted for their rhythmic discipline and poor control over the equalisation can result in the orchestra being drowned and difficult to follow.   Again, it’s something DJs need to be aware of and to manage.

I have always provided my own gear.  Where PA is already installed at a venue, it is quite often of mediocre quality, and sometimes it has been thrashed by countless hours of disco.  Even if the in-house gear is good, it is usually set up for disco rather than the very different nature of Tango music.  It is simply too risky to rely on unknown and untested gear for music as demanding and sensitive as Tango!

What are you dancing to?
Years ago I pioneered the use of visual displays to inform dancers about the music being played.  Personally I preferred a second laptop with Powerpoint presentations projected onto a large screen). We’re glad to see that some other DJs have now adopted this useful addition for dancers’ enjoyment.

The final but vital piece of the DJ Jigsaw is the choice of music, how it is put together into Tandas and mixed into the playlist.  This will be the subject of another article to  follow shortly.

My music backround
I have been closely involved with music all his life.  My father was a semi-professional dance band musician and my mother was a singer and a keen ballroom dancer.  As a boy I sang in the choir at Holy Trinity Church, Paddington, now sadly gone.  I was the boy soloist for the Christmas concert at Brent (then Wembley) Town Hall.  I have also sung at the Royal Festival Hall, St Paul’s Cathedral and Guildford Cathedral.  I continued singing as a choir member and soloist in and around London for many years, until Tango took over my life. I studied classical guitar at the Royal Academy of Music in London and worked as a full time professional guitarist for a number of years.  I was a founder member of the Omega Players and the Omega Guitar Quartet under the directorship of Gilbert Biberian.  We performed in the UK and Europe and at several leading London venues including the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, and Wigmore Hall.  More recently I have  played live music on many occasions at Milongas. As a professional coach and facilitator to high performance teams, I used African drums extensively as a team building, coaching and development activity. Over the years I have designed and run a variety of Musical Workshops to help dancers understand tango music in greater detail, to improve their ability and overall enjoyment of the dance. We have also used drumming on Tango Music Workshops with great success.  I also regularly played at Milongas – guitar solo and with other musicians, and have on occasions  accompanied singers.

There will be more about my history in my Bio to be added shortly.