Have you ever wondered just how much thought a DJ can put into ordering their playlists..?

Speed is often used by DJ’s as a way to order tandas – for example playing pieces within a tanda that increase in speed to get people’s energy moving “up” during the tanda, rather than jumping down in speed unexpectedly.

This entry from an overseas milonga DJ in a discussion list talking about another one of the “categories” of music he uses to help order pieces in a tanda:

Tango DJs compose using music just as a painter may create an image from a collection of pots or vases. The tanda becomes a new piece of art. Knowing the keys and tempos of the pieces used in creating the tanda certainly can’t hurt. Unity and contrast are principles of creation. Four tunes in a row all in the same key could become tedious. Knowing the keys allows another way of ordering the tunes to gain energy keeping the tempo even.

Going from A major to D major boosts a bit. Going from A major to A minor is like a cloud passing over the sun. G major to A major (The “truck driver shifting gears modulation”) is an energy “bump” D minor to F major is pretty subtle and very sweet.

Of course, just how modulations (changes of key) effect emotion is highly subjective.

If you have perfect pitch and musical know-how perhaps you can try to figure out whether our DJ’s follow this idea in their tandas!