fresh.
last night, i ventured over to the west village for my free dj class at scratch academy. a comedy of errors (slow cooking chicken masala, what i believe to be a mild kimchi related allergic reaction) made me about 15 minutes late but luckily nothing aside from the “welcome to…” had occurred.
i arrived hot and bothered but enthusiastic. i kept grinning during the intro session. the three instructors (one head instructor, two TAs) were all fly white boys who nodded their heads in quiet unison to tribe beats. one of the TAs affirmed my belief that i was, in another life, a model scout.
this guy was probably 15 pounds overweight, with greasy blonde tresses, and zit calling out to me on the side of his face. imperfections aside, he was beautiful – unique bone structure and straight-edged teeth. there was something aquiline about him. he could have easily been a model.
i digress.
the class is a 101 on the fundamentals of scratching – the baby scratch, the cross fade, and “dropping on the one.” i played on the “ones and twos” – their lingo, not mine – for about an hour. i enjoyed it. each trainee gets their own station with scratch dj records that help you work through the basics. for example, track 1 of this 4 track record is compiled of a 2 minute loop that says, "fresh" followed by "woooosh." get it? the point being, each dj-in-training is supposed to manipulate these sounds to come up with a catchy interim beat. i tried to go for a sound where the "f" in "fresh" sounded like a censored "fuck," only to let the track go to reveal "surprise" the secret word was fresh and not some expletive. i have put turntables on my short list of adult gadgets to purchase.
i arrived hot and bothered but enthusiastic. i kept grinning during the intro session. the three instructors (one head instructor, two TAs) were all fly white boys who nodded their heads in quiet unison to tribe beats. one of the TAs affirmed my belief that i was, in another life, a model scout.
this guy was probably 15 pounds overweight, with greasy blonde tresses, and zit calling out to me on the side of his face. imperfections aside, he was beautiful – unique bone structure and straight-edged teeth. there was something aquiline about him. he could have easily been a model.
i digress.
the class is a 101 on the fundamentals of scratching – the baby scratch, the cross fade, and “dropping on the one.” i played on the “ones and twos” – their lingo, not mine – for about an hour. i enjoyed it. each trainee gets their own station with scratch dj records that help you work through the basics. for example, track 1 of this 4 track record is compiled of a 2 minute loop that says, "fresh" followed by "woooosh." get it? the point being, each dj-in-training is supposed to manipulate these sounds to come up with a catchy interim beat. i tried to go for a sound where the "f" in "fresh" sounded like a censored "fuck," only to let the track go to reveal "surprise" the secret word was fresh and not some expletive. i have put turntables on my short list of adult gadgets to purchase.
it seems the most vital thing to deejaying is knowing tracks and their counts. he explained that in 202 you learn how to blend tracks with different counts (16 count versus 32 count) for example so not to fuck up the song, or irritate a fucked up party crowd.
posted by Shawna at 11:45 AM
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