Arts & Entertainment

DJ Academy Teaches Old Skills to a New Breed

By Brandon Ortega
Spectrum staff

The art of DJ’ing was pioneered by legends like Grandmaster Flash and Run DMC’s Jam Master Jay, who mixed and cut records and pushed cultural in New York City during the 1980s.

Some might say that, as digital tools have replaced hands-on scratching and cutting and other turntable skills, DJ’ing stopped being what it was decades ago. But, since 2002, the East Village’s Scratch DJ Academy, has helped young and old, aspiring DJs to know and understand the fundamentals of the DJ’s craft.

“Even though I’m only on my third session, I find the classes to be very constructive,” said Charlotte Freitag, 18, who was ending her third session at Scratch DJ Academy one recent day.

Jam Master Jay himself founded the academy in 2002, according to the school’s website. More than 500,000 DJs and music producers from around the world have enrolled in the academy’s courses on DJ history, basic music theory and song structure, the functions of various kinds of DJ equipment, and basic scratching and timing, the site says. Classes last from one week to 18 months.

DJ Scratch Academy instructor Martin Yarbrough, 27, also known as DJ Level, said he enjoys the racial and cultural diversity of the students and instructors. “You get the chance to be surrounded by a lot of different people,” Yarbrough said.

As a DJ, he is self-taught. Being an instructor means actually learning the art of teaching, which can be a challenge, he said. “It’s one thing to know how to do something [and another] to show someone else how to do it. You have to clarify a bit more and have patience.”

Dan Chaves, 38, aka Dirty Digits, is another instructor. He has been a DJ for 10 years, and has a special passion for hip-hop DJ’ing. Chaves said he has been especially surprised by the increasing number of women studying to be DJs.

“Even though DJ’ing has a male dominance, many women throughout the years have joined the program. I would say the ratio between men and women in the classes .. went from eighty-twenty to sixty-forty,” Chaves said.

Whether male or female, not every student who studies at the academy aspires to be a professional DJ. “We had someone who was a surgeon and who DJs as a hobby … learning at our program,” Chaves said.

Students at the Scratch Academy not only have the opportunity to learn how to scratch, mix and produce, but they also learn the history of DJ’ing.

Student Freitag added that the Scratch Academy has allowed her to express her love for music in a new way.

Anthony Delisser, 13, an aspiring music producer, said the Scratch Academy has motivated him to pursue a career in music. ”The program has taught me the most important lessons in DJ’ing & producing all in one week.”