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Bachata: The New York School
Maná and other Spanish rock bands have also had an influence on the music of the young generation of bachateros recording in New York City. The most important among these has been the group Aventura, whose music departs significantly from the earlier model of bachata. Aventura’s guitarist uses sound effects which, although rudimentary when compared to what even amateur rock guitarists employ, are far beyond what other bachateros have had recourse to—extensive use of a wah-wah pedal, for example. The group’s vocals are heavily influenced by R&B, an innovation which lead to the unprecedented success of the song “Obsesión”. The song was a duo between Aventura’s singer and a female vocalist, and began to exploit the potential of R&B, with its history of great female singers. Doubtless the ongoing success of Monchy y Alexandra’s male-female combination also had its impact on the song’s arrangers.
Although unquestionably innovative, Aventura’s music remains in many ways traditional bachata; except in certain sections of certain songs, the bass and the percussion mark a clearly defined, danceable bolero rhythm. What separates Aventura and the host of imitators they have inspired from the bachateros who came before them is more a question of image. After Blas Durán, the bachatero ceased to be a symbol of poverty and dissipation. As the 1990s progressed, bachateros became romantic singers who were equally appealing to the middle class and to the marginalized audience which the music had always called its own. The bachateros of the 1990s remained, however, quintessentially Dominican, and appealed to an almost strictly Dominican audience - until Monchy y Alexandra began penetrating into a broader market. Before Monchy y Alexandra, virtually the only Latinos who had heard of bachata besides Dominicans were those who lived alongside a substantial Dominican community - in places like New York, Puerto Rico or Providence, Rhode Island.
With the advent of Aventura, the image of the bachatero has taken another turn towards the mainstream. The group doesn’t play in the same small venues in which bachateros have traditionally played. One of the advantages of bachata, which has made it so durable over the years, is that a group of five musicians can play almost anywhere, whereas a merengue band, with twelve or fifteen musicians, has to charge twice what a bachatero would charge just to cover their nomina. Aventura, however, has followed the rock and roll model of playing in arenas and larger local venues like theaters and major clubs, and the price they command far exceeds what any bachatero has been able to ask before. The way the band dresses and presents itself also reflects the extreme capitalism of the hip-hop culture around which these musicians grew up. Finally, Aventura is representative of a new generation of Dominican musicians with economic possibilities which bachateros like Marino Pérez and Victor Estevez never dreamed of. They have not been limited by language, immigration policy, or simple poverty in their access to the enormous North American market. While they don’t come from a privileged group in relation to North American society, the privileges they enjoy in comparison to earlier bachateros are immense. This different economic perspective is abundantly manifest in the extremely fashion-conscious image which the group portrays.
It is too early to judge what may come of Aventura’s dramatic rise. At the time of the meteoric success of “Obsesión”, it seemed as though Aventura’s stylistic innovations would mark the end of traditional bachata, just as Blas Durán’s use of the electric guitar had changed the genre forever. Two years later, however, traditional bachateros like Raulín Rodriguez and Joe Veras have experienced a strong resurgence of popularity, playing songs which demonstrate little of the influence of the young group from New York. While Aventura’s appeal to other markets is certainly stronger than that of traditional bachateros like Rodriguez and Veras, the group’s impact on the genre has not been as profound as many expected it to be. They opened the way for a handful of musicians with similar ideas in both New York and the Dominican Republic, as well as for a number of groups who are unabashed Aventura imitators. These groups have their own audience, essentially different from that of traditional bachateros, and they have drawn interest from sectors of the North American music industry, particularly from rap artists. It remains to be seen whether the New York School’s brand of bachata will be a trend, a separate style with a separate market, or whether it will produce lasting changes in bachata as a whole.
-- David C. Wayne
Comments
Hola soy de Ct. Soy guitarrista y aunque no me dedico a eso por el momento, si lo hago en mis tiempos libres. Estoy tratando de formar una banda de música popular latina con todos los géneros musicales, en el área de Dambury Ct.. En este momento es mas como pasatiempo pero se podría convertir en un proyecto serio. Si alguien esta interesado pueden contactarme en este espacio. También estoy buscando un profesor de guitarra
bachatera.
La bachat emblema de mi republica dominicana sea como sea las transformaciones que sufra ay esta el sello dominicano
me gustaria aprender a bailar bachata.busco escuela ,profesor o profesora.q me ensene.
no comment
I would love to learn bachata
Introducion a la bachata como bailamos los Dominicanos, Domingo Septiembre 4 dos horas por solo $10.00 Para mas informacion mande e-mail a realbachaterosnyc@yahoo.com clase sera en downtown manhattan
hola soy musico percusionista, y cantante, estoy buscando oportunidad en grupo de bachata o merengue y salsa pero me gusta mas bachata 717-435-2331
HOLA ME YAMO JANETH AMI ME EN CANTA LA BACHATA MUCHO
para los que quieren aprender a bailar bachata hay una escuela aqui en New York que se llama "PIEL CANELA" pueden ir a su pagina de internet "pielcanela.com" Espero esta informacion les pueda servir. Tambien hay un lugar en la calle 125 y madison avenue "The Children Zone" alli pueden aprender y lo mejor que es gratis. Saludos a todos.
hola soy colombiano y se tocar musica bachata ,y me gustaria tacarla en un grupo . soy de rrecursos medio y si me darian la oportunidad de tocar les aseguro que no se arrepentiran. los instrumentos que voy a nombrar se tocar no profecioanalmente pero si se tocar son: organeta - guitarra - bajo - lira - flauta y quena - charango - canto muy bien. los 7 instrumentos que aprendi a tocar. gracias por escucharme. mi hotmailes: jhonjamilton-07@hotmail.es
hola soy colombiano y se tocar musica bachata ,y me gustaria tacarla en un grupo . soy de rrecursos medio y si me darian la oportunidad de tocar les aseguro que no se arrepentiran. los instrumentos que voy a nombrar se tocar no profecioanalmente pero si se tocar son: organeta - guitarra - bajo - lira - flauta y quena - charango - canto muy bien. los 7 instrumentos que aprendi a tocar. gracias por escucharme.
Hando buscando a alguien k cante Bachata. Mi email es Jesse.paint@hotmail.com
Hando buscando a alguien k cante Bachata
Hola me gustaria saber donde ahy escuelkas de bachat y tambien saber si ahy alguna en manresa (barcelona), gracias espero vuestra respuesta adios!!
hey people wats up
hey peeps
Me gustaria aprender a tocar bachata Como comienzo? Mi email es ivanfpd94@hotmail.com para el q sepa I wanna learn to play bachata How i start? My email is ivanfpd94@hotmail.com
me gustaria contactarme con el grupo aventura , tengo unas canciones que me gustaria que ellos las analisaran las e escrito con el sentimiento de ellos ya estan escritas arregladas i compuestas me gustaria que me contactaran mi nombre es carlos alberto campos mi correo electronico es ccampos200@hotmail.com
HOLA SOY SAL VADORENO Y ME ENCANTA LA BACHATA CUANO YO ERA UN PEQUENITO SIEMPRE SONE SER UN BUEN GUITARRISTA O UN BUEN REQUINTISTA PERO YO NO TENIA UNA GUITARRA UN DIA EN LA IGLESIA COMPRARON UNA PARA QUE ALGUIEN APRENDIERA Y PRENDI UN POCO DESDE ENTONCES AMO LA MUSICA. YO NUNCA FUI A UNA ESCUELA DE MUSICA LO POCO QUE SE LO APRENDI DE OIR ESCUCHO LA BACHATA EM MI C.D YTRATO DE APRENDER ME EGUSTARIA SER UN REQUINTISTA PERO MUY BACHATERO. QUIERO DECIRLES ATODOS LOS QUE TOCAN BACHATA PROFESIONAL QUE ME GUSTA MUCHO SU MUSICA DE BACHATA Y QUE UN DIA OJALA TENGA LA OPORTUNIDA DE APRENDER A TOCAR LA BACHATA MUY BUIEN. GRACIAS MI NOMBRE ES JOSE ORELLAN.
ahh yeah u are kool... i like stuff
the pickup used is a gibson 57 classic installed into a acoustic electric guitar. best if not mounted in anyway directly to the sound hole as anything touching the top will directly affect the guitar's tonal characteristics. the best way i've seen to mount this is on small wooden stilts glued on the inside of the guitar to the back exactly where you want the pickup.
me gustaria a prender a baila bachata pronto en el aria de new york por favor digame donde no profesional si no para bailar con mi pareja muchas gracias
hi i love bachata and i would really like to know what pickup will work on an acustic-electric guitar its an Ibanez v70ce
me gustaria aprender bailar bachata, me podrian decir donde hay una escuela en new york;yo vivo en brooklyn. grasias y espero su contestacion lo mas pronto posible. grasias.
quiero aprender a tocar bachatas pueden mandare alguna informacion mi correo es cashcaras2000@yahoo.es
quiero aprender a tocar bachatas
hola bachateros,me podrian decir en donde puedo llevar mi gitarra acustica para que le pongan el pickup. lla la lleve a guitarcenter i me dijieron que tal vez no sepudiera pero si lograran ponerlo de todos modos iba a causar mucho feedback.
quiero aprender a ticar bachata
Para los efectos usa el chorus, puedes combinarlo a veces con algo de wah wah, no uses un wah automatico ni uno de baja calidad, para eso mejor no comprarlo. El sonido debe ser bastante limpio, no te pases con los efectos. Tambien un phaser o un efecto similar que no recuerdo el nombre, te vendria bien siempre que no abuses y lo uses suave. Las guitarras que te vendrian bien son la semisolida, acustica y flamenca. No se como quedaria una semisolida con cuerdas de flamenco para bachata pero me gustaria probarlo cuando tenga la ocasion. Aventura utiliza guitarras electricas y de flamenco pero creo que la mayoria utilizan la guitarra acustica, a veces electroacustica. Las guitarras para bachata deben tener un corte bajo el mastil para poder llegar al traste 15 o mas con facilidad. Yo soy un guitarrista sin guitarra :-( pero me encanta la bachata y estoy pensando de comprarme una guitarra para aprender a tocar bachatas. por cierto, en el dedo gordo se mete una pua de pulgar.
They all use gibson vintage 59 humbuckers mounted in an acoustic guitar and run it through a boss chorus pedal.
me gustaria saber cuales son los efectos k se usa en la guitarra para tocar bachata como por ejemplo el de aventura lla k es un sonido muy especial y muy bonito me llamo claudio chaoo
bachata is great...sometimes i wish i could be listening to this stuff all day long..and forget about everything else
I love Bachata Music Muy importante esta historia sobre bachata WWW.BACHATACONSENTIDO.COM
Toda esta infromacion de la bachata me parece muy interesante halluda a ocmprender mas disfruto mucho de la bachata aunque no sea dominicano la guitarra es mi instrumento preferido he intentado mucho tocar bachata e conseguido logros pero reconosco necesito halluda de algun entendido.ESPERO ME PUEDAN CONTACTAR CON ALGUIEN GRACIAS
Bachata is the best i love to hear it it talks about love and aventura is the best!!!!
I think Bachata is the best type of music thanks for the information....
hi i would like to know what kind of pickup do bachata guitar players use also what kind of efxs.
gracias por dando esta pagina al publico es bien dificil encontrar informacion de esta musica uso la guitarra y esta informacion me ha dado pocas ideas...mil gracias
ola mi romeo es pero k bengas en figueras soi unas de tus fans te kiero mucho te amo contestame porfa
nesesito informe de clases de guitarra
Wow!Aprendi mucho.Gracias.I am a Bachata dancer and dance to all kinds of bachata styles and this website helped me appreciate it so much more. Oh and I want to thank Aventura y Monchy y Alexandra, they keep me movin'!De donde puedo encontrar mas clases de Bachata en Stockton California. Bachata is moving its way here and I want to learn even more, so please tell me. Necesito bailar as much as posible. Mil gracias.
Aventura gets my respect. so their image and some of their songs are pretty lame, but even The Beatles and Bob Dylan had an "image" at one point or another. Not to compare Aventura to The Beatles, there is no comparison, there aren't many who can come clsoe to the Beatles. but that aside, Aventura makes good music. They are defintely the innovators of the "nuevo bachata" that is a New York phenomenon. They take thier South Bronx/Washington Heights urban upbringing and flip it, bridging the gap between Blas Duran and Juan Luis Guerra with artists like say, Tego Calderon and Boys II Men. I liked them from the jump, they were around as "Los Teenagers" in the late 90's but once i was turned on to 2002's excellent "We Broke the Rules" it was a wrap. i respect them and think they are without question one of the most talented bunch doing it today. Everyone, with the exception of Henry he sucks, is very good at what they do. Henry no disrespect but what the hell do you do? He sings once in a blue, he is more of a backup singer and hypeman to romeo. My dude, I can do what your doling. Am I hating? i dunno, Aventura is dope though. Is There a Toby Love/Aventura beef looming?
what influence aventura 2 become a group?
Hey COURT!!! whats up, this is Eddie (el amarillo) from the Hustle heartz -henrys group- . Anyways u better know me cause u taught me the basics of bachata remember! lol. Nice work u got here, very informative. Just bumped into it by accident....keep it up!!
xq no viene aventura a peru xfa vor k vengan hacer un concierto en Perù
i love this cain of bachata . es unos de mis mejores artistas sera que me puedes mandar unos videos love mayra
they aren't going to spain right now because they are doing a tour in NOrht America. srry!
I really like your website!
hi, I´m Auxi, I´m Spanish and I hope you understand me, because I speak English a little. what´s wrong with aventura group bachata music? Anybody can answer me? Why they dont come to Spain?I love them very much and I want go to a concert here in Spain of this group. Please, answer me. please,please!!! Thanks, bye!
hi how are u