[Tango-L] Encouraging DJism

[TangoDC.com]

Hi Trini,

This isn't my area of expertise, but I have a few observations that 
might be of some help...

First, it takes a real music lover, plus a lively audience, to produce a 
fine DJ. You need a tanguero with the discriminating taste of a 
collector, not just a milonguero who's passionate about dancing. So with 
that in mind, you might consider recruiting people from the larger pool 
of DJs-- people who already collect other kinds of music, and who might 
get turned on to tango. I know of at least one such import in the DC 
area, and he's solid. He doesn't even dance (or so he claims), but he's 
got the tango bug, and an awful lot of recordings, which he cleans up 
and tweaks himself. (His cortinas are also refreshingly creative.)

To recruit someone, you might offer free dance instruction in exchange 
for the commitment-- and for learning how to follow the dancers' tastes 
and desires in your area. That might give a salsa or club DJ more of an 
incentive to get kidnapped by the tango.

Also, whether or not you follow the above lead, you might look at your 
rates and your milonga schedule, and figure out how to make both more 
attractive to a regular DJ. DJs are freelancers, and need a gig to be 
worth their while if they're going to commit not only their paid time 
(which takes them away from other and perhaps more lucrative gigs), but 
also their unpaid prep time, which can be very extensive. It's got to be 
good business.

If you've got dancers who are venturing into the DJ side of things, I 
don't know what else to suggest except getting them in touch with as 
many people as possible. I've observed that DJs don't like to share 
their hoards unless there's some kind of swap involved; but like most 
fanatics, they're more than willing to talk shop with anyone who 
expresses a genuine interest in their great store of knowledge. (Same 
goes for college professors, incidentally... Pick a subject, pick a 
college, and write a few emails: you're bound to enjoy a lot of 
expertise.) Also, really applauding your young DJs, and supporting them 
by giving them a chance to learn things by trial and error, is 
invaluable, from what I've seen. Give them an opportunity to make 
mistakes, and more often than not they'll succeed without even realizing it.

As for music collections... Yes, they're expensive, but share them 
anyway. As an artist, I'm fully aware of the intellectual copyright 
issues involved. I'm also aware of the atrocities committed by record 
companies, both to public domain recordings and to living artists-- not 
to mention the consumer. The companies ruin careers on purpose for the 
sake of tax write-offs, to offset the lost promotional costs caused by 
their own failed projects; they distort old recordings to the point of 
absurdity, and re-release them under the name of the original (and now 
almost unrecognizable) artists, trying to turn a profit off the names 
they don't even respect; and they flood the market with crap nobody 
wants, only to complain that MP3 technology is lowering their profits. 
Meanwhile, event DJs have been spinning tunes for 30 years, and the 
record companies have been following Them, while (illegally) paying 
radio stations to give their releases airtime. Why? _When people hear 
songs they like, they often go out and buy the recordings._ It's that 
simple. But nobody gives credit to event DJs. So forget about 
intellectual copyright issues. If anything, DJs are providing free 
advertising, and the record companies don't even deserve the sales they get.

I hope all that's of some use to you!

Jake Spatz
Washington, DC


Trini y Sean (PATangoS) wrote:
> How about a useful thread...
>
> It has taken four years for Pittsburgh to finally get
> a really promising local deejay - one that has the
> time, energy, and technical expertise to study the
> craft of deejaying.  But, like all of the other
> talented graduate students, he'll probably leave to
> find a job elsewhere.  Sigh.
>
> So for milongas, we usually bring in a good
> deejay/organizer from Ohio or the Ann Arbor
> deejays(they have 5!).
>
> So I am curious about how a community can encourage
> more people to become deejays.  We have had some
> deejaying seminars and will be having another one with
> Diego Yepes, who has deejayed for over ten years in
> BsAs this Sunday.  But I'd like for something to come
> out of it - like one or two more promising deejays.
>
> Other things we do include sending people to Stephen
> Brown's website (www.tejastango.com), encouraging a
> lot of partying, and encouraging interaction with the
> deejays that do come to town.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Trini de Pittsburgh
>
>
>
> PATangoS - Pittsburgh Argentine Tango Society 
> Our Mission: To make Argentine Tango Pittsburgh's most popular social dance. 
> http://www.pitt.edu/~mcph/PATangoWeb.htm
>
>
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