I wrote a guideline for putting on techno contras a while back (see link below) and
included some additional terms which are sometimes heard when talking about
non-traditional contra dance music.
Crossover
Livetronica
Electro-acoustic
Electroflow (for fully pre-recorded music events)
There are two main components that I think distinguish “techno” and other non-traditional
music contra dances from the more traditional:
music that includes one or more of the following: looping, beat mixes, sampling, remixing,
unusual instrumentation, non-32-bar music, the use of non-traditional music or musical
references, particularly in terms of samples
lowered lights and "club" or “theatrical" style lighting.
In my experience, what is considered "techno" or "crossover" music
runs the gamut from music that is entirely live with extensive use of electronics to
modify and loop the music, to fully pre-recorded music tracks, sometimes traditional
fiddle music, other times Top 40 remixes. Some DJs do some remixing on the spot). In
between those two extremes are groups like Buddy System (Julie Vallimont of Nor'easter
and Noah VanNorstrand), Firecloud (another Julie Vallimont group), Contra Force, and Phase
X (Christopher Jacoby's group) which use pre-mixed samples, beats loops but then play
live instruments such as keyboard, fiddle and guitar on top of that.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/will-loving/how-to-put-on-techno-contra-danc…
<https://www.facebook.com/notes/will-loving/how-to-put-on-techno-contra-dances-my-experience-over-multiple-years-and-events-/10151541411764182/>
With regard to the terms you’ve listed. I can’t say I’ve ever heard “iPod dance” and it’s
probably on it’s way out due to iPods and other standalone music players also being
replaced by phones, iPads and other tablets. The best example of an "Alternative
Music Dance” would, I think, be Lisa Greenleaf’s “Alternative Music Contra” dances. She
has premixed music from a number of sources including jazz, pop, rock, etc. and then
recorded her calls over the music. She teaches the dances, starts the music, and often
jumps in to dance once things are going well.
Will
On Jan 20, 2020, at 9:42 AM, Bob Peterson via Contra
Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I’m always on the lookout for terms that describe the style of using non-traditional and
often non-live music. So far I’ve seen or used:
iPod dance
Alternative music dance
Fusion contra
Techno contra
DJ’d contra
Q: What other terms have people seen?
Q: What do the terms mean to you? For instance here is what I understand:
iPod dance - pre-mixed music, genre unspecified
Alternative music dance - ditto iPod dance, but livelier
Fusion contra - ?
Techno contra - live performance electronic, beat-heavy music
DJ’d contra - caller and DJ are not the same person?
I’d like to focus this thread on terminology, not what’s bad (or good) about the
non-traditional styles. It would be great to have other threads discuss values and
preferences, if someone wants to tackle framing that conversation.
I like to mix and call contras to recorded music, so this is really a marketing-related
topic for me. Currently I’m using “alternative music contra dance”.
\Bob Peterson
home dance:
https://lcfd.org/jp <https://lcfd.org/jp>
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Will Loving
2419 S York St Apt 5
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+1 413 253-7223 (GMT –7, Mountain Time)
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