Scratch Lab DJ Institute: Learn from the Pros
Last Updated November 18, 2005

We’ve all admired the DJ at some time. They control the party, always look like they’re having fun, AND they get paid for it. What a job! Always wanted to be a DJ but never knew where to start? Scratch Lab DJ Institute puts the power in YOUR hands.

Disc jockeys have been spinning records for decades. But when did they rise to become highly influential cultural icons? Not only have club DJs become gatekeepers within local music industries; some are now cast as highly paid musical ambassadors, traveling around the globe to spread the latest musical trends.

Is this because club DJs know best how to cast a spell on a dance floor, how to “work” a record in a way that makes it seem at once familiar and excitingly new, how to bring a crowd to a peak not just once during an evening, but several times? Or is it simply because DJs are finally being paid handsomely and enjoying the celebrity status that comes with money and media exposure?

The answer probably is “all of the above”.

The lines between studio producers, engineers, songwriters and DJs have become increasingly fuzzy. Instead of just spinning records at clubs, DJs ventured into the recording studios, bringing the same workplace concepts and techniques of mixing music, creating new sounds and re-mixing songs.

The increase in status from record-spinner to remixer and record producer has transformed the club DJ from cult figure to cultural icon.

What is a DJ?

A disc jockey (aka DJ) is an entertainer who selects and plays pre-recorded music for the enjoyment of others. DJs can be heard on the radio and at social gatherings such as weddings, nightclubs, warehouse parties, and high school dances. As a result, there are many different types of DJs, each fitting into a particular niche defined by performance setting (broadcast booth or nightclub) and intended audience (i.e. House or Hip Hop fans).

But what exactly is a DJ, and what do they do? How successful can they be, and how can you attain that success? UC411 looks for the answers…

The DJ as an Artist

However, simply "playing records" allows a DJ to bring his or her own creative ideas to bear upon pre-recorded music. This creative process is what many DJs feel is what makes them an artist in their own right.

The DJ as a Business Person

Paul Oakenfold is a record producer and one of the best-known DJs worldwide.

In the early 1980s, Oakenfold managed Run D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys. After spending several months in Ibiza, Spain, he fell in love with dance club music. Using these influences Oakenfold produced tracks for U2, Massive Attack, Arrested Development, The Cure, and Snoop Dogg, many of which were released under his own label Perfecto Records, thereby making him a very wealthy person.

Oakenfold’s second album, Perfecto Presents Another World, introduced millions to his mixing skills. Some sources report this album as the highest selling dance recording of all time. His popularity has also grown thanks to his work on the movie soundtracks of Swordfish, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions and Die Another Day, for which he remixed The James Bond Theme. He went on to work on the James Bond video game GoldenEye: Rogue Agent in 2004.

In 2002, Q magazine named Oakenfold in their list of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die".

The DJ as Ambassador

He began DJing professionally at school parties, but it was at a small club where he was able to fine tune his own style by playing in a separate room from 10pm until 4am on weekends.

Through hard work and perseverance, Tiesto eventually became famous for his six hour "Tiësto Solo" sets in which he performed without other DJs for opening acts or alongside other DJs as main attractions to the events. This idea of one DJ playing alone to a large crowd was brought to its height when Tiësto was the first DJ to hold a concert solo in a stadium when he did so for over 25 000 people in Arnhem's Gelredome.

"Tiësto in Concert" was an enormous success, repeated in 2004 in addition to holding a concert for 20 000 in Belgium the week after. In total, these 2004 concerts reached over 70 000 fans, with DVD releases of both his 2003 and 2004 concerts. On August 20th 2005 he took "Tiësto in Concert" to America by playing to Tiësto fans in Los Angeles, California in the LA Sports Arena.

Tiesto was announced as DJ Magazine's 'No. 1. DJ in the World' for the third consecutive year in October 2004, an achievement not held by any other DJ. He went on to play at the 2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, witnessed by an estimated two to four billion viewers around the world.

Globe-trotting electronic musician and DJ Richie Hawtin is the living embodiment of techno, the man CMJ calls a "techno God."

"He doesn't just play techno," the influential publisher of music magazines said in October. "He IS techno."

Hawtin breaks down his sometimes hectic schedule giving us a glimpse of a day in the life of a superstar DJ: “Some days I can be in two or three different countries in a day, especially in Europe.... In the summer I was playing in the south of Portugal from 4 a.m. to 7 a.m., playing a set on a Saturday morning. And as soon as I'm done there, it's taking all the equipment down, rushing to the plane, taking a flight to Amsterdam, re-setting up, doing a show.... And as soon as you're done there, go to the airport again. Private jet. One and a half hours and you're in Hanover, Germany, and about two hours after that it's in front of the decks for another show from 1 a.m. to 4 a.m. So in the space of 24 hours, you've done three sets in three countries.” Wow, imagine the air miles.

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Welcome to Scratch Lab DJ Institute - Canada’s first and premiere facility for the training of DJs, and other music related trades.

Scratch Lab is a one of a kind facility that offers both group and individual learning opportunities in a 2500 square foot studio complex.

Scratch Lab DJ Institute
1170 Sheppard Ave. W. Unit 32
Toronto,  Ontario   M3K 2A3
Canada

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