
Orquesta típica, or simply a típica, is a Latin American term for a band which plays popular music. The details vary from country to country. The term tends to be used for groups of medium size (about 8 to 12 musicians) in some well-defined instrumental set-up.
Argentina and Uruguay
In Argentina and Uruguay, the term orquesta típica is associated with
tango music
Tango ( or ; ) is a style of music in Time signature, or time that originated among Great European immigration wave to Argentina, European immigrants of the Great Wave to Argentina and Uruguay. It has mainly Culture of Spain, Spanish, Cultu ...
. The orquesta típica usually comprises a string section (three or four violins, and sometimes viola and cello), three or more
bandoneon
The bandoneon () or bandonion is a type of concertina particularly popular in Argentina and Uruguay. It is a typical instrument in most tango ensembles. As with other members of the concertina family, it is held between the hands, and played ...
s, and a rhythm section (
piano
A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
and
double bass
The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...
). An orquesta típica is an expanded version of a sexteto típico, which includes 2 bandoneons, 2 violins, double bass and piano.
Cuba
In Cuba, a típica is an ensemble mainly composed of
wind instruments
A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator (usually a tube) in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set at or near the end of the resonator. The pitch ...
, which was very popular in the mid-19th century. One of the earliest,
Orquesta Flor de Cuba, had the following make-up:
cornet
The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. There is also a soprano cor ...
,
trombone
The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...
, figle (
ophicleide
The ophicleide ( ) is a family of conical-bore keyed brass instruments invented in early 19th-century France to extend the keyed bugle into the lower range. Of these, the bass ophicleide in eight-foot (8′) C or 9′ B took root over the cour ...
), two
clarinet
The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell.
Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...
s, two
violin
The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
s,
double bass
The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...
,
kettle drum
Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...
, and
güiro
The güiro () is a percussion instrument consisting of an open-ended, hollow gourd with parallel notches cut in one side. It is played by rubbing a stick or tines (see photo) along the notches to produce a ratchet sound.
The güiro is commonly ...
. The
ophicleide
The ophicleide ( ) is a family of conical-bore keyed brass instruments invented in early 19th-century France to extend the keyed bugle into the lower range. Of these, the bass ophicleide in eight-foot (8′) C or 9′ B took root over the cour ...
was a sort of bass bugle with keys, invented in 1817, now superseded by the tuba and/or baritone horn, the name surviving for a pipe organ stop; the trombone would be more typically a valved rather than a slide instrument.
In the early 20th century, there were still several popular orquestas típicas, such as those directed by Enrique Peña and Félix González. In 1915,
charangas began to replace orquestas típica, a process which was largely complete by 1925. Charangas would become, along with son
conjuntos and Cuban-style
big band
A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...
s, one of the main precursors of the salsa ensemble, which is characterized by the inclusion of multiple trombones. Salsa ensembles can also feature trumpets along with piano, double bass, güiro, conga and bongó.
[Orovio, Helio 1981. ''Diccionario de la música cubana''. La Habana. p. 407.] In the salsa context, the term ''típico'' usually refers to the sound of the conjuntos of the 1940s, such as
Arsenio Rodríguez
Arsenio Rodríguez (born Ignacio Arsenio Travieso Scull; August 31, 1911 – December 30, 1970)Giro, Radamés 2007. ''Diccionario enciclopédico de la música en Cuba''. La Habana, v. 4, p. 45 et seq. was a Cuban musician, composer and bandl ...
's, or to those of the original charangas danzoneras (charangas típicas), such as
Arcaño y sus Maravillas
Arcaño y sus Maravillas was a Cuban charanga founded in 1937 by flautist Antonio Arcaño. Until its dissolution in 1958, it was one of the most popular and prolific danzón orchestras in Cuba, particularly due to the development of the danzón- ...
, since orquestas típicas never reached the United States.
Orquestas Típicas of Argentina
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Juan D´Arienzo
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Ángel D’Agostino
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Alfredo de Ángelis
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José Basso
José Hipólito Basso (30 January 1919 – 14 August 1993) was an Argentine orchestra conductor, composer, and pianist.
Professional career
Born in Pergamino, Buenos Aires, he began his career in the orchestra of Emilio and José de Caro in 193 ...
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Miguel Caló
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Alfredo Gobbi
Alfredo Julio Floro Gobbi (14 May 1912 - 21 May 1965) was a violin player, composer and bandleader in Argentina during the golden age of Argentine tango, tango. He was known as the romantic violin of the tango ().
Early life
Alfredo Gobbi was ...
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Mariano Mores
Mariano Alberto Martínez (18 February 1918 13 April 2016), known professionally as Mariano Mores, was an Argentine tango composer and pianist.
Biography
Mariano Martínez was born in the San Telmo section of Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1918. ...
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Francini-Pontier
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Carlos Figari
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Osmar Maderna
Osmar Héctor Maderna (February 26, 1918 – April 28, 1951) was an Argentine musician, pianist, conductor, composer, and arranger.
Life
1918 - 1938
He was the eighth child of the marriage between Juan Maderna and Ángela María Nigro, and ...
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Osvaldo Pugliese
Osvaldo Pedro Pugliese (December 2, 1905 – July 25, 1995) was an Argentine tango musician. He developed dramatic arrangements that retained strong elements of the walking beat of salon tango but also heralded the development of concert-style ...
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Carlos Di Sarli
Carlos Di Sarli (January 7, 1903January 12, 1960) was an Argentine tango musician, orchestra leader, composer and pianist.
Early years
Carlos di Sarli was born at 511 Buenos Aires street (now Yrigoyen) in the city of Bahía Blanca, located in ...
*
Héctor Stamponi
Héctor Luciano Stamponi (24 December 1916 – 3 December 1997) was an Argentine tango composer, pianist, and arranger. He composed, among others, the tangos ''El último café'' (1963, with lyrics by Cátulo Castillo) and ''Qué me van a hablar d ...
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Ricardo Tanturi
Ricardo Tanturi (27 January 1905 – 24 January 1973) (nickname: El caballero del tango) was a piano player, composer and bandleader (tango musical genre) in Argentina during the Golden Age of tango
Tango is a partner dance and social da ...
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Aníbal Troilo
Aníbal Carmelo Troilo (11 July 1914 – 18 May 1975), also known as Pichuco, was an Argentine tango musician.
Troilo was a bandoneon player, composer, arranger, and bandleader in Argentina. His orquesta típica was among the most popular wit ...
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Héctor Varela
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Orquesta Típica Santiagueña
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Orquesta Típica Fernández Fierro
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Orquesta Típica Ciudad Baigón
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Horacio Salgán
Horacio Adolfo Salgán (June 15, 1916 – August 19, 2016) was an Argentine tango musician. He was born in Buenos Aires to an established Afro-Argentine family. Some of Salgán's most well-known compositions include ''Del 1 al 5 (Días de pago)'' ( ...
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Osvaldo Fresedo
Osvaldo Fresedo (May 5, 1897 - November 18, 1984), nicknamed ''El pibe de La Paternal'' ("the kid from La Paternal") was an Argentine songwriter and director of a tango orchestra. He had one of the longest recording careers in tango history, from ...
Orquestas Típicas of Uruguay
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Francisco Canaro
Francisco Canaro, also known by the nickname Pirincho, (November 26, 1888 – December 14, 1964) was a Uruguayan violinist and tango orchestra leader.
Canaro was born in San José de Mayo, Uruguay, in 1888. His parents were Italian immigrants, ...
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Juan Canaro
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Juan Cao
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Minotto Di Cicco
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Típica Jaurena
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Luis Caruso
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Rogelio Coll
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Roberto Cuenca
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J. A. Espíndola
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Panchito Maqueira
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Facu Bonari
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Don Horacio
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Hugo Di Carlo
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Romeo Gavioli
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Mouro y Maqueira
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Walter Méndez
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Puglia - Pedroso
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Donato Raciatti "Tipica Sondor"
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Miguel Villasboas
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Nelson Alberti "A lo Darienzo"
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Matos Rodríguez
See also
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Music of Latin America
The music of Latin America refers to music originating from Latin America, namely the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking regions of the Americas south of the United States. Latin American music highly incorporates its African influences into the ...
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Music of Argentina
The music of Argentina includes a variety of traditional, classical, and popular genres. According to the ''Harvard Dictionary of Music'', Argentina also has "one of the richest art music traditions and perhaps the most active contemporary music ...
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Music of Cuba
The music of Cuba, including its instruments, performance, and dance, comprises a large set of unique traditions influenced mostly by west African and European (especially Spanish) music. Due to the syncretic nature of most of its genres, Cuban ...
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Music of Uruguay
The most distinctive music of Uruguay is to be found in the Uruguayan tango, tango and candombe; both genres have been recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Uruguayan music includes a number of local musical form ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orquesta tipica
Types of musical groups
Music of Cuba
Cuban styles of music
Tango