Blog | Martin-Calvino-Art | United States

martin calvino

artist - scientist

focused on abstract painting,

the intersection of

media arts with

genomics, machine learning

and tango culture

Re-appropriation of short films for video art creation

May 6, 2019
2 min

Re-appropriation of short films for video art creation

In this brief essay, the author describes the re-appropriation of the previously created and released short film named "Ocho Cortado: Altered Realities of a Tango Dream' as raw material for video art creation and; at the same time as accompaniment to an electroTango sound composition from the same author. The video art piece combines elements from traditional tango danced in non-traditional settings such as the subway in New York City, traditional tango music re-mixed into no

Performing electronic music at Rutgers University

Mar 5, 2019
1 min

Performing electronic music at Rutgers University

On Thursday-February-28-2019 I had the pleasure to give a talk about my work at the intersection of multimedia arts and tango as invited speaker to the class 'Music in the Caribbean' hosted by instructor Bob Ramos from the Department of Latino and Caribbean Studies at Rutgers University. I spoke about my work on tango music visualization and electronic music composition, capture and analysis of tango dancer's bodies in motion, tango lyric composition using machine learning, a

Organized Sound: upcoming album on electronic music + tango lyrics

Jan 5, 2019
1 min

Organized Sound: upcoming album on electronic music + tango lyrics

'Organized Sound' is the name of the upcoming album on electronic music containing tango lyrics created using machine learning. I expect to conclude the work and release the album at some moment during March or April of 2019 under 'Bandurria Records'. In this work I keep exploring further the idea on electronic music creation inspired on traditional tango music. You can listen to the first soundtracks here: Additional soundtracks will be uploaded as I create them. #DJing

'looping_thoughts': my first album of electronic music with a notch of tango remix

Dec 2, 2018
2 min

'looping_thoughts': my first album of electronic music with a notch of tango remix

On Friday-November-30-2018 my first album of electronic music, with name of 'looping_thoughts', was released under Record Label Bandurria (Figure 1). It contains five distinct sound compositions each with a unique style derived from combining electronic music with a notch of tango remix. The album is available for download on 'bandcamp' (Figure 2) at the following weblink. Figure 1. Screenshot of Bandurria's website displaying represented artists and all their music album rel

DJ-ing at the alternative room of Tango_Cafe in NYC

Oct 15, 2018
1 min

DJ-ing at the alternative room of Tango_Cafe in NYC

On Wed-Oct-10-2018 I had the opportunity to DJ at the alternative room of Tango_Cafe, a popular milonga in New York City. For the night I prepared a well thought playlist that focused on the roots of alternative tango: that is the fusion of electronic music with traditional tango. From time to time I also played Biagi to bring in a mix of traditional into the alternative room. The idea was well received and people enjoyed dancing to the selected songs throughout the night. Fi

Electro_Cortinas_Milongueras: electronic music + tango re-mix

Aug 29, 2018
2 min

Electro_Cortinas_Milongueras: electronic music + tango re-mix

Extended Play (EP) COVER_ The rendering of music in tango social dance is structured in groups of three or four songs, with each group separated by a non-tango song called 'the cortina'. Cortinas allow dancers to exchange partners throughout the night. Most of times cortinas are not played until completion and are only there to signify a 'break' among group of tangos. Because there is no established rule as to which music genre should be played as cortina, DJs explore a wide

DJ-ing at 'Milonga N' in Tin Hau, Hong Kong

Aug 20, 2018
1 min

DJ-ing at 'Milonga N' in Tin Hau, Hong Kong

DJ-ing on a Monday night is hard, you never know who is going to show up to the event, specially when most prominent milongas just happened over the weekend. Nonetheless, it can also be a wonderful opportunity to unroll a 'less conventional' playlist to test dancer's reactions. The venue was Danzstage, perhaps the most spacious of all tango venues in Hong Kong. The audio system was good, with four speakers on each corner of the room. #DJing

DJ-ing at 'Milonga Otra Noche' in CausewayBay, Hong Kong

Aug 18, 2018
1 min

DJ-ing at 'Milonga Otra Noche' in CausewayBay, Hong Kong

Last night was a great night because several attributes converged into one singe place. First, the audio system was really good and I could partially interact with it via a DJ controller which gave much more flexibility in unrolling the playlist. Speakers were located on each corner of the room and allowed for a more 'immersive' experience when listening and dancing tango. Second, the gender balance allowed for almost all followers to dance throughout the night. Third, the cr

Hong Kong Premiere of ElectroTango sound compositions to be played as cortinas at 'Milonga Otra

Aug 14, 2018
1 min

Hong Kong Premiere of ElectroTango sound compositions to be played as cortinas at 'Milonga Otra

Here I present my first 'single' of elctroTango sound compositions created entirely from scratch and containing short remixed audio segments from tango songs. My long-term goal is to create an album of short electroTango compositions that I can play as cortinas while DJing at milongas. That's why the soundtracks are of approximately half-minute each. In the first composition, I included a short audio segment from the tango song 'Tu Corazon' from the orchestra of Alfredo De An

DJ-ing at Milonga_X in Hong Kong on a hot summer night

Aug 8, 2018
2 min

DJ-ing at Milonga_X in Hong Kong on a hot summer night

On a summer night of August-7-2018 I had the pleasure to DJ at Milonga_X in Hong Kong. For the occasion I created a playlist that started the night with the song 'Llorar por una mujer' (1941) from Enrique Rodruiguez's orchestra, with Armando Moreno as singer and lyrics from Enrique Cadicamo. Because of the very rhythmic style of the song, it set the tone for a very energetic night of dancing, followed by a tanda of Rodolfo Biagi. The reason for choosing 'Llorar por una mujer

Molding the emotional state of dancers with beautiful tangos: DJ-ing in Hong Kong

Jul 30, 2018
2 min

Molding the emotional state of dancers with beautiful tangos: DJ-ing in Hong Kong

Martin Calvino started DJ-ing tango at 'MateAmargo Milonga' (co-founded with Jusleine Daniel) in New Jersey, United States, during the years of 2011-2012. At that time he also DJed at 'Milonga de Barrio' in New York City. After taking a long break for professional and family reasons, he came back as DJ to play at the alternative room of 'All Night Milonga' in New York City on April of 2018. His style on the traditional room is characterized for playing rhythmic orchestras thr