DJ LockDown – Free activities and advice for DJs at home.

This page will give you lots of fun and free activities to do at home during time off school, or in your free time.

To view this page on DJ School UKs website go to - https://djschooluk.org.uk/djing-during-lockdown-2020/

For people who do not have DJ equipment at home but have a PC or Mac they are allowed to use:

We highly recommend Serato DJ Lite – this is 100% free software that allows you to pair songs up and experiment with how they will sound mixed together. You can't use it for performance as you can't separate what you hear from what your audience hears, you simply hear everything all the time. You will need to have some songs on your computer. It can be expanded to be a pro set up with hardware and upgraded if you choose to do so in future, but in it's simplest form it is great for trying things out for FREE!

Download from here: https://serato.com/dj/lite

Keyboard Shortcuts are here: https://djschooluk.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Serato-lite-only-essential-keyboard-shortcuts.pdf

Very brief video tutorials by DJ School UK are here:

1- Intro to Serato DJ Lite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGxSxMoLhxg&t

2- Basic mixing on Serato DJ Lite: http://youtube.com/watch?v=OHWvZ6AHZas&t

For people who do not have DJ equipment at home but have an ipad, IOS or Android phone they are allowed to use:

We highly recommend Mixvibes- Cross DJ (Free) – this is 100% free software that allows you to pair songs up and experiment with how they will sound mixed together. You can't use it for performance as you can't separate what you hear from what your audience hears, you simply hear everything all the time. You will need to have some songs on your device. It can be expanded to play songs from your soundcloud account or icloud. In it's simplest form it is great for trying things out for FREE!

Because it works on touch screens you can actually attempt basic scratching on this one. You also get loops, hot cues and sound effects – explore and experiment!

Download from the Google Play store or Apple App Store.

For people with DJ equipment:

If you have the option of setting your headphones to “PGM” mode instead of “Cue" you can practise your cuts, mixes and everything else entirely in headphones without a sound system (check your manual). For some of you this will mean you can still practise and enjoy. For all of you this means you won’t be disturbing anyone else who needs to focus on their own work during their lockdown. #consideration Jim did an explanation of how it works on Mixtrack Pro III Controllers here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoRL5Dp2_uo&list=PLs3C-VoDc6r5w30ZjerPIn0KS9nuQzcU0&index=6) (starts approx 1min into video)

For anyone who wants to try some production skills like cue-drumming:

Melodics is a great app that teaches you how to do finger drumming using any controller or your computer keyboard. It does cost money to get the whole app but can be downloaded as a trial and has a selection of totally free lessons to get you started. https://melodics.com/

AUXY jam are offering 100% free downloads during the Coronavirus Lockdown (limited offer only) -https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/auxy-jam-simple-beat-maker/id1488320391

Especially the section on beatboxing -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io4q9aStkSI

And our very own resource book full of cross-curriculum tasks, crosswords and a word-search! https://djschooluk.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/DJ-School-UK-resource-book-final-print.pdf

Finally – don't forget that we are a non-profit who specialise in a personal face to face service. There are many competitors on the internet who do flashy videos and don't do face to face sessions. Here are some great videos by them:

https://wearecrossfader.co.uk/blog/15-free-dj-tutorials-to-stay-active-during-isolation/

https://www.digitaldjtips.com/2020/03/social-distancing-for-djs-4-ways-to-thrive-under-lockdown/

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DJ LockDown – Free activities and advice for DJs at home.

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