tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035244062520832583.post3649448622263860614..comments2024-03-21T05:39:38.636-04:00Comments on Tango Therapist: Wanted: Tango PercussionistsTango Therapisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12548118004604256736noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035244062520832583.post-87518990417915870402011-11-15T13:55:31.996-05:002011-11-15T13:55:31.996-05:00TT, I agree about the harp, but I haven't hear...TT, I agree about the harp, but I haven't heard that use in tango. And I agree about clapping... though you did ask about the instruments, rather than the instrumentalists.<br><br>The nearest thing to percussion I encounter in the dancing itself is occsaionlly a kind of staccato accent in the embrace, from musical articulation that inspires it. Though it's not literally percussive (there's no strike) it is perhaps poetically percussive :). Maybe that's the kind of inaudible and invisible transmission that attracts your musical alien...Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08546555586986008873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035244062520832583.post-67408171107447556362011-11-15T01:01:56.160-05:002011-11-15T01:01:56.160-05:00@Chris... you bring up a good point about a few in...@Chris... you bring up a good point about a few instruments we tend not to see very much; however, have you ever sat at a harp? The frame has a wonderful resonance as a percussion instrument. I can only speak for other Latin American bands, but many woodwind or brass players do indeed enjoy being percussionists at certain percussive interludes with a very "handy" percussion instrument (clapping). However, I concede these non-essential instruments are not played upon. <br><br>The last live tango orchestra I saw had a trumpeter as the leader and he all wind musicians clapping out a canyenge rhythm. <br><br>Regarding vocal cords: Vocalists could not join the musicians union in my city, but many joined as percussionists (tambourine, etc.).<br><br>Regarding "striking":<br>Have you ever seen a sweet ballad being played with brushes? <br><br>If an alien from outer space came to a milonga, it is true they would not think of dancers as percussionists because for the most part dancers are not even on the pulse let alone demonstrating musicianship. Thus my point: Be a musician and maybe you could fool an alien that you were part of the orchestra. And the woman you are holding -- more than anyone else -- will be glad that you gave up dancing and asked her to join the orchestra with you.... as a percussionist. But yes, maybe I am being more poetic than I at first thought. I should have wrote it as a poem and you might have pulled out a guitar and starting singing a tango to my poem!Tango Therapisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12548118004604256736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035244062520832583.post-8635537046843154742011-11-14T14:08:02.021-05:002011-11-14T14:08:02.021-05:00"Every instrument in tango is used as a percu..."<i>Every instrument in tango is used as a percussion instrument. Name one that is not!</i>"<br><br>Clarinet, trumpet, harp and (if you count it as an instrument) voice. Though indeed bandoneon and violin are sometimes played percussively.<br><br>"<i>A dancer is a percussionist, and the floor and partner is his or her instrument. ... This is literally true. ... Anyone striking any object to create or play along with music is a percussionist.</i>"<br><br>I have to say I believe striking floor or partner is not a characteristic of good tango dancing.<br><br>But I applaud your call for dancers to stop taking so-called musicality classes and start to join the orchestra. Bravo!Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08546555586986008873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035244062520832583.post-57988199676271871352011-11-14T08:23:15.584-05:002011-11-14T08:23:15.584-05:00Your comment about "Legato percussion" r...Your comment about "Legato percussion" reminded me of a clip of Evelyn Glennie talking, amongst other things, about listening. It's here:<br>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU3V6zNER4g<br><br>Do you knmow it?Peter Okell-walkerhttp://www.tangosouth.co.uknoreply@blogger.com