|
 Looking
to blaze into a new career or just lay the tracks for the next great
party? Here's some unlikely advice: Go back to school.
In a new spin on
academics, would-be deejays can attend a new DJ S'cool, a 12-hour
noncredit course being offered this fall term at Miami-Dade Community College.
We are talking a
deejay primer-learning how to make and mix music.
"People are
interested in deejaying, so this is a way to introduce the
craft," says Nick Lewis, 31, a deejay and the course instructor.
The classes,
limited to 15 students each, will use state-of-the-art equipment in a
recording studio at the Kendall Campus. By the end of the course-four
three-hour-long sessions of Deejaying 101-The Basics-students will be
able to set up and operate audio equipment, have learned the elements
of mixing records by cutting and scratching, and know how to select
songs to mix into one another. They also will have mastered the
language of deejays, terms such as turntables, mixers, knobs and faders.
"I want to
teach the students the most important aspects of deejaying, which is
knowing how to move the crowd," says Lewis, a 14-year veteran
who spins under the moniker Nick Fury and has produced and mixed
records throughout South Florida and the Caribbean. "One of the
best things about deejaying is creating your own sound and exposing
people to new music."
Beyond the
turntables, students will learn some of the business aspects of being
a deejay, including contract development, client relations, marketing
and promotion.
"There has
been a great demand in the music department for courses in disc
jockey[ing] and sound engineering that are not part of the
associate's degree track," said Nelson Royo, program coordinator
of Community Education at the Kendall Campus. "We have put
together a lesson plan that will give interested students the basics
they need to work in the field."
This class, an
experiment of sorts, will help determine whether more classes will be offered.
"By next
spring, we hope to add two more courses that are specifically geared
to DJ work in clubs and special events," Royo said. "But
right now, we want to get the first course going."
Over the years,
the deejay has evolved from the stock guy who spins bad music at
wedding receptions to a celebrity figure (like Beverly Bond, Fatboy
Slim and Biz Markie) whose work is considered an art form in pop culture.
Today, the deejay
shines as bright on the marquee of a South Beach club as any
celebrity act.
And so it makes
sense that deejaying would move into the classroom. Miami-Dade joins
a growing list of high schools and universities across the country
that are offering courses.
SIGN UP FOR CLASS
This fall, the
course will be offered twice. The first course runs Sept. 20 through
Oct. 10, 6:45 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. Fridays. The curriculum will be
repeated Nov. 2-23, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. At the end of
the course, students will receive a Certificate of Completion and a
CD sampler of their work. The cost of the class is $350. For more
information on DJ S'cool, call 305-237-2142.
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