Tango percusive and other sound effects: strappata, chicharra, guitarita, tambor, latigo
Hi everyone,
Wishing all good music in 2025, especially sharing the joy of ensemble music
I am inquiring about notation and playback of special sound effects encountered in Argentine tango music, namely: strappata, chicharra, guitarita, tambor, latigo. These effects are demonstrated for instance in this in this video: https://www.facebook.com/tangochampan/videos/v%C3%ADctor-lavall%C3%A9n-…
Strappata on double basse is some kind of snare drum effect followed by a hitting the back of the instrument, guitarita sound a bit like an out-of-tune banjo, etc...
Tambor, guitarita, and chichara can be found in the landmark theme Negracha by the Orquesta Osvaldo Pugliese : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5FMZdOnb-Q
A strappata is performed at 1'52 on a rendition of Milonguero Viejo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2arvOxOao0A
Any comment, input, answer welcomed !
Cheers, un abrazo,
Lavol
Comments
Love tango music and wish I could play it :-)
However, in your FaceBook link, while I saw the strappata, I did not see any notation for it. IS there a standard way of notating these sound effects?
My guess (and a wild @$$ guess it is!) is that there is no standard notation for this, that such sound effects are passed on by word-of-mouth and their use is completely up to the player.
If you are concerned more with playback, than with "standard notation" for the sounds, you can probably do something with an associated but hidden percussion stave? Indicate the (rough!!!) rhythm of the sound effect in the guitar part with non-playing X notehead notes and a staff text note saying what effect is being used. Then in the percussion stave actually generate the sounds as best you can: e.g., for the strappata a triplet of snare drum hits, followed by a bass drum hit. (At least, that's what it sounds like to me.)
In reply to Love tango music and wish I… by TheHutch
Hi Hutch,
There are workshops to learn tango music :-)
You are right, (non-playing) x-head notes and a text technique are used, and my query is more on the playback resources: how to switch instrument for a few notes in the middle of the tune ?
Whereas a banjo sound could be used for guitarita or tambor, what would you suggest for chicharra where string is played arco beyond the bridge ?
Any tutorial, example or link would help whoever would land here with a google search...
In reply to Hi Hutch, There are… by lavol
You'll just need to try different sounds to find the one that sounds MOST like what you want. Unlikely you'll find exactly what you want *shrug*
"chicharra where string is played arco beyond the bridge": perhaps try the string-muted sound in a different octave and/or on a different instrument. That should be different enough to be sonically distinguishable, even if it doesn't really sound like chicharra.