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 is a style of music in or time that originated among European and African immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay (collectively, the " Rioplatenses"). It is traditionally played on a solo guitar, guitar duo, or an ensemble, kn ...

. 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, es, bandoneón) 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, the bandoneon is held bet ...

s, and a rhythm section (

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar ...

). 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, though there is also a sopr ...

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrat ...

, 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 alto, bass and contrabass ranges. Of these, the bass ophicleide in C or B took root over the cours ...

), two clarinets, two

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

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 traditionall ...

, and

güiro The güiro () is a Puerto Rican 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 güir ...

. 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; 31 August 1911 – 30 December 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 bandleader ...

'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-m ...

, since orquestas típicas never reached the United States.

References

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

Argentina and Uruguay

Cuba

See also

References