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Search Results for: Salsa Orchestra

Producer, composer, and singer D’ William tells his story

Who is D’ William?

William Pagán Díaz, artistically known as D’ William, is a talented producer, composer and singer with extensive experience in various tropical genres. He was part of the Oro Negro Orchestra and the Tañón Band before starting his solo career. We were fortunate to talk to him and learn a little more about his history and career.

Producer, composer, and singer William Pagán Díaz
Producer, composer, and singer William Pagán Díaz

How his career began

The Oro Negro Orchestra represented his first musical experience and he was about 17 years old at the time. In fact, his mother had to sign a contract for him to be part of the group because he was underage. He stayed there for a year until he got asked to audition for the Tañón Band, a group that Olga Tañón was creating at the time.

After auditioning with 300 or 400 candidates, I was chosen as the last missing member for the group because it required four and there were only three. D’ William told us that he felt he had the world in his hands due to work with Olga Tañón, but unfortunately she decided to broke up the band because she had other plans. At that time, Pagan did not know what to do with his life because he thought he had already pursued the ultimate in his career, so he decided to turn his life around, enlist in the army and forget all music.

These years of his life contributed a lot to strengthen his discipline, but he also realized that he did not want to dedicate himself to military life forever. After he retired, he moved to Japan and lived there for about seven years, during that time he was introduced to Puerto Rican salsa thanks to some friends. He started singing salsa, but always saw music as sort of a hobby and not as something he wanted to do professionally.

He toured all over Japan with the Conquistando Orchestra and composed for other artists and various franchises, but nothing for himself. In 2010, he decided that he wanted to change that situation and recorded six salsa songs with the idea of moving to Puerto Rico thinking he was going to find the same country in the musical field. Then, all the songs recorded by him stayed on the hard drive of his computer and he could not do anything with them.

D' William at the Estela Awards
D’ William at the Estela Awards

Unable to get a job, he decides to use his veteran’s benefits to complete his education, which leads him to study criminal justice and law. In 2018, a job opportunity as a lawyer for the federal government in Washington DC arose, so he moves there and meets some people who reconnect him with music thanks to his career in Japan.

When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, he finally made the decision to start his solo career and choose a stage name that referred to his real name, which led him to use D’ William. In September 2020, he recorded his first song titled “24 horas enteras” giving start to his solo career.

Why use merengue as a base for his music?

Although merengue has not had such a boom in recent years, D’ William is passionate about this genre that he never wanted to leave aside and even said that “a party without merengue is not a party”. The artist wanted to do something that included a tropical genre handled very well by him and he knows he was right about deciding on merengue, since he has observed a renaissance in the popularity of this set of rhythms with the help of artists such as Elvis Crespo, who was again seen in awards recently.

Music for millennial ears

D’ William points out that the most important elements of merengue will always be present in his work, but in his own words, ”the years and generations make the music evolve”. Since the performer did not want to stignate in the same thing, he tries to experiment with a new style of singing merengue and writes some of his lyrics with other genres in mind, such as dembow. He also incorporates kicks, snares, synthesizers and other sounds to reach millenial ears.

This combination of the above elements has made the reception to the artist’s music great.

D' William performing on stage
D’ William performing on stage

Experience in Guatemala

D’ William also told us about the Estela Awards in Guatemala, which he did not knew nothing about until he was invited to attend. Once there, he noticed the importance of these awards for Central America, as they recognize the talent of Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Mexico and many more.

He had the honor of being in its sixth edition and seeing how artists who did not have the opportunity to be in bigger events such as Billboard, Tu Música, Latin Grammy, among others, were awarded. Something very special about this year was the participation of a Puerto Rican delegation of for the first time in its history, in which D’ William was with several of his compatriots.

The reception of the public and press towards this group was great and they really enjoyed the show. They were so well received that they plan to return soon in December to continue delighting Guatemalans with their talent.

What did D’ William do during the pandemic?

D’ William told us that he did a lot of things for himself and other colleagues during the pandemic. He did a great collaboration on a track with Dominique Patrick Noel, a French percussionist with whom we had the pleasure to talk beforehand. They have done several songs together in which the Puerto Rican sings and does some arrangements with Noel.

He also sang with Eduardo Padua, who is a very famous Puerto Rican conguero in Virginia and Peruvian Andy Caseda.

D' William did interesting collaborations during the pandemic
D’ William did interesting collaborations during the pandemic

Read Also: The interesting story of French percussionist Dominique Patrick Noel

Renato Capriles, the man who imposed the rhythm with “Los Melodicos”

Dance bands have always added flavor and rhythm to parties in the Caribbean, but one of the greatest was born in Venezuela at the hands of Renato Capriles, “Los Melodicos”. An entrepreneur with an interesting vision of music, who knew how to adapt to what the public wanted, throughout the decades that accompanied his great project. In the following lines, we will tell you about his life and what he thought of his experiences.

Early years of Renato Capriles

Contrary to what many believe Renato was not born in Caracas, but in a small town called San Esteban located in Puerto Cabello, Carabobo state on December 28, 1931. In his own words:

“It was a town where only six or seven families lived. The rest of the inhabitants were people who served in those houses. San Esteban is about an hour from Puerto Cabello and it is still a very beautiful area.”

His arrival in Caracas is due to the death of his father, at that time his older brother, Miguel Ángel, decided to move the family to the capital and develop the businesses for which the Capriles family would later be well known in Venezuela. In addition, that is why it is known that he was born into a wealthy family, so business is something that he carried in his blood. They were also a large family, Renato being the 13th sibling of 14, which is why he always considered it his lucky number.

Arriving in Caracas, they settled in La Pastora, where the Capriles spent their childhood and adolescence. Renato himself even commented that he traveled those streets with a velocipede that was given to him for his birthday. During his adolescence he began to be closer to the dance bands of the time, although music always accompanied him, showing an innate ear since he was a child. But it was as a teenager that he went to parties in the main  square and listened to the radio:

“Already a little older – 16, 17 or 18 years old – the programs I listened to were “A Gozar Muchachos”, Billo’s program, of course, and the program that Luís Alfonso Larraín had. Those were the two great orchestras…”

At that time he also began his professional stage, first as an office boy at Inex S.A., owned by the German businessman Gustavo Zingg. Thanks to his friendliness and knowing how to treat people, he met Zingg and his children, who, seeing his hard work, promoted him to store salesman and then itinerant salesman aboard a Land Rover, with which he toured much of the Venezuelan territory selling everything, including power plants.

Then he decided to follow his family’s vein and set up his own business in Valencia, a clothing store that he bought from his brother-in-law who was a travel agent for two clothing factories. However, this only lasted 2 years, this being the only business that Renato failed. His mother asked his brother Miguel Ángel to take him to the company, known at that time as Cadena Capriles, which little by little became a publishing conglomerate.

Renato came to the organization and formed the company’s Public Relations department from scratch, something he was always very proud of and that he kept reminding in every interview. In fact, that vein of public relations is what led him to achieve that impressive success with “Los Melodicos”:

“I think I was born with that. I always make the comment that more than a musician I feel like a born relationist. All my life I have done it and I have applied it…”

The Birth of “Los Melodicos”

Although it may seem like a joke due to the supposed enmity between the two, it was Billo Frómeta’s orchestra that prompted Renato to form “Los Melodicos”. The young Capriles spent his adolescence listening to Billo’s Caracas Boys on his radio program “A Gozar Muchachos”, he also listened to other orchestras that competed with Billo’s for the popularity of Venezuelans and neighboring countries.

In addition to that, Renato Capriles was always linked in one way or another to music, not only did he have rhythm and an innate ear, but also his businessman’s mind led him to give his own orchestra a different organization. In fact, at the time that the Capriles family lived in La Castellana, he and his younger brother Juan Felipe had a small band of 5 musicians. Therefore, Renato already had experience in the formation of bands and orchestras.

In 1958 Renato finally decided to follow his most longed-for dream of having his own orchestra and taking advantage of the problem of the veto given to maestro Billo, Renato looked for him to help him with the composition and arrangements. As he commented in the interview he gave to Alfredo Churión D. and his space “Aquí están todavía”:

“There is a bit of fantasy about the creation of my orchestra. I was a big fan of Billo and always wanted to have an orchestra that sounded like his. I’ve always said it!… (Billo) he had opened a business in Sabana Grande which he baptized El Rincón de Billo in where he played the piano for the large number of friends who visited him there. And there I introduced myself to him one day with Tere, my first wife, to give an outlet for the concern I had had since I was a boy, which was to have an orchestra.

And my words were: ‘Billo, the reason for my visit is not to come and hear you play the piano or have drinks at the bar, but rather to propose that you make arrangements for an orchestra that I’m going to found and I’ll give you 50% of profits’… All in all, after seven months my orchestra appeared with its arrangements. He could not appear anywhere with them because no musician could get close to Billo at that time under penalty of being banned for life too.”

“Los Melodicos” made their debut in a television program that was sponsored by Cadena Capriles, it was called Su Revista Musical. Renato was the producer of the show and there the animator Henry Altuve made his debut, who had only worked on the radio until that moment. The orchestra’s first LP came with arrangements and a composition by Billo. So it had its sound but at the same time it didn’t:

“He arranged very lively with a very commercial sound, but it didn’t sound like him. On my orchestra’s first LP, although it’s his arrangement, it’s not his sound.”

Another important thing to highlight was the way of working and how Renato organized the orchestra, along with his innovative system of paying the musicians:

“I created a form of payment for musicians that did not exist at the time and that caught Billo’s attention when he reappeared with his orchestra in 1960. I invented the rates for musicians and I can prove it to you because I have the contracts saved. A first high earned eight hundred bolivars a month and a good second tenor earned six hundred. It was the first orchestra that earned salaries. It wasn’t like Billo’s where each musician earned a percentage. I created the orchestra as a company. They had, and still have, Social Security, Savings Bank, interest-free loans, etc.”

Renato’s golden age with “Los Melodicos”

The “Los Melodicos” orchestra has been faithful to the motto that has accompanied it throughout its extensive musical career: “The orchestra that imposes rhythm in Venezuela”. They began with the singers Víctor Piñero “Rey del Merecumbé” and Germán Vergara, but they were innovative by having a woman in the ranks of an orchestra for the first time: Emilita Dago.

Since then, singers and musicians like Rafa Pérez, Manolo Monterrey called the “Ciclón Antillano”, Niro Keller, Cherry Navarro, Cheo García, Roberto Antonio and Miguel Moly have passed through its ranks over the decades; while among the girls were Norma López, Diveana, Floriana and Liz.

What differentiated “Los Melodicos” from other orchestras in those decades was the innovation that Renato put into it. One of those great examples is presenting varied rhythms outside of the Latin dance rhythm. They came to play the twist with the singer Teresita Martí, which brought them great problems since it was considered “… a vulgar and ordinary rhythm.” They also came to play songs with touches of rock, but their most significant sound is techno with songs like “Papachongo” and “Que Rico”, where Diveana managed to capture more than one heart.

During all the years that Renato was in charge of the orchestra, there were many rumors of romantic love affairs with his singers, to which he himself replied:

“17 female figures have passed through my orchestra and I have had romantic relationships with 7 of them. Some are stormy and others very beautiful. People think that I’ve gotten involved with all of them, but that’s not the case. Raise fame and go to sleep.”

Renato’s rhythm went off before his time

Renato Capriles left us on the morning of July 8, 2014, he had already been hospitalized for days in a clinic in Caracas, all due to pneumonia. Currently, the direction of the orchestra is led by Iliana Capriles, daughter of Renato, who has been working hard for 11 years to continue contributing to the success of the orchestra as director. But all her life she has been in one way or another linked to the orchestra, and like a good Capriles she has gone through all the positions of the company that her father founded.

“For 30 years I have been part of the musical organization Renato Capriles, I have been the right hand of my father, his producer, promoter, sales, among others, until 2014 when I had to assume it, and it has been an enormous responsibility, and here we are paying tribute, honor to whom honor is due, and maintaining the legacy of great importance in Latin music”.

“Los Melodicos” are a key part of the musical history of Venezuela, with more than 100 productions under their authorship, and it cannot be forgotten that their professional enmity with Billo’s Caracas Boys is what kept the panorama of dance bands interesting. As they have always shown, they keep up to date with new trends and social networks are no exception, so you can find them everywhere like @orquesta_losmelodicos or La Orquesta Los Melodicos, because now they are “the orchestra that imposes the rhythm” in the digital world.

EFG London Jazz Festival

Commemorates 30 Years With A Display Of International Latin Jazz Artists

The first seasons of the EFG London Jazz Festival took place in May
The first seasons of the EFG London Jazz Festival took place in May

EFG London Jazz Festival celebrates its 30th birthday with the innovation and musical freedom that has always characterized the London Jazz scene.

This festival, the largest and in constant transition in North London, opens its space from Friday, November 11th to Sunday, November 20th to present a program of live and digital presentations with world-class artists, emerging talents, collaborations specials, avant-garde sounds, and the latest music for a massive audience that has established the EFG London Jazz Festival https://efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk/ as one of the main international Jazz events in Europe.

This emblematic event in the United Kingdom has three outstanding aspects that have characterized it over the years, they are Character, Impulse, and Wealth. The Character is evidenced in each edition with the contribution of special collaborations, discoveries, and exclusive commissions. The second aspect of this festival is the Impulse, being this event the highlight of the Jazz calendar in the capital. Finally, the third aspect is the Wealth that can be easily found in a club or concert hall packed with spectators to enjoy 300 live shows in more than 70 places attracting around 100,000 people daily.

In this 2022 edition, the star lineup is represented by nine international Latin Jazz artists such as Fiona Ross (Friday, November 11th), Katriona Taylor Quintet presenting “La Reina de la Bossa Nova” (Saturday, November 12th), Yuri Hernández (Sunday, November 13th), Colectiva (Thursday, November 17th), Mexico’s Woman of the Year for Arts and Culture, Migdalia Van Der Hoven (Thursday, November 17th), the Jazz/Latin group led by Steve Rubie from the 606 Club, Samara (Friday, November 18th), Trombonist Laura Impallomeni (Saturday, November 19th), Osvaldo Chacón (Sunday, November 20th) and Chucho Valdés (Sunday, November 20th).

L I V E   B A N D S

Fiona Ross

 “Voices celebrate the power, connection, and expression of song, beauty, and aptitude…”

At fourteen she lied about her age to play weekend Jazz clubs in London. Photo: Alexander Barnes-Ross
At fourteen she lied about her age to play weekend Jazz clubs in London. Photo: Alexander Barnes-Ross

Vocalist, pianist, songwriter, and producer, Fiona Ross, has become known for having an authentic contemporary Jazz sound obtained by mixing the fast rhythm of Latin Jazz, a brief flirtation with vintage Jazz, a bit of Neo Soul, and a touch of melancholy ballads.

Multi-award-winning Jazz artist, editor-in-chief, journalist, and founder of the award-winning organization Women in Jazz Media Fiona Ross was Director of the British Academy of New Music in London for nearly a decade, where she was responsible for the formation of Ed Sheeran, Rita Ora, among many others. Fiona’s date will be on November 11th at 8:30 PM at the London Polish Jazz Café Posk (238-246 Kings St. W6 0RF), and the ticket is £15.

Yuri Hernández + DJ Flecha

 “…Celebrating unity with the power of music.”

Many describe her album Loco Soñador as “a wild and sensual masterpiece.”
Many describe her album Loco Soñador as “a wild and sensual masterpiece.”

This multifaceted 10-day event brings to its lineup the established singer within the Latin music industry for the last two decades, Yuri Hernández. The establishment that will host it will be Juju’s Bar & Stage (Ely’s Yard, 15 Hanbury St, London E1 6QR) on Sunday, November 13th from 6 PM, and the cost of the ticket doesn’t exceed £9.

Hernández is one of the most sought-after musicians in northern Spain and is introduced to the UK Latin Jazz scene through Loco Soñador, his second studio album released in 2020. Joining this musical genius will be DJ Flecha (Joel Verdecia) with his supporting act promoting Cuban music. This veteran DJ (25 years of career) has been nominated three times as Best Latin Tropical DJ in a European country for his technique and originality when mixing.

Colectiva & Osvaldo Chacón

“Beyond the margins, some of the most innovative artists at the forefront of Jazz are pushing its limits and expanding the definition of the genre while drawing influences from a wide range of other languages.”

Osvaldo Chacón and his band have played at the Royal Festival Hall, among many others.
Osvaldo Chacón and his band have played at the Royal Festival Hall, among many others.

This Afro-Latin and Jazz music band, Colectiva, reflects on themes of sisterhood and female empowerment. They are rooted in the sounds of Africa, Latin America, and the diaspora, creating a genre that the group has dubbed Jazz Tropicaliente (Hot/Tropical/Jazz). Their debut single is Under The, written in collaboration with pianist María Grapsa and released in April 2021. This track received great support from global radio stations and famous DJs in the music industry.

Colectiva will be presented on November 17th at 8:30 PM at the London Kings Place-Hall Two-(90 York Way, N1 9AG), and tickets have a permanent price of £15.

On the other hand, Osvaldo Chacón’s band is the leading Timba orchestra in the UK and has been nominated multiple times for the prestigious LUKAS awards. Osvaldo Chacón, composer, producer, and singer-songwriter, has shared the stage with great Salsa figures such as Adalberto Santiago, Azuquita, Tito Allen (Fania All Stars), Salsaceltica, Eddie Palmieri, as well as the greatest world-famous stars such as Celia Cruz, Oscar D’León, Rubén Blades, and Alberto “El Canario”. Supporting Osvaldo Chacón will be DJ Javier La Rosa mixing Salsa, Cuban Timba, Reggaeton, Latin Hip-Hop, and R&B. Sunday, November 20th is the date when you can enjoy these presentations. Time: 8 PM. Venue: Juju’s Bar & Stage. Ticket: £10.

Chucho Valdés

 “The Icons are the living legends of Jazz and the leading heroes of the genre who paved the way and continue to create, inspiring artists, and audiences alike.

Valdés, with his valuable contribution, has given direction to Afro-Cuban Jazz
Valdés, with his valuable contribution, has given direction to Afro-Cuban Jazz

The EFG London Jazz Festival brings the Cuban pianist, composer, and arranger Chucho Valdés, who celebrates his 80th birthday with his extraordinary work La Creación with the Yoruban Orchestra and Hilario Durán & John Beasley.

The winner of six Grammy Awards and three Latin Grammy Awards is the most influential figure in Afro-Cuban Jazz of the 20th and 21st centuries. In an extensive career spanning six decades, Valdés has pushed the boundaries of new expressions in Afro-Cuban music. His influence and inspiration in the genre are immeasurable to the point that his work sets the standard by which new generations are governed and drives their careers. To see Chucho Valdés head to the London Southbank Center (Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road SE1 8XX) at 7:30 PM. and tickets range from £30 – £45.

Along with Chucho will be the cellist, vocalist, composer, and niece Ana Carla Maza. Within her discography is the album La Flor (2020) which incorporates Latin rhythms, Pop melodies and Jazz harmonies along with classical techniques. Bahía (June 26, 2022) is her most recent production inspired by Cuban Son, Samba, Bossa Nova, Tango, Jazz, and Chanson with a rich mix of classical cello and voice.

Duo: Yiyo Sarante and Fefita La Grande In Concert

The perfect union of Salsa and Typical Merengue in a night to remember

An evening full of emotions will be lived next Saturday, November 12th at the Masal Deluxe facilities (Küchgarten 21 Küchgarten 21 21073 Hamburg, Germany) with the presentations of the exponent of Salsa Yiyo Sarante and Merenguera Fefita La Grande starting at 9 PM to 5 AM accompanied by DJ Cesar (Hamburg), DJ Miguelin Beatz (Berlin), and DJ Sonrisa (Frankfurt) mixing the best of tropical music. Tickets range from €60 (General) to €120 (Platinum VIP).

Yiyo Sarante debuted as a solo artist in 2010
Yiyo Sarante debuted as a solo artist in 2010

Eduardo Sarante whose artistic pseudonym is “Yiyo Sarante” exponent of hits like Pirata, Maldita Primavera, Tierra Mala, Nos engañó a los dos and Tres semanas, was born in Baní “La Capital del Sur”, the most important city in the province of Peravia in the Dominican Republic.

He comes from a musical family, the seventh son of nine brothers, five musicians and singers. In 1999 Yiyo performed in Bávaro (Punta Cana, Dominican Republic), and four years later he was a member of the Oro Duro orchestra led by his brother Julián Sarante.

In 2011 Yiyo obtained international recognition thanks to the support obtained from radio stations in the state of Florida and the East Coast of the United States for the single Maldita Primavera from his EP titled Single launched in 2103.

During that same year, Sarante made his first tour outside his native country, taking him to step on the different stages of some Caribbean countries such as the Virgin Islands, Aruba, and Saint Martin.

Yiyo Sarante’s discography https://www.facebook.com/yiyosarante extends from his albums Lo Nuevo de Yiyo Sarante (EP-2013), La Voz de la Salsa (2015), La Voz de la Salsa. Vol 2 (2019), Clásicos (2019) to his most recent singles released this year Quiero Perderme Contigo, Llorarás, Eres Pasado, Demonio, and Prohíbeme Verte.

Fefita La Grande is also known as La Vieja Fefa and La Mayimba
Fefita La Grande is also known as La Vieja Fefa and La Mayimba

On the other hand, the singer, composer, and extraordinaire accordionist, Fefita La Grande (Manuela Josefa Cabrera Taveras) during the last four decades has been an icon of the Dominican Merengue Típico.

This representative of the main musical genre of the Dominican Republic was born on September 18th, 1944, in the municipality of San José de Ocoa. Her father was Eliseo “Seito” Cabrera, an accordionist and owner of a musical instrument repair shop.

Her incursion into the artistic world at a professional level was in 1976 with her first LP Si quiere venir que venga, obtaining great acceptance by the public due to the incorporation of the Saxophone, Congas, and Electric Bass in her melodies when until now there had only been groups of Merengue with traditional instruments: Accordion, Güiro, and Tamboril.

With this new variant of Merengue and with a musical environment dominated by men, Fefita became the first woman to transcend borders and travel to Europe to present this new and authentic style of the Caribbean, in addition to taking her performance to different countries of Latin America thus defining the path for the new generations of Dominican women dedicated to music.

Throughout her artistic career, the performer of La Chiflera (1999), has received various distinctions and has played at Yankee Stadium (New York) with Romeo Santos, and her popularity has led her to participate in major film productions in her country native as Nueba Yol 3: Bajo la nueva ley (1997), Perico Ripiao (2003), and Ponchao (2013) among others.

In 2017, she made the single La Pimienta Es La Que Pica in collaboration with Milly Quezada and Maridalia Hernández, obtaining great support from her followers.

Fefita La Grande https://www.facebook.com/viejafefard has recorded more than 200 songs and her repertoire of greatest hits includes Vamo’ a hablar inglés, O te menea o te apea. Her latest production is La Ciudad Corazón launched in 2021.

Digital voice effects processors

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Although the technology of voice processors is not new and has been used for decades, first in recording studios when refining vocals and instruments, it is now available to anyone, be it vocalist, instrumentalist or both, now we are presented with the question, is a performer using it a good vocalist or not, in fact only if we have an “unplug event”, can we realise the vocal range actually, as I said before, it has been used for years in recording studios, as I said before, it has been used for years in recording studios, maybe they have given it another name but they “tweak” the voice on the tracks and you could notice it, only in live events you could perceive some differences and they said it was the “acoustics” or some other excuse.

Nowadays we can no longer distinguish it as it has been used and popularised in performances in front of the audience, whether they accept it as part of the show or just don’t care about the real voice. But don’t misunderstand this, because there are excellent singers who have used it or use it to have a virtual backing vocal with their own voice, special effects as required by the song and it is totally valid.

Courtesy of: Roz Firth

What is really unacceptable, or at least it is to me, is that I am a lousy “shower singer” who uses it to modify my voice to such an extent that it is a deception to “my audience”.

Technology has digitised the equipment by reducing its size and power consumption, adding extra functions to just processing the voice like in a recording studio, it has integrated the voice through a microphone to musical instruments, whether the vocalist is playing a guitar or other musical instrument while performing in front of an audience or accompanying himself in the recent “if the music inspires me to vocalise, it’s perfectly valid” home studios.

Digital Voice Effects Processors

Pedal digital Voice Effects Processors

However, these very small pieces of equipment have their detractors, be they purists or bandleaders, the latter may argue that it “takes away the work of the extra musicians” but the current reality indicates that if you want to make a live performance you must take care of the economy of all and not only favour the orchestra or the producer of the event, what must prevail is the excellence of the music in front of the audience, and for that you need good vocalists and excellent musicians.

The technology of voice processors accompanied by digitised effects is already with us, there is no turning back, nor should there be, everything changes for the better and that leads us to have better vocalists and more qualified musicians, it gives the opportunity to emerging musical groups that do not have a large budget for extra musicians, recording studios … if you are good with little, you will be evaluated by those who really matter, your audience.

Now let’s talk about these vocal effects processors, what they do, what they look like, costs, etc.

 

What do they do?

They are electronic devices that allow echo effects, reverb, voice multiplication (to be and make your own chorus), enhance the vocalist’s singing in real time, pitch, depth, volume, add pre-recorded harmonies and loops, change tempo, gender, age and distort the voice, something you could never do on your own, all while performing in front of your audience, something unthinkable between how the artist sounds in studio and “live” and in addition to this we can integrate via MIDI connection a guitar, piano, synthesizer or simply next to the microphone, a harmonica, to the audio output.

What are they like?

They are small, portable and not expensive musical equipment digitized or purity of sound that emanates from them, are placed between the microphone, either dynamic, condenser … the main thing is its connection is XLR, these capture the voice processing it, mixing it to achieve and deliver a very refined voice (such as that of a recording studio operated by a sound engineer), directly to the audio system to the public, and are presented as desktop models or pedal, both do wonders.

Variety and cost

At this point we must remember that like all equipment, they are constantly updated, improving their quality and variety of effects and interfaces to other equipment, so there is a wide variety of prices according to their characteristics, currently we can indicate six really efficient voice processors, I established the order according to the price range and not preferences, in the links you can see videos of artists using them, their use and more.

  1. TC-Helicon VoiceLive 3 https://www.tc-helicon.com/product.html?modelCode=P0CDY ($ 740)
  2. Boss VE-20 Vocal Performer https://www.boss.info/global/products/ve-20/ ($ 360)
  3. Zoom v3 https://zoomcorp.com/en/us/vocal-processors/vocal-processors/v3/ ($ 285)
  4. Roland VT-3 Vocal Transformer https://www.roland.com/global/products/vt-3/ ($276)
  5. EHX Voice Box Vocal Harmony Machine and Vocoder https://www.ehx.com/products/voice-box/ ($ 262)
  6. TC Helicon VoiceTone Harmony-G XT https://www.tc-helicon.com/product.html?modelCode=P0CMT ($ 229)
  7. Behringer Virtualizer 3D FX2000 https://www.behringer.com/product.html?modelCode=P0A3P ($ 160)
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International Salsa Magazine (ISM) is a monthly publication about Salsa activities around the world, that has been publishing since 2007. It is a world network of volunteers coordinated by ISM Magazine. We are working to strengthen all the events by working together.