[Callers] Calling techno?

Fri Mar 29 14:10:32 PDT 2019

Here's a "how-to" that I wrote several years ago that covers putting
together dance medleys and mixing music, including what to do with
"non-square" phrases.

*Crossover contras: music and dance medleys:* *Creating a fun and danceable
contra dance medley to alternative music*
Erik B. Erhardt, Albuqerque, NM, https://statacumen.com/dance/
https://statacumen.com/pub/fun/ErikBErhardt_CrossoverContras_MusicAndDanceMedleys.pdf

Erik Erhardt
(505)480-4462  StatAcumen.com

On Fri, Mar 29, 2019 at 11:50 AM Bob via Callers <
callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

> I mix lots of genres of music for contras. The only track I’ve ever called
> without mixing was the first release of Mika’s “Big Girl (You Are
> Beautiful)” on Cartoon Motion. It goes 7x through so it was a real short
> dance but a nice filler with a no-walkthrough dance.
>
> Everything else needs work. I only pick tracks that have clear 8-beat
> phrasing most of the time. If I can I move the parts with indistinguishable
> phrases towards the end of the mix once the dancers know the dance well.
> Alternatively I add a beat track to enhance the beats and phrasing. I
> rarely mix by simple copy and paste, which allows me to do creative stuff
> to ensure phrases are spot on. (“This is Halloween” from The Nightmare
> Before Christmas was true to its name, a nightmare with a few slipped
> phrases of 9 or 7 beats, but I *made* it to work.)
>
> So it’s being selective, doing often heavy editing, and many other bits n
> bobs that are in my secret sauce. I rarely try for AABB squaring since that
> can wreck the original music too much. One still must count (I cheat: I
> perform from my mixing app which has the phrase markings for me.)
>
> \Bob
>
> > On Mar 29, 2019, at 11:58, jim saxe via Callers <
> callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> >
> >> On Mar 28, 2019, at 2:39 PM, Bob via Callers <
> callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> >>
> >> ...
> >> Live or mixed recordings? If live then it should be perfectly square
> AABB. If mixed, the only thing you can count on is 8-beat phrases. ...
> >
> > Can you even count on 8-beat phrases if someone, such as a caller or a
> knowledgeable DJ, hasn't vetted the tracks?
> >
> > I know practically nothing about techno music, but recordings in other
> genres that aren't made for phrased dancing will not necessarily follow
> strict 8-beat phrasing.  For instance ...
> >
> > It's pretty common for a folk singers accompanying themselves to play a
> few bars of guitar strums--and not always the same number--while trying to
> remember the first line of the next verse.  While I haven't gone looking
> for examples, I'd be surprised if such variable inter-verse vamping didn't
> sometimes appear even on studio recordings.
> >
> > In some fiddle traditions, such as southern and Quebecois, besides
> straight tunes and wildly crooked tunes, there are also tunes that are
> mostly straight but have an occasional odd phrase.  Even medleys of
> straight tunes can sometimes have some extra beats at the transitions
> between tunes, as heard around 0:59 in this video:
> >
> >     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLUyg173n_M
> >     Yo-Yo Ma - Fiddle Medley ft. Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile
> >
> > Line dances are mostly choreographed to music that's in multiples of 8
> beats, but exceptions are hardly unusual.  Also, in order to fit recordings
> that were made for listening and not specifically for dance routines,
> line-dance step sheets may prescribe various irregularities in the
> routines.  Here are just a few of the examples a little searching turned up:
> >
> >
> https://www.learn2dance4fun.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Boot-Scootin-Boogie.pdf
> >     Boot Scootin’ Boogie
> >     38 count, 4 wall, beginner line dance
> >
> >
> https://www.copperknob.co.uk/stepsheets/every-little-honky-tonk-ID132260.aspx
> >     Every Little Honky Tonk
> >     32-count, 4 wall line dance with 12-count tag after wall 2
> >
> >     http://tinalinedancers.com/data/documents/Came-Here-To-Forget.pdf
> >     Came Here To Forget
> >     Description: Line Dance - 2 Wall (24ct.) - Intermediate 1 Restart, 2
> Tags
> >     Sequence: 24, 24, Tag 1, 14cts- Restart, 24, 24, Tag 2 (6cts.), 24,
> 24...
> >
> > For some other examples of music that's largely, *but not entirely*, in
> chunks of 8 beats (or eight bars of triple meter), try listening to any of
> these while tapping your foot or fingers and counting along:
> >
> >     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg0kfd7kow4
> >     Paul McCartney - When I'm 64
> >
> >     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33o32C0ogVM
> >     Julie Andrews - My Favorite Things
> >
> >     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbyAZQ45uww
> >     Nancy Sinatra - These Boots Are Made for Walkin'
> >
> > So here's my question, for those of you who are more familiar with
> techno music than I am:  If you play a random track not already "vetted"
> for phrasing, if you find a place where there's sufficiently discernible
> phrasing to establish a starting point for your "mental metronome of 8
> counts" (to quote Donna Hunt), if you use that mental metronome to carry
> you through a part where phrasing is less evident, and if you then get to
> another part with findable phrasing, how reliably (or not) can you expect
> that the phrases will still line up with your mental eight-counts?
> >
> > --Jim
> >
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