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by Sam6 min readHintergrund

Tango DJing … how it all began (1/…)

Preamble

This article is the starting point for our journey as a tango DJ. I'm looking back at my beginnings, and with them the first sources that accompanied me on this long journey — or rather, where it all began. In the articles that follow, we'll try to put together a first list of things, concepts and knowledge that matter for a DJ in Argentine tango. That ranges in importance from "I've heard of that before" to "should be so ingrained that you can call it up at 4am with a 40°C fever". And of course we'll work through the individual entries on that list one by one.

A heads-up: I'll try to write as neutrally as possible. But in Argentine tango — as in many other fields — 5 milongueros makes for 10 opinions. Wherever I notice myself slipping into a direct personal judgement, I'll mark it explicitly and set it in italics ;-). It's also quite possible that my views on certain topics, or simply my taste, will shift over time.

What is the DJ actually there for?

"What does the DJ actually do?" is a question almost every dancer asks themselves at some point in their tango life. Back then, my answer was probably far less complex than it is today, but in general it all boils down to the same thing. Let's take this as a working hypothesis for now:

Through their choice of music, the DJ shapes the musical arc of the event. In doing so, they directly influence what happens on the dance floor and the mood of the event.

We'll talk later about the "how" — which parameters and so on. It's also clear that a DJ can hardly save a milonga where, say, the follower-to-leader ratio is 10 to 1, or where only 15 people show up instead of the planned 200. But conversely, it's unfortunately very easy to ruin a well-attended event.

The start of DJ life — 2...1...here goes

It all began in 2016. In a group of beginner-level tango dancers in Berlin, who had all more or less started this wonderful hobby around 2013–15, the idea matured to hold a small, private practice milonga. A safe space to practise, to teach each other things, maybe nurture a few friendships, spend a nice time together. The dancers came from all sorts of different tango schools around Berlin — a very heterogeneous bunch, from age to dance style to musical taste. We looked for a space and, thanks to Thomas from NOU, found one fairly quickly — and so the "Saturday Night Practica" was born.

Now someone (or rather 2–3 people) was needed to handle the music. On the spur of the moment I grabbed the opportunity and started working my way into the subject. But where to begin? A determined search online for tango and DJ turned up various sites, some of which are still kept up to date today, some only findable via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, and some not findable at all anymore. Before we get to the list of topics, I'd like to briefly introduce these first websites, since these early finds probably left a lasting mark on me ;-)

But first…

First finds online

Back then I was active in both classic and neo-tango. My first search results at the time were, in chronological order, the following sites:

TangoDJ.org A link collection on various topics: http://www.tangodj.org/

Tejastango — the archive of Stephen and Susan Brown Playing Music for Milongas -- The DJ's Role

and

Building a Collection of Argentine Tango Music for Social Dancing

Dan Boccia orchestra handout Dan Boccia is a fairly well-known DJ from the US. Unfortunately his original sites are no longer active.

Here's the link via the archive.

Michael Lavocah's website, collection-building section Building a collection: advice for newbies, DJs and collectors alike, by Michael Lavocah

Cassiel's blog — on the ordering of tandas in a milonga A really nice blog with interesting content. Worth highlighting here in particular: the post on the ordering of tandas in a milonga and the interview with Christian Tobler from Zurich (I'm linking the second part, the more interesting one for aspiring DJs).

Tangology101 — How to DJ a Milonga Nice overview plus tanda and complete playlists

http://www.tangology101.com/main.cfm/title/How-to-DJ-a-Milonga/id/265

Tangoplaylist.com by Anton Sukhanov Here too the original website is unfortunately no longer online

https://web.archive.org/web/20170803045043/http://www.tangoplaylist.com/

ToTango.net Only in the archive now: https://web.archive.org/web/20150505103745/http://www.totango.net:80/best.html

Neo list and DJ notes by Veronika 'La Potranca' Here too the original is unfortunately no longer findable online.

I've re-archived the neo song list with ratings here.

And here are some DJ-specific notes...

Project-Tango - Alternative Milonga San Francisco The website of the CELLspace Alternative Milonga also has practical DJ notes, a style family tree, an early orchestra genealogy, and even the Dan Boccia handout.

Here are the pages in the archive.

I've also pulled the spreadsheet with the genealogy (which musician played in which orchestra when) into Google Sheets separately.

Sharna's List of Neotangos Only visible in the archive now:

https://web.archive.org/web/20061027194120/http://www.neotango.com/neotangos.html

Before we put together a first list of fundamental topics in a moment, I'd at least recommend a look at Stephen Brown's pages (Tejastango), the first post on Cassiel's blog (on the ordering of tandas in a milonga), the Dan Boccia handout, and the pages/neo list from 'La Potranca'. If you'd rather skip the original sources - that's fine too. But you know how it is, the journey is the destination. Either way, every important area will get its own treatment over the course of this article series.

Short pause

A first list

Studying these first sources back then, several fields emerged for me that a tango DJ should be familiar with.

Here I've grouped the most important basics of the "craft".

From preparation

through to the first milonga

Unfortunately, the basics raise a number of questions that need answering in this area. Here's where I place the necessary theoretical knowledge of

Everything to do with the music files, from

And last but not least, of course, the technical setup. That's naturally an extremely broad field, ranging from