MARCELO GEORGE
Now that we’re familiar with some key characteristics of Salsa, we’ll explore how its unique elements—such as instrumentation, rhythmic design, and musical texture—can be applied to other forms of popular music. These aspects represent the essence of the genre, and we’ll attempt to integrate non-Latin music within the world of Salsa. This process involves blending other genres with Salsa and discovering how well they adapt to its framework, revealing the potential and outcomes of this transformation.
To create a great Salsa version of a song, let’s start by listing some key objectives that I consider need to be achieved:
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To versify songs of other genres in Salsa, with the vocal and instrumental characteristics of each genre.
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Use the musical resources and techniques relating to the Salsa genre.​
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To make the audience recognize the original song in the new created version.
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Use a new interpretation technique by combining interpretative elements of the songs in their original genre and the Salsa genre.
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Preserve the literary sense of the original songs in the adaptations.
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Enrich the new versions with harmonic and interpretative elements.
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Use some characteristic instruments of each original song in the new Salsa versions.
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Ensure that the rhythmic and melodic essence of the original song is not lost in the new version.
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Explore different phrasing, dynamics, voice colours, textures and staging required by the new versions.
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Demonstrate through the new versions, how Latin music is linked to world music.
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The songs included in this section were chosen, arranged, and produced by me. They are:
Habibi, ya nour el ain - Amr Diab
This song is a great starting point because it prominently features the clave pattern in some sections, with the percussion emphasizing it clearly. Another noteworthy aspect of the original song is its simple and easy-to-follow syncopation formula, which is a fundamental element in Salsa music. I’ll get into more details about this later.
Habibi, ya nour el ain - Marcelo George
Nathalie - Gilbert Becaud
This beautiful French song presented a unique challenge. The swing or shuffle character of the original doesn't naturally blend with Salsa’s rhythmic feel, but adapting the instrumental phrases to align with the clave while maintaining the essence of the original song was an enjoyable process. I’ll showcase this in more detail later.
Nathalie - Marcelo George
Ja - Silbermond
This romantic German ballad posed creative challenges of its own. The song has minimal call-and-response phrases between the instruments, as the melody is almost entirely carried by the vocals. In contrast, Salsa often features dynamic exchanges between the lead vocals and melodic instruments like brass sections. Despite this, the song’s straight rhythmic structure made it relatively easy to adapt to the clave.
Ja - Marcelo George
Only you - The Platters
This English classic was by far the most challenging to adapt. Its original ¾ time signature contrasts big time with Salsa’s binary 4/4 rhythm. Adapting the song’s emotional essence to a completely different rhythmic formula while incorporating the clave’s specific structure, was a rewarding process. Also, I had to introduce new elements that aren’t part of the original, such as instrumentations that create a dialogue with the lead vocals. The original mostly relies on long-note backing vocals, similar to a string ensemble, so adding these Salsa-specific elements required a lot of creativity.
Only you - Marcelo George
<<<Before we continue, I want to clarify that the excerpts from the Salsa versions I’ve been working on were taken during the production process, specifically from the drafts. This means they don’t include the final recorded vocals, mixing, or other finishing touches.>>>
Considering the unique characteristics and historical background of Salsa, we can explore the potential for adapting it to other genres. Many practical examples already exist of Salsa versifying other styles of pop music—often seen in Latin American amateur orchestras that reimagine popular songs in a Salsa style during live performances. However, a comprehensive analysis and formal foundation of this fusion have yet to be undertaken, especially from a Salsa-centered perspective, so here I am!
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First of all, it is imperative to know what Salsa is, what are its characteristic instruments and types of ensembles, what is the "clave" and how it is used within the salsa rhythms and structures of this genre [1]. You can find detailed information about these aspects of Salsa in the section titled “What is Salsa?”
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Although the instrumental formats are not the same as those chosen for the new versions, it works to understand the role of each of the instruments in the original genres and how they should be applied to the Salsa format.
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For the songs Nathalie and Habibi Ya Nour El Ain, they feature many melodic instruments that can be adapted to the melodic format of Salsa, such as trumpets, trombones, and saxophones.
​The use of the "clave" is essential for a good adaptation. Below are examples of how certain elements were adapted to fit the clave:
As I mentioned earlier, the song Habibi Ya Nour El Ain shares the same rhythmic pattern as the 3-2 clave. This made it necessary to use that specific clave type in the Salsa version and also made the adaptation process much smoother.
The form of the original song becomes an important resource for the almost obligatory creation of "Coro/Pregón", a form that is a must when talking about Salsa, but does not exist in the original song.
​The instrumental format and tempo of the songs that are to be used in the new version should be taken into account. Tempo is an important research tool, as there may be a tendency to overtake melodic phrases in the performance, which should be avoided in order not to spoil the rhythmic and interpretative style of the genre.
The song Only You, which has a ¾ time signature, presented a tempo-related challenge. Since the ternary ¾ time signature is shorter than 4/4, and the vocal melody is slow with long notes, maintaining the same relative tempo would result in a very fast Salsa version. This is because 4/4 includes one extra beat compared to ¾, requiring the binary bar arrangements to fit into a shorter rhythmic formula. Although the tempo in my version wasn’t significantly slowed, the brass arrangements feature longer notes to balance the cadence and preserve the long-note melodies that are a defining characteristic of the original song’s personality.
For Ja, the original song is very slow, so increasing the tempo for the Salsa version was a smart choice. This aligns with Salsa’s energetic and dynamic character, which is designed to inspire dancing, while also respecting the original song’s romantic and calm nature. Striking the right balance between the vibrant tempo of Salsa and the gentle feeling of the original song was very important.
The original harmony should be an important source of help and support for a correct re-harmonisation within the genre, also in the case that the song to be adapted is monotonous [2].
In most of my Salsa versions, the harmony remained true to the original structure. However, I added new progressions in certain sections, such as the Mambos and Coro/Pregón, to introduce more harmonic variety.
Additionally, the key of Only You was transposed to a lower pitch to accommodate my vocal range. To counterbalance the lower range of my voice in the overall frequency spectrum, I introduced brighter, higher-pitched instrumental melodies.
Interpretatively, the use of the Rubato is a vocal resource widely used in Salsa. If the original theme has a 3⁄4 time signature, exploration is somewhat more challenging. Melodically, phrasing becomes more difficult, but a good adaptation can be achieved.
Salsa adaptation presents the challenge of having to modify the original song form to create non-existing sections. It is necessary to immerse oneself early on with the genre and its "clave", otherwise the new adaptation cannot be done effectively [3].​
The best time to add the new “Mambo-Coro-Pregón” sections must be defined and discovered. To start creating these sections, it is first necessary to define the harmony of these new sections. It must be defined if the Chorus should repeat some of the key phrases within the song. It should be kept in mind that in Salsa, repetition is something very used at the moment of responding to the Chorus [4].
To create the melodic lines of the Brass, small melodic resources existing in the original song can be used, and can be complemented with resources used in Salsa, such as the Question-Answer and counter-melody, but without overshadowing the vocal melody.
​​Despite any difficulties, maintain the literary style of the original songs, expressing clearly what each song is trying to communicate. Interpretatively, the adaptations must present a mixture of resources and vocal characteristics of both genres (Original and Adaptation) that not only allow them to be explored, but also to be used as new techniques.
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The new versions should be enriched with an advanced harmonic language typical of Salsa, whilst respecting the harmonic parameters that this Latin genre demands.
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Mauleón (1993). Salsa Guidebook for Piano & Ensemble. SHER MUSIC CO.
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Seminario (2015). Enrique “Papo” Lucca and Ray Barreto’s latin jazz harmonies and instrumentation as applied in an original salsa music arrangement. Bob Cole Conservatory of Music.
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Bin Md Tarip, M. T. A. (2016). Theoretical perspectives on clave in salsa music (T). University of British Columbia. Retrieved from https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/ubctheses/24/items/1.0228889
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Bache (2021). An Introduction to Salsa Drumming: Rhythms and Applications. Retrieved from https://www.libertyparkmusic.com/salsa-drum-rhythms/