Raw Silence

Pick up your pen and circle 12th of April in your calendar for a late night of dark, punchy, deep house session hosted by RAW SILENCE. Don’t panic- it’s still us, ‘Become A DJ’ crew, introducing the new name for our events, podcast, presented by Phoebe Kibbey, and the soon to be launched record label.

The night will deliver a badass hybrid of dirty beats and remarkable vocals from duo- act - You Me and Dolarhyde - Mantas Jan (Become a DJ founder) and awarded vocalist Ryan Molloy. The showcase will be backed up by Keith Hunter, Markus Rush, Matas Balta and Tim Watts - true dedicated deep/ tech house worshipers.

The epic night will take place in the intimate Venue 229, Great Portland Street 229, W1W 5PN on the 12th of April 9 PM - 3 AM. To buy your tickets, please visit here!

World Wide Wet

So living in London (UK in general) is great. Undoubtedly.
- home to many a dance music pioneer and respected DJ
- the best dance music radio station (BBC Radio 1 that is) tick to the clock of this time zone
- the clubbing experience is unparalleled 
- even Ibiza was in large part a brain child of DJs and promoters of this country

If only festivals on these islands weren't washed away by rain year after year.....

We found a solution: Hungary, where people get wet differently!
This country has not started any musical revolutions. Nor does it have radio shows with international following. Let's face it some of you reading this will have never been to Hungary and may even have some difficulty pointing it out on a map. So why Hungary? Can it offer anything we haven't seen? YES! There are two things that are great: Summer music festivals as well as thermal baths, open air public pools and water theme parks.
Check out for example
- Sziget festival in Budapest (one of the largest in Europe)
- Balaton Sound (an electronic dance music festival along the shore of the largest lake in Central Europe)
- One of many water theme parks next to the Formula 1 race track just outside Budapest.

I have taken friends from UK there and let's just say they weren't disappointed (what happens in Hungary stays in Hungary :-))

Some people had the great idea about 15 years ago to marry these two things up and started holding club nights in thermal baths. Truly an experience to add to your life. Poor citizens of the rest of the world who do not have access to such parties. Here is a taste of what a party like this can be like:
http://www.cinetrip.hu/galleries/video/15_years_of_world_wide_wet_video_2012_12_29 (click on the video)

AND NOW THE BIG NEWS!
We are not a travel agency. We don't just want you to visit Budapest to inject your money into the local tourism industry. Instead, we at Become a DJ have formed a partnership with the organizers of these parties. According to this partnership they will accept DJs that we promote to them. If you are interested in playing at one of these pool parties in Budapest let us know! The rules are  simple but important so we kindly ask you that you ensure that you meet all requirements:
 - You must have done a course at Become a DJ
 - This cannot be your first gig!!! Get a few gigs under your belt before you step up
 - Have a mix we could send to event organizers to showcase your skill
 - A one page bio with a picture 
 - This is not an underground party! While no specific genre is frowned upon think about entertaining a large international crowd
 - In the beginning we will arrange for 1 person to go per month
 - Visit our Facebook page to show your interest

 - But if you are not the first one to go don't panic!!!! We will regularly announce this opportunity on our facebook page so watch that space!

Written by Swim the Shine

Ableton Live 9 instructor

Welcome on board, Sam!
Simone Tanda, or Sam as his friends call him, or Sam4Toys as the rest of the lot know him, is a certified Ableton Trainer and we are very lucky and thrilled to be welcoming him to our small team. Simone teaches in schools in London and Italy and is also a Keith Macmillen Product Specialist. In love with music from a very young age Simone started off with playing electric bass, moved on to Rome to study with the best professional musicians, later on focused on professional music production, recording, and composing. Passionate, creative, sometimes rough, Simone’s music is full of personality and that is, well, a rare gem! Students at Become A DJ will surely not leave the course empty handed!

Music Production with Ableton Live 9

Ladies and gentleman, let the show begin! Delighted, thrilled, and excited to announce our newest addition to the Become A DJ arsenal - the Music Production Course. It is designed for those who have a heart for creating music and want to learn to do it with the powerful Ableton Live 9. You know, master the tricks of the platform, pick the brains of our talented music production instructor... OK, on to the specifics. The course will jump start on February 16th with an ‘Introduction to Ableton Live 9’ workshop - the first of our regular introductory workshops that we plan to give monthly. During the 3hr session the students will get a fantastic opportunity to get to know the platform and even start making their own music right there on the spot. Awesome! The session will help the undecided to answer two very important questions: is it for me? and if it is which of the two options should I choose? The two options being: Music Production with Ableton Live 9 Course or a Custom Ableton Live 9 Course (Dj and Live Performance). The price? £30 for 3 hours, a proper bargain! For more information about the Workshop and to book your spot click here.

New Horizons

NO! We are not talking about Richie Hawtin's mix for the cover of the March 2012 issue of Mixmag (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZBSVdtUTlA). Something even more exciting has happened (in our opinion anyway) for Become a DJ. Our very own Traktor instructor, Swim the Shine (www.facebook.com/swimtheshine) was invited to the Audio-Visual Open Studios in Budapest, Hungary to deliver a lecture on the differences/similarities/misconceptions of digital vs analogue musical formats. As this boy has a PhD in something we don't understand, he didn't simply go through the motions and give a lecture that has been given a thousand times beforehand, based on every recording engineer's school curriculum. Instead he managed to spice up the lecture with facts from fields as far apart as theorems from Information Theory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_theory), law making and criminology, facts from the neuroscience of sensory processing, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results of professional piano players and his own experiences from the 2012 Olympic Games in London where he performed as a drummer. We cannot fathom how these topics could help you understand digital and analogue recordings of sound waves but the lecture was so well received that he's been invited back to repeat it at other events to different audiences. Maybe next time we will have to fly with him to hear that lecture. But in any case, we are very proud and excited and thought we'd let you know! Sign up for our Traktor course if you want to be taught by an exceptional teacher and have a unique experience in learning how to DJ.