In case anyone has thoughts on this…
I’m possibly running a DJing workshop for local teens in a month or so. If I were to take down the old 1210s, I might need to dig out something relatively new but stripped down, for complete first timers to have a go with.
Any recommendations on what I should try and look up vinyl-wise?
If vinyl doesn’t pan out, I’ll take my old CD decks. Might even generate a few very stripped down tracks myself if I go that route, specifically for the job.
Very cool! Interesting, because it’s a tough one in the sense of who knows what their musical tastes are? I have thousands of records, but who knows if they appeal to the majority of teens and get them excited about DJ’ing? Might not be the right move, but I’d probably focus on what’s easier to grasp and mix rather than what’s more musically appealing. Maybe more stripped down tracks and instrumentals vs. something with a lot going on.
Don’t know if you have a DVS or access to borrow one for the day? That could be the best of both worlds and having a good selection of music. Or even have them bring their own songs on USB stick to mix, but have some fall back tracks you know will work.
Good luck with the event!
Most kids might have access to iPad , so showing them the basics and then how to do those basics on a cheap : free app might enable them to have confidence and the ability to do it once your session is over.
Otherwise you’ll show them ho it’s done but once they leave they won’t have access to do it again.
And possibly start with simple beats but try to do mix with music they might listen to themselves. ( trap / uk hip hop or something )
A few classic Hip Hop 12"s with an Acapella, such as MC Lyte Paper Thin, or Eric B and Rakim I Aint No Joke
Battle Records, like Booger Breaks, Superduck Breaks
A few Electro/Techno jams like Aux 88 - Extraterrestrial Time Travelers, find some Jeff Mills
you like
Some old school New Wave, Human League - Love Action, New Order - the Beach
And a few current records
Seems like mixing the classic roots type stuff in with new stuff would exacerbate the fundamentals, and showcase what was intended by people like Afrika Bambaatta.
Also having weird records like scratch battle records, acapellas, and 45’s demonstrate the creativity of DJing through vinyl, leading into what we have now.
If you have doubles get them to sync them - it is a great way to learn perfect beat matching.
Instrumentals work well for this - I use this method to introduce beat matching, then progress into teaching phasing and beat counting.
When I used to run DJ workshops I went to local record store and bought house music with long drum intros to teach beatmixing, counting the 4 bar loops and dropping on the first beat.
Then I would pick up the big tunes from popular genres such as house, techno, hip hop, r&b and trance so they could mix music they knew.
First classes would be introducing turntables and how their features work then the layout and workings of the mixer. Next talking about 4/4 structures and counting bars then explain tempo and why and how you match them.
Practice beat matching then introducer mixer faders etc.
Move onto eqs and FX.
Then song choice etc
Thanks for the suggestions and pointers! If anyone else has thoughts, please keep them coming…
When we see how this goes, I might also start to look at music production stuff with them. It’ll be occasional sessions, for our new youth groups. So, I don’t have to think about taking them through a full set of lessons.