Recently I received an order to write a piece in a style of Cuban salsa.
I used to dance LA salsa and obviously to listen a lot of that music, but never liked the Cuban one. Cuban salsa dance for me looked chaotic and music sounded the same as well. So, first, when I was asked to write a piece in that style, I thought “Oh, no…”. But after thinking for couple of days that I play Cuban music on my classical guitar, I use African rhythms in my music and I love those complex rhythms, I took the offer.
Last couple of weeks I was immersed in listening, analyzing and transcribing many Cuban pieces and the music started to sound organized and logical. Next week will start putting down harmonies and melodies for my piece in that style. About instrumentation: I decided to use mostly Pro Tools and few other programs. After that I plan to add couple of live instruments to make it sound more like played by real musicians.
If in the beginning I felt I did not know how to handle the task, then now fears gave way to enthusiasm and I am excited to create that piece 🙂