| Banda music | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Mid-19th century inOaxaca,Sinaloa,Morelos,Yucatan |
| Typical instruments | Vocals,sousaphone,tenor horns,trumpets,trombones,clarinets,snare drum,tambora,baritone horn |
| Derivative forms | Duranguense |
Banda is a subgenre ofregional Mexican music and type of ensemble in whichwind (mostlybrass) andpercussion instruments are performed.
The history of banda music inMexico dates from the middle of the 19th century with the arrival ofpiston brass instruments, when community musicians tried to imitate military bands. The first bandas were formed in southern and central Mexico. Many types of bandas exist in different territories and villages, playing traditional or modern music, organized privately or municipally.
Brass instruments in the state ofOaxaca of European origin that date back to the 1850s have been found. The repertoire of the bands ofMorelos,Guerrero,Oaxaca,Chiapas andMichoacán coveredgustos,sones,vinuetes,funeral pieces,marches,danzones,valses,corridos,paso dobles,polkas,rancheras,alabanzas, andfoxes.Traditional bands that playYucatecan Jarana are instrumented withclarinet,tenor saxophone,baritone saxophone,trumpet,trombone,timbales,snare drum,bass drum,cymbals, andgüiro.
Traditional Oaxacan bands use a mix of tuba, saxophones and clarinets, fewer trumpets and more tenor trombones, and the bass drum and cymbals are played separately.
One of the oldest bands recorded in history is the Banda de Tlayacapan of the state ofMorelos, founded approximately in 1870 and being one of the first to playla danza del Chinelo.
Traditional Zacatecantamborazo bands do not use tuba, thetambora taking the bass voice instead.
Brass bandas play a wide variety of song styles includingrancheras,corridos,cumbias,charangas,ballads,boleros,salsas,bachatas,sones,chilenas,jarabes,mambos,danzones,tangos,sambas,bossa novas,pasodobles,marches,polkas,waltzes,mazurkas,chotís, andswing.
Perhaps the most popular song played by bandas is "El Sinaloense" ("The Sinaloan"), written bySeveriano Briseño in 1944. "El Sinaloense" has been recorded by hundreds of bandas, in both lyrical and instrumental versions. The song has become so popular that many Sinaloans consider it their unofficial anthem.[1]
Banda music in Mexico dates from the middle of the 19th century during theSecond Mexican Empire with the arrival of piston metal instruments, when the communities tried to imitate the military bands. In each village of the different territories there are certain types of wind bands, whether traditional, private or municipal.
Banda music was established in the 1880s in the Mexican state ofSinaloa and expanded to other nearby states in the 1890s. Its roots come from the overlapping of Mexican music with polka music. At the time, manyGermans and lived in the states ofSinaloa,Chihuahua,Oaxaca,Yucatan,Jalisco andNuevo León. This greatly influenced northern Mexican music.[citation needed] Immigrants from northern Mexico brought the music to the United States. Initially popular in the southwest United States, primarily inTexas,California, andArizona, banda has followed the movement of Mexican immigrants to theMidwest United States and the rest of the country. Mexicans who came in contact with Latin-based Jazz ofChicanos or Mexicans born and raised in the United States adopted jazz-like sounds in banda to further enrich the music type.
Despite some having provided the music for solo vocalists such asJosé Alfredo Jiménez andAntonio Aguilar in years past, when it came time to record their own music, brass bandas almost exclusively performed instrumentals. In 1989,Banda el Recodo was the first brass banda to record songs with its own official vocalist, inspiring most bandas to follow suit. Famous banda soloists includeJulio Preciado,Lupillo Rivera,Valentín Elizalde,Pepe Aguilar,Joan Sebastian,José Manuel Figueroa,Pancho Barraza,El Chapo de Sinaloa,El Coyote,El Potro de Sinaloa,Adán Sánchez,Sergio Vega,Espinoza Paz,Roberto Tapia,Julión Álvarez,Larry Hernández,Gerardo Ortíz,Regulo Caro,Luis Coronel,El Dasa,Leonardo Aguilar,Remmy Valenzuela, andAlfredo Olivas.Chalino Sánchez andJuan Gabriel also contributed to banda music.
Throughout the 20th century, brass banda music's mainstream popularity was traditionally confined to the state ofSinaloa. However, starting in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, it gained ground in the rest of Mexico's pacific states, as well as a number of central states. By the new millennium, however, brass bandastarted to become popular throughout the rest of Mexico, eventually becoming the most popular Regional Mexican subgenre for several years.
Despite banda being male-dominated, there are a number of female soloist banda singers such asGraciela Beltran,[2]Diana Reyes,Beatriz Adriana,Yolanda Pérez and Carmen Jara.Jenni Rivera, the highest-earning solo banda singer of all time, has been credited with bringing a female perspective to what had historically been a male-dominated genre.[3][4][5] While not known primarily as banda singers,Ana Bárbara andNinel Conde have also recorded in the genre.
The 2010s wave of popularity of thetuba in southern California has been credited to its presence in banda music.[6] As of 2017,El Salvador started having its own Banda music.
A standardSinaloa-style banda is made up ofbrass,woodwind, andpercussion instruments. The most notable instrument is thetambora, a type of bass drum with a head made from animal hide, with acymbal on top. Bandas were previously called "tamboras," named after this drum. The tambora is played in a strong and embellished manner, which provides the drive for the rest of the band. The percussion section also includes thetarola, which is a snare with timbales resembling the tom-toms on a regular drum set,cowbells, and cymbals.Banda el Recodo, one of the most famous bandas,[7] features threetrumpets, fourclarinets, threevalve trombones orslide trombones (the former being more common), two E♭alto horns, and onesousaphone.
Like an orchestra, a banda can be organized into different sections.
Most banda arrangements feature three-part harmony and melodic sections which contrast the timbres of the clarinet, trumpet, and valve trombone or slide trombone sections.
Historically, bandas were village brass bands called on to entertain the town, and would play anything from opera overtures to big band jazz. This tradition continues today in many towns, especially during festivals and celebrations.
Bandas usually have a strong percussion. The percussionists generally provide the accents and do not usually play all the time or keep a 'groove'. Often the percussionists will enter only when the singer is not singing, such as in an instrumental chorus. The groove is mostly provided by the sousaphone (or bass guitar in a few recordings) playing the bass line, and the alto horns playing sharp upbeats. Typically when a banda plays a cumbia, the alto horn players switch to Latin percussion instruments such astimbales,maracas,cowbell,congas,bongos andguiro.
Bandas generally contain between 10 and 20 members. They usually have a lead singer and a second voice, and occasionally a third voice. The voice often consists of a duet, but solo singers and trios are also common.
Besides the typical instrumentation, banda music, as well as many other forms ofRegional Mexican music, is also noted for thegrito mexicano, a yell that is done at musical interludes within a song, either by the musicians and/or the listening audience.
In the late 1970s, a new style ofRegional Mexican music was developed in the state ofNayarit calledTechnobanda. Pioneered by bands such asBanda Machos,Mi Banda El Mexicano,Banda Maguey andBanda Arkángel R-15, it is essentially a hybrid of traditional banda withGrupero music. Beginning in the late 1980s, its popularity spread to the rest of Mexico's western states as well as a number of central states, and among the Mexican population in United States from said regions. The 1990s was the peak of Technobanda's popularity. In this subgenre, some or all of the horns are replaced by electric instruments. A typical Technobanda will substitute a with anelectric bass and the alto horns with anelectronic keyboard and anelectric guitar. The clarinets are frequently replaced withsaxophones, while adrum set replaces the snare drums. The genre popularized the dance styleQuebradita. Technobandas had already established vocalists within their repertoire before brass bandas officially added their own vocalists.
In the late 1980s, another style of Regional Mexican music was developed in the state ofMichoacan calledTierra Caliente. Like Technobanda, it includesvocals, electric instruments like a bass guitar and electronic keyboard, as well as instruments such astrumpets,trombones,saxophones anddrums. Some bands also useaccordions. Tierra Caliente's popularity was originally limited to theregions of Mexico it is named after as well as among the Mexican population living in the United States from said regions, but starting in the mid-2000s, it gained popularity throughout a number of Mexico's central states, as well as in the United States among the Mexican population from said regions.
Duranguense was created in the early 1990s. It first became prominent inChicago, Illinois and surged to widespread popularity during the mid to late 2000s among the Mexican and Mexican-American community at large in theUnited States, as well as in many parts ofMexico. The instrumental line-up includes vocals, saxophones, trombones, keyboards, drums and atambora. This genre popularized the dance stylePasito Durangense.
The main differences between Technobanda, Tierra Caliente and Duranguense is that the synthesizer riffs are different for all three styles of music, and the fact that Duranguense includes a tambora, while the others do not. Also, Technobanda may include an electric guitar, while the other two traditionally do not, and each subgenre has between one and three vocalists per band. The three subgenres simultaneously producerancheras,corridos,cumbias,charangas,ballads,boleros,sones,chilenas,polkas andwaltzes.
Tamborazo is closely related to traditional brass banda. However, Tamborazo usessaxophones instead ofclarinets. Another difference from banda is that Tamborazo uses its drum consistently, as opposed to banda which distributes the use of the other instruments throughout a song. Tamborazo originated inVillanueva, in the state ofZacatecas. It is traditionally popular in that state, as well as in the states ofChihuahua,Durango, andSan Luis Potosi, and among the Mexican population from said states residing in the United States.
Tamborazo uses various instruments such as:
Tamborazo bands tend to focus more on instrumentalsones,polkas,waltzes,marches,cumbias andmambos.
