Santiago Alvarez interview

WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.200
Santiago Alvarez joins me on episode 147.

00:00:03.600 --> 00:00:17.039
Santiago is a chromatic player from Buenos Aires who has dedicated himself to the folk traditions of Argentina, including writing a thesis on the history of the Argentine chromatic harmonica under the guidance of his mentor Franco Luciani.

00:00:17.519 --> 00:00:24.000
Specialising in tango, he explores the close musical relationship between the chromatic harmonica and the bandonian.

00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:39.119
Santiago has recorded with numerous Argentine artists, released his own album in 2019, forms widely across Latin America and Europe and teaches internationally, including recently at the World Harmonica Championships at Trossingen in 2025.

00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:43.520
He has also created an online harmonica course for Argentine music.

00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:47.280
This podcast is sponsored by Zidal Harmonicers.

00:00:47.359 --> 00:00:57.119
Visit the oldest harmonica factory in the world at www.zidal eighteen forty-seven.com or on Facebook or Instagram at Zidalharmonicas.

00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:29.200
Hello, Neil.

00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:30.159
Thank you for having me.

00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:33.040
Oh it's a real pleasure to get you on, Santiago.

00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:36.959
And so I believe you're speaking to us from Buenos Aires in Argentina.

00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:39.040
Yes, the capital of Argentina.

00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:42.000
This is where I live, in the center of Buenos Aires.

00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:43.040
Oh, marvelous.

00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:46.400
And so that's a great big sprawling city with lots of music going on.

00:01:46.719 --> 00:01:47.680
Yeah, exactly.

00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:48.400
Exactly.

00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:53.040
14 million inhabitants and uh many cultural life here.

00:01:53.519 --> 00:02:01.760
Looking at how you got started playing harmonica, I I believe you started playing diatonic harmonica and and you know picking up blues harmonica as uh as people often do.

00:02:01.920 --> 00:02:03.439
Is that what got you started?

00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:09.280
Yes, I been playing the harmonica uh since I was 16 years old.

00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:17.120
I got to chromatica uh when I was uh 23, from the 16 to 22 years old.

00:02:17.199 --> 00:02:27.360
Uh I was you know playing around with a diatonic harmonica trying to get into blues music, but I was doing it uh not in a professional sense.

00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:35.840
I was you know playing around and maybe gigging a little bit with blues music or music from the United States.

00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:45.039
But it was not uh in the sense uh trying to think myself as a professional musician that I later did it uh with the chromatica.

00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:48.960
Yes, and you are predominantly a chromatic harmonica player, which we'll get into.

00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:51.599
Are you still playing the diatonic as well now?

00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:52.719
Not performing.

00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:59.680
I do it uh in my house, I like it, uh, and I give classes of the tonic harmonica, but not I'm not a performance.

00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:05.120
When you started learning blues harmonica, uh what's the blues scene like in Buenos Aires?

00:03:05.199 --> 00:03:10.560
Is was there a lot of blues going on there that you could uh learn from, or were you mainly learning from recordings?

00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:16.719
Well, I was learning from from recordings, and uh the the blues scene in Argentina is quite big, I would say.

00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:18.560
In Buenos Aires, especially.

00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:33.039
There are many schools and many people who had these different blues styles, Chicago style, and also people who learn with the that was one thing that got me kind of interested was Howard Levy's approach.

00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:42.319
And there were some players here who who learned with him, also with Carlos Del Junco, and they were using these overblows, and I got a little bit into that.

00:03:42.479 --> 00:03:54.960
So I was for some years trying to study overblown, but then you know um I I felt that this was not the music that uh I was really touched by, so I stopped uh studying.

00:03:55.039 --> 00:04:03.280
It was I in a way try to make the tonic harmonica in a chromatic uh approach, so I stopped when I found out about the chromatic.

00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:08.479
So when you were starting to learn overblows, were you then getting interested in music beyond blues?

00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:15.120
You know, with Howard Levy, he obviously plays quite a few different genres, including jazz, and you know, were you were you stretching out beyond blues?

00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:22.079
Yes, actually, I was trying to, you know, uh learning some jazz music also.

00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:36.879
I mean the structure of the blues, the 12-bar blues, got me interested for a few years, and then I started, you know, my my music journey, started to always be interested in in uh folk music from different parts of the world.

00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:47.600
So I started you know trying to listen, especially not to study to perform, but listening to other kinds of genre, and just was one of it.

00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:52.399
And of course, with the Tunic Harmonica, this was um kind of limited for me.

00:04:52.720 --> 00:05:01.040
So yeah, it took a while for me to realize that the chromatic harmonica was a suitable instrument for me.

00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:08.160
Yeah, and I think you heard Hugo Diaz, the uh the famous Argentinian chromatic player, and that that's what turned you on to the chromatic, was it?

00:05:08.319 --> 00:05:09.839
Yeah, exactly.

00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:49.759
This is something that sometimes we Argentinian musicians are very critical about it because being an Argentinian, sometimes in the public sphere, in the private sphere also, in radio, TV, you're mostly exposed to foreign genres, no?

00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:52.079
Music from the United States quite a lot.

00:05:52.240 --> 00:06:07.360
And sometimes it's difficult to get into Argentinian music, even living in Buenos Aires in Argentina, being an Argentinian, you are more exposed to music from uh other countries and not that much to Argentinian music.

00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:13.439
So I would say that I had to search a little bit to get into Argentinian music.

00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:18.480
I started finding about these radio shows.

00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:27.759
For example, this was 2007-2008, so internet was not as much developed as it is now, no?

00:06:28.079 --> 00:07:04.879
So I was finding uh places where I could listen to Argentinian music, to tango music uh in particular, and um I got into orchestras, no tango orchestras, and listening to this kind of music, uh suddenly uh the sound of the harmonica of Hugo Diaz appeared, and uh, as you say, it was like a starting point in me because his sound and also the approach that he was giving to Argentinian music was something that I realized I wanted to do and um I wanted to keep developing it.

00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:09.360
So I felt that emotional approach to his playing.

00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:11.199
I think something started there.

00:07:11.439 --> 00:07:19.600
So Hugo Diaz is one of several, you know, Argentina has got a rich heritage of uh I think chromatic players in this sense, yeah.

00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:21.120
So there are there are other players as well.

00:07:21.199 --> 00:07:24.800
So, what sort of um years was Hugo Diaz active?

00:07:25.199 --> 00:07:32.800
Well, he's a musician that comes from the north of Argentina, uh from a province province which is called Santiago Lestero.

00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:55.680
This is in the north of Argentina with a very big influence in folk music, no, especially influenced by countries that limit with that region in Argentina, which are Bolivia, the north of Chile, and also certain connection with the like Peruvian roots also.

00:07:55.839 --> 00:08:15.759
We call this music and from the Andes, and this folk music was Ugo Dia's first connection.

00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:21.920
He is not from Buenos Aires, so his first music was not tango, but folk music.

00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:23.920
Maybe we can later talk about this.

00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:37.200
I developed my thesis on the history of Argentine chromatic harmonica this year to finish my bachelor's degree, and I started studying about Ugo Diaz's life because he's one of the main characters.

00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:47.279
He developed his career from the 40s to the 70s of the 20th century, and he was mainly an important figure in the 60s, 60s and 70s.

00:08:47.440 --> 00:09:07.919
Not only in the harmonica world, which was in a way almost few people were playing, but in the in the Argentinian music scene, no, he transpassed the chromatic harmonica and he was one of the big figures of Argentine instrumental interpretation.

00:09:08.159 --> 00:09:16.480
I would say he was one of the creators of the idea of a soloist playing a melody without being a singer, no?

00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:27.840
So he was quite an important figure despite the fact of being a player of an instrument which was uh not that much played.

00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:32.080
And so what kind of heritage does the chromatic harmonica got in Argentina?

00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:37.360
Because I know in Brazil they had the Herring Factory, which was I think a sort of subset of Hona.

00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:41.679
So that's that's kind of what helped the harmonica become very popular in Brazil.

00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:47.600
It's actually quite interesting.

00:09:47.759 --> 00:10:02.399
I was two weeks before in the World Harmonica Festival in Drosingen performing, and I got to talk with Martin Hafner, who was director of the museum for many years, the harmonica museum, which is in Drosingen.

00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:21.600
Also talking about my thesis, I wanted to find out about the importation of harmonicas to Latin America and especially to Argentina, and he showed me a book of the honor history, and uh he showed me he sent me some importation data.

00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:37.679
No, uh, we found out that um Brazil and Argentina and also Mexico were uh countries where harmonicas were exported from Germany quite a lot, starting from the 30s on.

00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:57.360
He showed me several uh graphics, for example, in 1937, Argentina received more harmonicas than Brazil, and in in the 50s less, you know, it was moving quite a lot, but Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and of course the United States were receiving quite a lot of harmonicas.

00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:05.919
And I believe that this in a way helped the expansion, of course, of the instrument.

00:11:06.080 --> 00:11:19.840
And also we have in Argentina another German instrument uh that in a way defines the sound of most of the folk music that we have are also tango music, which is the bandonion.

00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:50.720
It's a German instrument that was created almost at the same time and then midst of um the 19th century, in this case in Krefeld, Germany, and uh the instrument came with the immigration and uh defined the sounds of folk Argentinian music.

00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:56.960
So the harmonica is very much connected to this instrument because it's also a read instrument, also the accordion.

00:11:57.200 --> 00:11:59.840
Yes, it's sort of a type of accordion, isn't it?

00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:00.799
Yeah, exactly.

00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:02.639
It's kind of an accordion.

00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:07.039
It functions differently, but uh you know it's the same family.

00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:11.279
The accordion, the bandonion, and the harmonica are free reads instruments.

00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:11.679
Yeah.

00:12:11.919 --> 00:12:22.639
So in this sense, Croati Harmonica, you know, started being used in a way trying to get this sound that the bandonion was having in Argentina music.

00:12:22.879 --> 00:12:39.440
So it always in every every generation you have at least five representants who play the instrument and keep these techniques developed that nowadays we call Argentinian chromatic um approach.

00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:46.080
You know, it's a it's it's kind of unique, this sound that we we produce uh to perform Argentinian music.

00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:50.720
So this thesis you mentioned there, so that's a thesis you're currently working on, is it?

00:12:51.039 --> 00:13:04.799
Well, actually, I finished the the bachelor's degree, I presented it, but I'm um, you know, still developing, and I think this will be a work that hopefully in the future I will end up uh writing a book about it.

00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:09.200
I would love to do it because there are many things that are still appearing.

00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:11.600
Uh, for example, this information that uh Nr.

00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:13.759
Hafnal uh shared with me.

00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:21.840
Uh we didn't know that many harmonicas were uh exported to Argentina, and now this information is still coming.

00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:22.559
Fantastic.

00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:24.559
Yeah, so yeah, hopefully you'll turn that into the book.

00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:26.799
Is it possible for people to read your thesis?

00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:29.039
Have you got it available online anywhere?

00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:30.399
Yes, I have it.

00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:36.480
I'm in the process of making the correct translation in English, but uh it's online, yeah.

00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:40.159
I so I I will share it, of course.

00:13:40.480 --> 00:13:46.000
So yeah, so fantastic um Tansioga, yes, great research there in the history of Argentinian harmonica.

00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:48.559
But then m so then moving on through your own playing.

00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:57.360
I I believe that uh you discovered a um a sort of teacher or an inspiration in uh in Franco Luciano and uh what you took some lessons with him.

00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:00.320
Yes, uh I did in 2008.

00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:06.960
I actually spent one year in the United States, in New York, actually, studying music.

00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:11.360
And when I got back to Argentina, I was uh studying sociology.

00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:14.240
I'm a sociologist also in the university.

00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:27.519
I went back to Argentina and I contacted San Colusiani, which is uh one of the main figures, I would say the main figure actually nowadays represents Argentinian harmonica playing.

00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:49.519
He's um a top musician uh in Argentinian world, not only in tango but also in folk uh rural music.

00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:53.200
And he travels quite a lot and is very recognized.

00:14:53.440 --> 00:15:10.399
And he's the one that taught me how to hold the Carmen Deharmonica, how to make sound out of it, and uh in a way develop these Argentinian uh techniques that we we have and uh we approach to Argentinian music.

00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:18.000
I spent uh one year and a half studied with him, and then he stopped giving classes because he was traveling quite a lot.

00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:29.200
I was one of his latest students, then he stopped uh giving classes uh because he was performing and is still performing quite a lot.

00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:39.840
So I feel lucky to have met him, and he he was also the director of this thesis that I mentioned before.

00:15:40.399 --> 00:15:59.279
So he knows quite a lot about the history of the harmonica, and we got in touch in this case to talk about not to perform but to develop this Argentinian uh history of the instrument that was never told before in an organized way.

00:15:59.519 --> 00:16:04.240
So uh yeah, Frank Luciani is quite an inspiration for me, I would say.

00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:22.879
And so then you obviously you mentioned there that you focused on playing uh Argentinian folk music and also tango.

00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:24.720
So let's touch on that side now.

00:16:24.799 --> 00:16:31.440
So I believe your interest in tango is that you um you wanted to become a tango dancer uh instead of a musician at one point, is that right?

00:16:31.759 --> 00:16:33.200
Exactly, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:37.279
You know, tango is a form of uh art, I would say.

00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:39.200
It has many layers.

00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:48.159
One of the layers that it has is also the dancing part, which is one of the um most recognized worldwide aspects of tango, no?

00:16:48.320 --> 00:16:49.759
The dancing aspect.

00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.080
At a certain point, uh 10 years ago, I was very much into dancing.

00:16:54.320 --> 00:17:01.600
I was going to these milongas, which is the name of the dancing hall where people get together at night to dance quite a lot.

00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:05.359
Uh almost three or four days a week.

00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:11.440
And uh these milongas go till very late, you know, four in the morning, five in the morning.

00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:17.200
And uh I was not able to wake up in the other day to study music.

00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:28.000
So, you know, um at a certain point I said, no, I have to stop with this because I I really want to be a professional in music, which is something that took me a while to realize.

00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:46.000
As you can see, I was doing sociology at the beginning, I was dancing tango, doing many things, but then I realized that I wanted to make this out of my life, and uh I stopped with the other things, and then you know I became a full musician.

00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:53.440
And also I needed to learn quite fast because I thought I was, you know, a bit old to do certain things.

00:17:53.599 --> 00:17:54.880
So I stopped as it.

00:17:55.119 --> 00:18:07.119
But I think I I got from that experience quite a lot of uh background in terms of uh how to perform, no, because you feel the space of the notes.

00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:18.319
No, sometimes you have an idea of a rhythm, for example, of tempo which is abstract, but when you dance you make this part of your body, no?

00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:28.799
So it makes you realize that uh you know the movement, the tempo, the rhythm is not abstract, it is also something that occupies space, no?

00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:34.559
So that's something I developed in the years that I I danced tango quite a lot.

00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:37.680
Sure, and I'm sure it helps playing the music, right?

00:18:37.759 --> 00:18:40.319
If you know how to do the dance too, you're very much involved with it.

00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:47.200
So uh the the previous person I've had on the podcast who plays tango music is Joe Powers, I'm sure you're aware of.

00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:04.880
So he also does the tango dance, and and he sort of saw it as part of it as well.

00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:09.200
So but the tango sounds sounds great on the on the chromatic, doesn't it?

00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:10.880
It's a really accessible music.

00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:26.240
I know a piano player and I've been playing she she's from Finland where tango is really popular in Finland, and she really loves tango, so I played uh a couple of tangles with her and I've sort of got into more playing tangles, and it's very accessible, and it just sounds great on the chromatic, doesn't it?

00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:27.279
Yeah, exactly.

00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:36.799
It is because what I mentioned before of the proximity with this other read instrument, which is the bandonion, that defines the tango sound, no?

00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:44.799
For example, Astor Piazzola, no, a great composer of tango, uh worldwide known, he's a band on your player.

00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:58.640
Then you have other figures uh like uh Dino Salusi, Hannibal Troilo, tango composers that define the sound, so it is possible to imitate the sound with a chromatic harmonica very much.

00:19:58.880 --> 00:20:10.079
Finnish tango is something also, I mean in Finland the tango is is well known, but they have also their own tango, which is not tango from Argentina.

00:20:10.319 --> 00:20:14.000
So yeah, it's also an an interesting fact, yes.

00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:18.559
Yeah, so you you mentioned uh that you're imitating the bandonian to some extent.

00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:21.680
So, you know, what is it about that which is similar?

00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:30.160
Obviously, we've talked about it being a read instrument, but you're playing on an on an accordion type instrument, they're playing lots of multiple notes at the same time, I'm I'm guessing chords and things.

00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:32.720
So you know what is it that you're taking from the bandonian?

00:20:32.960 --> 00:20:42.079
Uh well actually the bandonian works if you press one button, two reads sound at the same time, at the difference of an octave, no?

00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:52.720
So this is what we mainly do in we we use quite a lot the position of an octave play in the chromatic harmonica in order to use that effect.

00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:52.960
Yeah.

00:20:53.119 --> 00:20:58.720
And also we do this, for example, delayed octave effect, which is tia tia tia tia tia.

00:20:58.880 --> 00:21:01.839
This is something that bandon players use quite a lot.

00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:11.200
And also, another important fact is that in tango music, the melody, your approach to a melody in two general ways.

00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:17.759
Now, one is the uh legato melodical aspect, and the other one is the rhythmical aspect.

00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:33.440
And this comes also from the abandoning use, and also it comes from the fact that the Argentinian tango is a music that was created from the beginning to be danced, but doesn't have a percussive instrument in its original formation.

00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:34.960
This is a very important fact.

00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:45.839
Unique, I would say, if you think about other, for example, genres of Latin America, they all have a percussive instrument that helps to understand the rhythm.

00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:49.359
Well, tango doesn't have this, and it's a danceable form.

00:21:49.519 --> 00:22:03.920
So all the instruments that were connected with tango from the beginning, in a way had to develop a rhythmical approach of interpreting, not only a legato singable approach, but also a rhythmical approach.

00:22:04.160 --> 00:22:15.039
So the rhythmical approaches of the bandonion in a way uh we can imitate those with the harmonica, no, so it's it's a very rich approximation, no?

00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:33.920
So at what stage did you decide to become a professional musician and you know, and how did that develop for you?

00:22:34.640 --> 00:23:10.799
Well, I think it uh this uh came progressively in my life, and I'm still making me questions about it in a way how to you know live uh in objective facts, uh, being a musician, which is something that in Argentina it's not quite easy to do, because um, you know, that we are going through several crises, no, and we are not as protected as uh, for example, uh Europe uh in terms of um artists, you know, uh state helps and all these kind of things.

00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:17.920
So it's a kind of struggle, but I would say in in in fact we have as a society.

00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:20.880
But besides that, I think this is what I am.

00:23:21.039 --> 00:23:27.359
No, I cannot do other things uh with such a passionate approach, I would say.

00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:38.880
So that's what keeps me alive and connected with it, and uh trying to find out how to become a chromatic harmonica player as a professional musician.

00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:47.680
You must know this, but I think that harmonica players never have you know before spaces to occupy.

00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:50.480
No, we have to create our own spaces.

00:23:50.640 --> 00:24:01.440
Uh there is no orchestra that needs a chromatic harmonica, there is no institution that needs a chromatic harmonica teacher or the Tony Harmonica teacher.

00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:04.559
You know, we have to create these spaces.

00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:33.119
And uh I think my generation, as I was talking, for example, with many uh harmonica players in in Trosingen some weeks before, are open in these spaces and are trying to in a way change the common sense of the harmonica not being a professional instrument and trying to work hard and study and try to make it as professional as we can get.

00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:36.319
Yes, and you're doing a great job with some great high-level playing.

00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:58.160
Again, just touching on the tango music, it's very passionate, you know, very emotional and and and and strong sounding, right?

00:24:58.240 --> 00:25:04.160
And getting that out, the chromatic harmonica, well using oxives, you say, to get a lot of a lot of the power out.

00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:08.480
Is that that part of the secret for getting that real passion out for the music that's needed?

00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:09.680
Yeah, exactly.

00:25:09.759 --> 00:25:18.640
Uh the passion I would say, uh, for example, this is something that um when I ended my concert in Trosingen again, people pointed out, no.

00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:38.400
I mean uh tango, it's passionate in the sense that it is a form of art that was created more than 150 years old, and it's a mixture of different cultures, you know, European uh culture, African culture, uh basically, and uh created in Latin America, you know.

00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:40.720
So this is what defines in a way.

00:25:40.880 --> 00:26:02.480
It's difficult to explain what passion means in terms of the music, but I would say it's this like you can express emotions through the melody, but you could be soft, you could be harsh, you you have to create these tensions, no, and the the listening listener gets this idea, no?

00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:09.359
It's not always the same, the same approach, but you have you perform great tension in tango.

00:26:23.839 --> 00:26:25.359
Hey, what's happening, y'all?

00:26:25.519 --> 00:26:32.640
Jason Richie from Blue Moon Harmonicas, and I'm here to tell you that Blue Moon harmonicas are the way.

00:26:32.799 --> 00:26:36.000
You can customize them yourself, or you can get Tom to do them.

00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:37.920
The website is a rabbit hole.

00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:54.720
We're talking about custom combs, custom cover plates, throwbacks, refurbished pre-wars, double reed plates, anything you can imagine, aluminum, ABS, plastic, phenelic resin, wood, any kind of comb you want, any kind of cover.

00:26:54.799 --> 00:26:57.440
Tom Halchak's your man, he's got you.

00:26:57.839 --> 00:27:03.359
Getting into your uh your recording career, so uh well the first acts I've got you down is with the Tanino duo.

00:27:03.599 --> 00:27:03.839
Yes.

00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:07.119
So this is with your uh Nicholas Perez on guitar.

00:27:07.279 --> 00:27:14.640
So this is in 2010, you you got together with Nicholas, and I think you were what twenty-four years old at this stage.

00:27:14.720 --> 00:27:16.480
I think you were born in 1986, yeah.

00:27:16.720 --> 00:27:17.599
Yeah, exactly.

00:27:17.759 --> 00:27:18.160
Yeah.

00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:21.200
Well, your first album was called Tango and Folklore.

00:27:21.279 --> 00:27:29.440
So, as you said, that combination of uh of Argentinian tango and Argentinian folk music, that's uh what you focused on then, and and uh it certainly carried on with that, yeah.

00:27:43.440 --> 00:28:03.359
I try to be open in that regard, and many of us of the Coravanti Harmonica players try to focus on both tango music from Buenos Aires and folk music from other jeep regions of Argentina, and I did it from the beginning now with this group that I had which was called Danino Duo The Last Hit.

00:28:03.839 --> 00:28:08.559
This setting was with a guitar player, that's a sort of classical guitar, I think, isn't it?

00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:09.119
Yeah.

00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:16.559
A traditional tango um band, what has uh obviously a band of neon and a uh what a violin and and what else.

00:28:16.720 --> 00:28:22.559
So you you've departed from that to play with the because it's not generally a guitar player, is there in a tango band?

00:28:22.799 --> 00:28:29.680
Well it depends, but the guitar has uh a lot of um uh history in tango, I would say.

00:28:30.240 --> 00:28:43.279
Not usually uh in big orchestras the the Spanish guitar is not that much used, but uh in these small combos, like for example a duo now, guitar and bandone they go very well.

00:28:43.519 --> 00:28:46.640
So uh there's a unique form of playing the guitar.

00:28:46.880 --> 00:28:54.799
In this case, it's not the electric guitar, no, but the Spanish guitar, acoustic Spanish guitar, which is normally used.

00:28:54.960 --> 00:28:56.160
And it sounds very well.

00:28:56.400 --> 00:28:58.480
Oh yeah, it's it's a great combination.

00:29:15.200 --> 00:29:22.319
So you made three albums with the uh with Nicolas Perez there, and and so yes, some great great sounding stuff it is too.

00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:28.079
You've also played with other guitar players, Argentinian guitar players, some very high-level guitar players, yeah.

00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:34.480
Uh yeah, I did several several albums and the guitar players I've been playing since the beginning.

00:29:34.720 --> 00:29:53.359
I played, for example, with uh Juan Falou and uh Rudy Flores, who are musicians now that they have uh 60, 70 years old, and um they you know in a way helped to shape the way of performing the the guitar.

00:29:53.680 --> 00:30:03.759
And um, you know, I I had them as guests in the cities that I recorded the There is one that I recorded called Domingo in 2019.

00:30:04.079 --> 00:30:07.599
And I had Juan Falou there and uh Rudy Flores.

00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:12.000
And uh you know, I always like to play with uh guitars.

00:30:12.480 --> 00:30:15.920
So that Domingo album you mentioned, I think that's your first solo album, isn't it?

00:30:16.079 --> 00:30:16.799
Yeah, exactly.

00:30:17.119 --> 00:30:20.960
It's a wonderful album, uh beautiful playing and it works so so nicely.

00:30:21.119 --> 00:30:25.680
Uh you do quite a lot where you um where you're playing unison notes with the guitar.

00:30:41.359 --> 00:30:45.039
That is that quite a feature of uh of the music or your approach?

00:30:45.279 --> 00:30:50.160
Yeah, I think it's um something that uh we use an as an arrangement.

00:30:50.480 --> 00:30:51.440
It's very effective.

00:30:51.519 --> 00:30:55.440
You also sort of play double stops chords on the chromatic as well.

00:31:12.400 --> 00:31:17.200
Is that you know filling up the sound, making that bigger, passionate, more passionate sound?

00:31:17.839 --> 00:31:19.119
Well, yeah, yeah.

00:31:19.279 --> 00:31:21.759
I use many techniques in that in this sense.

00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:28.960
I would say, for example, that the the change of emboshure is one of the most uh unique Argentinian aspects.

00:31:29.039 --> 00:31:36.720
Now we we play um backer position, tongue blocking, and octaves in the same song we change, no?

00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:49.680
Uh so these double stops, uh this tongue slap, these kind of uh effects help in a way to emphasize the rhythmical aspect, for example, imitating the the bandonian.

00:31:50.240 --> 00:32:01.920
So yeah, we are always trying to use uh I I say we because we Argentinian Croatia Harmonica players uh have uh this approach.

00:32:02.000 --> 00:32:13.519
I would say it's not my I I don't see myself as a person who uses his own techniques, but also who who is developing the techniques that uh were created before.

00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:24.559
So uh when you're playing single knots, do you generally use pucker and you use octaves you're playing tongue blocking, or do you use tongue blocking too for other times?

00:32:25.119 --> 00:32:28.640
My approach is uh basically packer and octiplane.

00:32:29.039 --> 00:32:31.680
And sometimes I use uh tongue blocking.

00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:42.000
But there are other players, for example Hugo Diaz, no, who were who was playing mainly in tongue blocking and sometimes in octaves, but he was not using the packer position.

00:32:42.240 --> 00:32:50.720
And Franco Luciani used packers position and octoplane quite a lot, and sometimes mouth and tongue blocking.

00:32:50.960 --> 00:32:54.480
So I I would say that we used kind of a mixture.

00:32:54.960 --> 00:33:00.400
And so using, like you say, tongue slaps it gives you a certain percussion and attack, doesn't it?

00:33:00.559 --> 00:33:06.240
Maybe similar to kind of traditional Chicago blues tongue blocking techniques where you were using those.

00:33:06.319 --> 00:33:11.039
Is that something that you picked up from and you know bringing those kind of percussive sounds from there?

00:33:11.359 --> 00:33:17.920
In my case, no, I I I got it from uh Hugo Diaz, and I don't I don't know where he got this from.

00:33:18.000 --> 00:33:26.160
No, I I would say that he tried to imitate uh the folk instruments that were um important at his time.

00:33:26.400 --> 00:33:41.279
One of those is the bombeguero, which is a percussive instrument from the north of Argentina, and his rhythmic approach, if you listen carefully, comes, I would say, from this percussive instrument.

00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:46.079
I don't think he was influenced by blues Chicago players, no.

00:33:46.319 --> 00:33:57.519
I think he created his percussive approach from the rhythmical elements that were in the music itself, no, and they then we incorporated that to the Kravanti technique.

00:33:57.920 --> 00:34:10.159
So another great thing you did with the Tenino duo is that you appeared in 2016 at the uh Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow, which is a very prestigious folk traditional music festival that takes place in Scotland.

00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:15.599
So and in that you're playing in a in a chamber orchestra, so it was you mentioned playing in an orchestra setting.

00:34:15.760 --> 00:34:21.679
So that you know so you've got more musicians with you, and you've got that that chamber music orchestral setting.

00:34:21.840 --> 00:34:24.880
So uh tell us about that, you know, your approach to that.

00:34:24.960 --> 00:34:30.079
You are you reading music in that, and you know what how did that fit in in the orchestral setting?

00:34:30.639 --> 00:34:38.480
Well, yeah, uh it's a that experience was 2016 in the Kelti Connections in Edinburgh Festival.

00:34:38.719 --> 00:34:51.199
At that time we had the opportunity to share because the idea of the Kelti Connection Festival is to create in a way a collaboration between local musicians and the people who come from abroad.

00:34:51.360 --> 00:35:01.280
And uh we were invited to perform with the Max Max Falls Chamber Orchestra, which is a group based in Scotland.

00:35:01.679 --> 00:35:07.679
And we prepared the program based in Astor Piazzola music.

00:35:07.920 --> 00:35:12.719
And we got together to rehearse there a couple of times and then we played the concert.

00:35:12.800 --> 00:35:19.039
I think it was in Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, which is a very beautiful setting.

00:35:59.920 --> 00:36:02.719
So many people played his compositions.

00:36:02.960 --> 00:36:18.079
We played once one uh piece that he composed, uh which is called Homage Aliash at that time, and it's written for bandonion, guitar, and string orchestra.

00:36:18.239 --> 00:36:26.320
So we made the reduction, the adaptation for to a harmonica, guitar, and string section, and you know it worked very well.

00:36:26.480 --> 00:36:30.400
We did um the concert and then a little recording.

00:36:30.719 --> 00:36:42.079
So, you know, uh I think the idea of performing will with orchestra uh is something that I like very much, and I'm looking forward to still doing it.

00:36:53.920 --> 00:37:00.480
So, and in addition, you play with many sort of contemporary Argentinian acts and folk and tango Ensembles, yeah.

00:37:00.559 --> 00:37:25.760
So you play with with numerous ones, the Argento Trio and Yes, I try to do several collaborations.

00:37:26.079 --> 00:37:29.440
I think it helps to shape the basics, shape myself.

00:37:29.679 --> 00:37:41.760
It's something that Argentinian musicians do quite a lot now because we have a traditional repertoire that we all know, and we try to create our own interpretations of it.

00:37:54.000 --> 00:37:57.920
And you appeared widely across Latin America but also in Europe.

00:37:58.000 --> 00:38:08.800
Yeah, you've toured in Europe numerous times, and so you you you know you've been into Europe quite a few times, and obviously you said you've just been to Trossingen and done some some concerts as well while you've been over in Europe this time, yeah?

00:38:09.119 --> 00:38:19.199
Yes, I've been traveling to Europe since ten years, and uh the last uh tour that I did ended two weeks ago, and it was my sixteenth tour.

00:38:19.440 --> 00:38:19.679
Wow.

00:38:19.840 --> 00:38:32.639
So I've been traveling quite a lot, I've been to England many times, uh to Scotland, um yeah, many countries in in Europe, mainly because of tango music, because tango is very well received.

00:38:32.880 --> 00:38:38.960
Every small town that you go in Europe has a Milonga, for example, to play, to go to dance.

00:38:39.199 --> 00:39:00.239
And I'm trying to I I did quite um numerous tours related to the tango tango world, and at the moment I'm trying to expand my my professional line of work in Europe, uh not only to tango world, uh related to Argentinian culture, but also to the harmonica culture.

00:39:00.400 --> 00:39:14.000
That's why I started as you know, I'm an endorser with uh with Honor, and I'm a Honor artist, and I'm um connected with the uh with the brand uh for many for some years.

00:39:14.159 --> 00:39:23.280
No, I was in the Honor Harmonica Master Workshop organized by um Steve Baker a couple of years ago.

00:39:23.519 --> 00:39:41.760
I was in the World Harmonica Festival uh this year performing in the gala session uh with uh artists as um uh Antonio Serrano, Siwa Leo, Konstantin Reinfeld, Minami Risa from Japan, Sirius Ensemble that night.

00:39:41.920 --> 00:39:46.159
And uh I think it was um an honor for me to perform there.

00:39:46.559 --> 00:39:57.679
But and also uh responsibility in the sense that honor people gave the Argentinian Romantic Harmonica scene space in the Alanite in the festival.

00:39:57.920 --> 00:40:10.719
So I felt uh responsible for that and uh very happy because I think that the the approach that we have in Argentina is getting little by little known around the world.

00:40:11.039 --> 00:40:18.719
And uh I'm looking forward to keep traveling to Europe and uh also developing my my travels to Asia.

00:40:18.800 --> 00:40:24.400
I want to go to Asia also uh you know keep being uh a professional traveler.

00:40:24.559 --> 00:40:25.280
I like that.

00:40:25.519 --> 00:40:28.239
Yeah, no, you're doing a great job representing it.

00:40:43.840 --> 00:40:49.360
And again, you talk about tango being popular, it's very popular all around the world, you say, because of the dancing.

00:40:49.519 --> 00:40:53.840
But also I definitely encourage people obviously listening to you to get inspired.

00:40:53.920 --> 00:40:57.840
And you know, the tango music's very accessible on the Chromatic Home Moniker, isn't it?

00:40:57.920 --> 00:41:01.679
It's not the the the melodies themselves aren't very difficult to play.

00:41:01.760 --> 00:41:08.400
Obviously, you want to apply the correct techniques to make it sound authentic, but the melodies are very accessible, aren't they, for people to learn and play?

00:41:08.639 --> 00:41:11.840
Yeah, yeah, it's a it's an accessible kind of music.

00:41:12.079 --> 00:41:17.199
And uh it works kind of in the sense that you have to make your own interpretation.

00:41:17.360 --> 00:41:19.440
This is the most important fact I would say.

00:41:19.679 --> 00:41:35.360
So even if you're not a chromatic harmonica player who wants to dedicate to Argentinian music, just to learn the approach of of the music, it can help to develop your own techniques on the music that you are playing, no?

00:41:35.840 --> 00:41:39.920
So yeah, it's very interesting what we have developed here.

00:41:40.320 --> 00:41:43.119
Yeah, and lots of very well-known recognizable tunes as well.

00:41:43.199 --> 00:41:50.559
Like a song I love to play is La Composita, and that's a song that everybody recognizes, and it always is always very popular when uh when I play it.

00:41:50.639 --> 00:41:51.760
So yeah, it's a great song.

00:41:51.840 --> 00:41:56.159
So yeah, definitely encourage people to uh to learn a tango tune or two.

00:42:10.079 --> 00:42:14.559
As well as um, you know, you just mentioned you're teaching at Trossingen and the master's workshops there.

00:42:14.639 --> 00:42:17.039
And so you also teach in Buenos Aires, yeah.

00:42:17.119 --> 00:42:27.440
You you're teaching at the School of Popular Music, uh, and you're the are you are you the professor of the history of tango and history of folklore in the in the in a school in uh Buenos Aires as well?

00:42:27.760 --> 00:42:28.719
Yes, yes.

00:42:28.960 --> 00:42:35.840
I'm um teacher in uh there is an institution here which is called Cula Musica Popular de Avellaneda.

00:42:36.239 --> 00:42:40.800
For 10 years, you can study chromatic harmonica there, which is kind of unique.

00:42:41.039 --> 00:42:54.239
There is the experience of the Trosingen Conservatory in Germany, and there is one conservatory in Rome where you can study chromatic harmonica, led by Charluca Leitera, no?

00:42:54.639 --> 00:43:08.559
And also the experience in Argentina, which is the school where I give classes, and there are other two teachers there, Lucas Chamorro and Nahuel Percal, and it's a unique in the world.

00:43:08.800 --> 00:43:12.800
You can study chromatic harmonica in three different regions.

00:43:12.960 --> 00:43:16.000
You can study in jazz, in tango, and in folk.

00:43:16.239 --> 00:43:26.320
I'm the folk harmonica teacher, and then I work also in other institutions as a professor of history in tango and in folk music.

00:43:26.480 --> 00:43:29.039
So I do different things, yes.

00:43:44.079 --> 00:43:46.960
Okay, so uh a question asked each time, Santiago's.

00:43:47.119 --> 00:43:49.840
If you had 10 minutes to practice, what would you spend those 10 minutes doing?

00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:55.280
So perhaps you could focus uh this on people who are interested in learning some some tango on the chromatic.

00:43:55.360 --> 00:43:59.280
What would you advise they they um spend 10 minutes practicing on?

00:43:59.679 --> 00:44:00.639
Ten minutes.

00:44:02.639 --> 00:44:05.840
Well, for example, it depends on what what you want to do.

00:44:05.920 --> 00:44:10.639
Is if it's a warm-up now, or if you want to perform a song.

00:44:10.800 --> 00:44:23.199
But if you are already in the stage of learning a song, I would recommend that uh you know these first steps are very important in order to incorporate the information.

00:44:23.599 --> 00:44:37.679
Once you learn the melody correctly, uh you can play around with it, creating you know, these effects that we were mentioning, these embossures that we were mentioning that we use, and also uh embellishments, no?

00:44:38.079 --> 00:44:44.800
So you learn a simple melody in a simple way, and then you start you know playing around with it.

00:44:45.119 --> 00:45:00.800
You uh uh play with one embosure, then you use another embosure, or you play in different octaves the same melody, or you use um chromatic approximation embellishments, or more than these kind of things.

00:45:01.119 --> 00:45:11.280
Just to learn one phrase, for example, and play it different ways, so you you got the idea, the feeling of it.

00:45:11.519 --> 00:45:20.960
I think this is the most beautiful thing about Argentinian music as a popular genre that it obliges you to create your own approach.

00:45:21.119 --> 00:45:25.519
That uh it's a very creative process, I would say.

00:45:25.920 --> 00:45:32.719
Do people who learn Argentinian music generally use sheet music or learn by ear or or is it a combination of both?

00:45:33.039 --> 00:45:34.480
It's a combination, yeah.

00:45:34.719 --> 00:45:46.320
Uh we mainly use, for example, the listen to recordings now of the original piece, the original composer, uh and from that we create our our own version.

00:45:46.480 --> 00:45:50.079
But also we we use music sheet, of course.

00:45:50.400 --> 00:45:57.599
And of course, if people want to learn further, they can always find a teacher and and uh you teach uh Argentinian tango and uh folk music online.

00:45:57.760 --> 00:46:02.000
So are you available for people to if they're interested in that in having some lessons?

00:46:02.320 --> 00:46:03.920
Yes, I'm a music teacher.

00:46:04.079 --> 00:46:20.719
I give classes online, and also uh something that might be interesting is that I have released a couple of years ago uh an online course which is called Argentinian Harmonica, where you can study not only the tango but also folk songs.

00:46:20.960 --> 00:46:26.960
And the I did that with the Harmonica School of Berlin led by Marco Jovanovich.

00:46:27.519 --> 00:46:29.840
We together created a course.

00:46:30.079 --> 00:46:32.800
If you want to contact me, uh you can get it.

00:46:33.599 --> 00:46:37.679
It talks about this this approach that we have in Necromatic Harmonica.

00:46:37.920 --> 00:46:47.519
You have backing tracks, there's an exercise section, and uh there's a technique of the there's an explanation of the technique in video and audio format.

00:46:47.599 --> 00:46:52.800
So this is something that could be interesting for people who want to get in into Argentinian music.

00:46:53.119 --> 00:46:56.480
And you attended the Fenn Festival in in in uh Berlin there, didn't you?

00:46:56.559 --> 00:46:58.079
With which which Marco did run.

00:46:58.159 --> 00:47:03.599
I I understand he stopped running that recently, but yeah, I had Marco on the podcast, he's a fantastic player too, so yeah.

00:47:03.920 --> 00:47:05.039
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:47:05.119 --> 00:47:06.400
He's cool, cool friend.

00:47:06.719 --> 00:47:11.039
Yeah, so um so yeah, you've been to to Berlin there and taught at the Fenn Festival, yeah.

00:47:11.119 --> 00:47:11.760
So that's cool.

00:47:11.920 --> 00:47:12.159
Yeah.

00:47:12.400 --> 00:47:13.440
So uh yeah, great stuff.

00:47:13.519 --> 00:47:14.800
So yeah, that's that's available.

00:47:14.880 --> 00:47:17.440
I put your uh contact details up on the podcast page.

00:47:17.519 --> 00:47:21.440
So we'll get in the last section now and talk through uh the gear you use and the approaches.

00:47:21.599 --> 00:47:26.079
So uh talking about you've also mentioned you're um you're an endorsee for Honor.

00:47:26.239 --> 00:47:28.880
I believe you play the uh the Super 64 mainly, do you?

00:47:28.960 --> 00:47:30.639
The 16-hole chromatic.

00:47:30.960 --> 00:47:31.519
Exactly.

00:47:31.679 --> 00:47:46.800
I played the 64 chromatic, uh Super 60 um uh now I'm I'm playing uh the the black model Super64 performance, and I like this model because as I mentioned, we use quite a lot the octave play.

00:47:47.039 --> 00:47:52.719
So the lower octave that uh this instrument gives you helps in a way to enrich the sound.

00:47:52.880 --> 00:47:55.280
Yeah, that's the instrument I like to play the most.

00:47:55.519 --> 00:47:58.159
Yeah, with those uh with those big octaves in the lower octaves.

00:47:58.400 --> 00:47:58.800
Exactly.

00:47:58.880 --> 00:47:59.119
Yeah.

00:48:15.360 --> 00:48:16.639
Do you use customizers?

00:48:16.719 --> 00:48:19.679
Do you do any setup yourself with the uh the chromatics you use?

00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:23.920
No, no, basically I use it as it as it comes from from the fabric.

00:48:24.159 --> 00:48:31.360
Uh there is um one uh Lutier that uh works here in Argentina, his name is Roy Hartman.

00:48:31.519 --> 00:48:37.920
Sometimes I give him my my instruments for a little checkup, but normally from from the fabric.

00:48:38.320 --> 00:48:40.880
And you you mentioned you do play some diatonics too.

00:48:41.119 --> 00:48:42.719
Which diatonics do you like to use?

00:48:43.199 --> 00:48:44.000
Honor ones.

00:48:44.239 --> 00:48:45.039
Honor ones.

00:48:45.280 --> 00:48:51.679
Uh I I like marine band and uh yeah, these kind of instruments.

00:48:52.320 --> 00:48:54.480
What about the key of chromatics you're using?

00:48:54.559 --> 00:49:00.559
Are you always using a C or does it suit the Tangon folk music to to use different keys sometimes?

00:49:00.880 --> 00:49:08.000
With the chromatic harmonica, basically I'm always using C instrument for certain specific things.

00:49:08.239 --> 00:49:15.920
Sometimes I use I have a chromatic harmonica periactive in in A in La, and I use it for that.

00:49:16.079 --> 00:49:18.000
But it's kind of very specific.

00:49:18.159 --> 00:49:20.719
No, normally I use C harmonum.

00:49:21.199 --> 00:49:24.079
What sort of range of keys does tango music come in?

00:49:24.159 --> 00:49:28.559
Is it is it generally uh a small number of keys or is it quite varied in the in the key?

00:49:28.880 --> 00:49:29.840
No, it varies.

00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:31.760
It varies, yeah, quite a lot.

00:49:32.079 --> 00:49:49.599
But there are some uh keys that we use um more than other ones, no minor keys, of course, because tango is mostly minor, and uh D minor, for example, A minor, E minor, these kind of um uh scales are the most used.

00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:54.079
And you mentioned earlier on that you did start learning overblows on the diatonic.

00:49:54.400 --> 00:49:56.639
Is that something that you're still interested in?

00:49:56.800 --> 00:50:00.719
Is it possible to play you know tango music on a diatonic using overblows?

00:50:00.880 --> 00:50:04.400
Is that something you might pursue in future or or just chromatic for you?

00:50:04.880 --> 00:50:18.000
Uh since I met the chromatic, I think the uh I stopped developing the idea of using overblows in a in the diatonic because I I prefer the sound that comes from the slide in the chromatic.

00:50:18.159 --> 00:50:26.800
It is possible to play, and there are some Argentinians who do that in the diatonic harmonica, but uh it's not my cup of tea.

00:50:26.880 --> 00:50:29.519
I prefer to do it with the chromatic.

00:50:29.599 --> 00:50:29.920
Yeah.

00:50:30.480 --> 00:50:33.440
What about um amplification when when you're performing?

00:50:33.599 --> 00:50:34.880
What do you like to use?

00:50:35.360 --> 00:50:36.960
My my year is simple.

00:50:37.119 --> 00:50:46.480
I have my microphone, which is kind of a sure 58, and the only thing that I use uh that I always use is my own reverb.

00:50:46.719 --> 00:50:48.880
I have a pedal, no?

00:50:49.199 --> 00:50:50.880
Which is a voice pedal.

00:50:51.280 --> 00:50:56.719
Uh it has a reverb, so I I like the sound that comes from that reverb.

00:50:56.880 --> 00:51:05.119
I always go to concerts with that uh equipment, and you know, this is that scampless thing I do.

00:51:05.280 --> 00:51:14.159
And normally I um I ask the sound engineer to lower down the high frequencies and up the lower ones.

00:51:14.400 --> 00:51:16.239
That's normally what I do.

00:51:16.559 --> 00:51:19.039
So the reverb, you a boss pedal, you say.

00:51:19.119 --> 00:51:27.760
So you like to use a pedal rather than say using the reverb on an amp or the PA because you control it more on the per the certain sound of the reverb.

00:51:27.840 --> 00:51:29.599
Uh you collect to control it yourself, do you?

00:51:29.920 --> 00:51:35.280
Yes, I like I like to control myself also because I like the river that comes from the instrument.

00:51:35.360 --> 00:51:41.840
It doesn't modify the sound of the harmonica, it just prolongs it uh uh very well.

00:51:42.320 --> 00:51:44.800
So and I like to be in control of that.

00:51:44.960 --> 00:51:52.559
I think reverb is important in the harmonica to to you know emphasize the certain aspects of the sound.

00:51:52.880 --> 00:51:59.679
And does that help with the tango particularly because it you know maybe fills the sound, gives it a bigger sound as well?

00:51:59.760 --> 00:52:01.599
I mean, how how much reverb are using?

00:52:01.679 --> 00:52:03.679
Is it just a touch or is it a little bit more than that?

00:52:03.920 --> 00:52:05.039
No, no, just a touch.

00:52:05.199 --> 00:52:05.840
Just a touch.

00:52:06.000 --> 00:52:06.400
Yeah.

00:52:06.880 --> 00:52:12.559
Yeah, just to just to give some body to the sound a little bit, yeah, which maybe the the chromatic uses.

00:52:12.639 --> 00:52:21.039
Uh so uh do you use any hand effects playing tango on Argentinian folk music, or are you holding the mic in your hand and you know close up to the harmonica?

00:52:21.440 --> 00:52:24.159
When I perform, I hold the mic in my hand.

00:52:24.320 --> 00:52:28.239
Uh so there are no hand vibratos that I use.

00:52:28.400 --> 00:52:38.400
I use uh mouth vibratos, jaw vibratos, throat vibratos, but when I record I have a dynamic microphone so I use hand vibrato.

00:52:38.480 --> 00:52:41.519
But for performing, uh no, no hand vibrato.

00:53:00.559 --> 00:53:09.840
Well obviously you just mentioned you've just been to Trossingen, and the great that the World Harmonica Festival just happened a few weeks ago, and I'm sure you had a great time there and met uh met many other harmonica players.

00:53:10.079 --> 00:53:13.440
Yeah, so tell us about Trossingen and how much you enjoyed it there.

00:53:14.079 --> 00:53:24.400
Well, uh as I said before, I'm very lucky um having the opportunity to be there and to share uh Argentinian harmonic approach.

00:53:24.639 --> 00:53:54.400
And also I met you know people that um um I was I was studying their their approaches into music, uh, for example, and people like Shasu Wattani, Sigmund Gruben, that are musicians that I have always uh learned about their approach and the the having the possibility of going to their workshops and to see how they talk, how they how they see music, how they approach the grammatic harmonica was very interesting.

00:53:54.639 --> 00:54:03.920
Uh also to meet honor people like Gerard Mueller, uh to see them, you know, to talk is was I was very interested in that.

00:54:04.079 --> 00:54:14.800
Uh and also to see my contemporary musician, contemporary harmonica players that are developing the instrument in a very professional sense in different parts of the world.

00:54:15.039 --> 00:54:22.880
Um, you know, like uh Si We Li or from China, uh, to go to his workshop and to listen to him.

00:54:23.039 --> 00:54:31.440
I think that the harmonica has you know certain brotherhood that we share because we are not a lot.

00:54:31.599 --> 00:54:42.239
So I think uh this opportunity to get together and to to talk about the harmonica is something that everyone says that was uh needed, no?

00:54:42.559 --> 00:54:43.920
Needed for each of us.

00:54:44.000 --> 00:54:48.239
So the the atmosphere was uh happy in this sense.

00:54:48.400 --> 00:54:54.079
No, we were all feeling part of something which is more than us, no?

00:54:54.639 --> 00:54:57.440
So you're just finishing off now, just about your future plans.

00:54:57.599 --> 00:55:03.039
I believe you're you're now working on a project, uh a tango project where you're using playing with a piano and double bass.

00:55:03.119 --> 00:55:03.679
Is that right?

00:55:03.760 --> 00:55:05.119
Is that the your current direction?

00:55:05.360 --> 00:55:05.840
Exactly.

00:55:06.000 --> 00:55:15.519
Yeah, and this is the project that I presented in Drosingen uh with a piano and a bass, and planning to keep doing that, recording a CD.

00:55:46.079 --> 00:55:52.239
And uh keep developing my my thesis and uh record, yeah.

00:55:52.480 --> 00:55:56.400
When can we expect your uh your new album to come out with the piano and double bass?

00:55:56.719 --> 00:56:10.320
I'm still uh in the process of um deciding the songs and certain arrangements, so but I think maybe next year, at the end, it will be something that uh maybe uh on already.

00:56:10.800 --> 00:56:12.079
Well, I look forward to hearing that.

00:56:12.159 --> 00:56:15.760
I'm sure it sounds wonderful, and again your Domingo album is uh is fantastic.

00:56:16.000 --> 00:56:19.360
So thanks so much for joining today, Santiago Alvarez.

00:56:19.440 --> 00:56:26.800
It's been great to talk to you and fascinating to hear about the Argentinian music and the tango, and yeah, and you're doing a great job representing it.

00:56:27.440 --> 00:56:27.920
Thank you.

00:56:28.000 --> 00:56:29.360
Thank you, Neil, for having me.

00:56:29.440 --> 00:56:30.880
It was a pleasure to talk to you.

00:56:31.280 --> 00:56:34.000
Once again, thanks to Zidl for sponsoring the podcast.

00:56:34.159 --> 00:56:44.239
Be sure to check out the great range of harmonicas and products at www.zidel1847.com or on Facebook or Instagram at Zidalharmonicas.

00:56:44.639 --> 00:56:46.960
Many thanks to Santiago for joining me today.

00:56:47.119 --> 00:56:48.719
It was a real pleasure speaking with him.

00:56:48.880 --> 00:56:55.840
His depth of knowledge about Argentinian styles on the chromatic harmonica is remarkable, and tango just sounds incredible on the instrument.

00:56:56.079 --> 00:56:57.760
And thanks to you all for listening again.

00:56:57.920 --> 00:57:02.079
If you're enjoying the podcast, please spread the word to your harmonica playing friends.

00:57:02.239 --> 00:57:04.079
Nothing beats good old word of mouth.

00:57:04.239 --> 00:57:08.559
You can also rate and subscribe to the show on your favourite podcast player or app.

00:57:08.719 --> 00:57:12.639
I'd sign off now with a track from Santiago's album Domingo.

00:57:12.800 --> 00:57:15.039
This is the tango piece, a Miranda.