The different timbres of a CD

The most stunning surprise in Buenos Aires milongas was the sound quality. It gave me a feeling that the music was surrounding me in a soft nearly touch-able way. It was so overwhelming that I got tears in my eyes on a milonga where the feeling was strongest. It was nearly that I could feel the music with my skin as strongly as with my ears. The music was not loud but it gave still a kind of bodily sensation.

When I tried to compare it to something else the quality of air comes quite near. At home in Nordic the air doesn't usually give so much of a sensation but on a warm summer evening the air gets thicker and you can sense the air directly on your skin. It is rolling heavily towards me or I feel that I am floating in it. The ordinary air is hardly noticeable.

When I pointed this out to an experienced DJ friend she immediately agreed to it and said that the songs are more powerfull in Buenos Aires (Swedish: maffigare).

In La Viruta I pointed it out to another experienced DJ and he interrupted me and said: Yes! You are right! It's richer, I never heard Biagi as rich as it sounds here! (Swedish: fylligare)

I started to ask around about the possible reasons for this more rich sound in BA vs. at home and got following suggestions:

• Degree of humidity which carries the sound in different way
• The old buildings create different/softer echoes and sound
• The building materials are different
• The sound systems are different compared back home
• BA is the center of tango and the mental state creates the difference

However some people were upset and pointed out that the acoustics is quite lousy at many venues and therefore the sound was not so pleasant.

On the other hand I do not think this is about plain acoustics, how the sound is advancing in the venue, but more about the other qualities of the CD in this venue! I do not have any formal education in this area so the thoughts below could be seen as teaser for more able thinkers. But here we go!

In music they have a concept of tone color, timbre. It means that an individual note sounds totally different when it is played/produced with different instruments. When a note comes alive the piano gives you a different sound compared to an oboe or violin or whatever instrument you pick. With other words a note sounds different in different places/instruments and the composers are using this to create different auditory and emotional landscapes in their work.

I think that the very same CD does sound different in different locations, in different circumstances. A CD gives you a deeply different experience based on the venue and the crowd, a difference not only caused by the sound systems. With other words if you would play the CD with the same sound system in different locations the experience can still be deeply different.

I am sure this is not recognized by all dancers but for some this is definitely part of the magic of Buenos Aires milongas. The BA sound gives them a more rich and powerful emotional experience, contributing to the magical experience.

Just think about it and you maybe realize the richness of the BA sound as the DJs above did!

These wikies are adding some more facts to this teaser!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbre

A LadyLeader in Buenos Aires

I came to Buenos Aires seeing forward to get only a few dances as a female leader. My role would be the one of an observer. I wanted to see the venues, how the milongas were and and to see what people's attitudes were. To my surprise the atmosphere was more open than I expected but with a lot of variation.

I wouldn't try to lead at Lo de Celia or Catchirulo because I felt that those two were the most traditional ones I visited and IMO they should stay so - When it is the clear opinion of the organizer and regular visitors, let it be so. I am gladly just audience there!

In many other places the space for me was the milonga tanda! That tanda is glad, playful and not so loaded so it was ok for the female leaders to enter the dance floor. Many times I could see one or two other couples at pista. But there was still difficulties to get a dance because followers are not used to monitor a cabeceo from a female leader.

It was fun to see the crowds reactions. During my milonga tandas there was very few negative expressions on the faces around the pista. On the contrary many onlookers were active giving us cheerful smiles, encouraging nods, thumbs up or positive shouts. At several occasions I could be sure about the persons being portenas and even many times portenos during this tourist season.

I think the tourists are driving this change, Europeans especially I think. They are used to see women leading and they are monitoring woman leaders even in Buenos Aires. The local rules are not so forcing for them so a female invitation for a dance is just an invitation as any.

I did not lead much during my month in BA but I was mainly experiencing the milieu. My biggest success was however at a newly opened milonga where I got a strong and clear cabeceo from a traveling milonguera. During our dance I expressed my worries about the organizer's opinion but she told me they were friends. When I catched his eye later he smiled to me, I relaxed and continued dancing. In the same milonga one of the portenas shouted to me her appreciation and asked for a dance. One other came to my table to talk and asked for a dance too. The pistas are little by little opening up for female leaders!

I consider this change to be historical. It is the first time ever when same sex couples are entering the pista. Earlier men were training at the practicas and women at home but no one has pointed out for me occasions where the same sex couples freely danced in ordinary milongas during earlier decades. If you know about it please tell me!

(but still I am mostly behind the bars today)