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 ...

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

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

* Juan D´Arienzo * Ángel D’Agostino * Alfredo de Ángelis *

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 ...

* Miguel Caló *

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 ...

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. ...

* Francini-Pontier * Carlos Figari *

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

* Héctor Varela * Orquesta Típica Santiagueña * Orquesta Típica Fernández Fierro * Orquesta Típica Ciudad Baigón *

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)'' ( ...

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

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, ...

* Juan Canaro * Juan Cao * Minotto Di Cicco * Típica Jaurena * Luis Caruso * Rogelio Coll * Roberto Cuenca * J. A. Espíndola * Panchito Maqueira * Facu Bonari * Don Horacio * Hugo Di Carlo * Romeo Gavioli * Mouro y Maqueira * Walter Méndez * Puglia - Pedroso * Donato Raciatti "Tipica Sondor" * Miguel Villasboas * Nelson Alberti "A lo Darienzo" * Matos Rodríguez

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orquesta tipica Types of musical groups Music of Cuba Cuban styles of music Tango

Argentina and Uruguay

Cuba

Orquestas Típicas of Argentina

Orquestas Típicas of Uruguay

See also

References