In the news
Beat Refinery Teaches DJ Hopefuls Hip Moves
From hip hop parties in the suburbs to dance clubs in the cities, DJs are spinning and mixing music for audiences young and old. In recent years, some DJs have become international superstars – better known than the groups whose music they play! Those who aspire to a career in this growing field can now learn and hone their skills at DJ schools. One of them is called the Beat Refinery, the first such school in the Washington area. READ MORE
DJ I-Dee Places 2nd in DMC National DJ Championship
Beat Refinery’s very own DJ I-Dee placed 2nd overall in the DMC USA Championships this weekend. Another win for the team came from Beat Refinery instructor DJ AS-1, who won the 2012 Grand Master Roc Raida Memorial Gong DJ Battle in NYC.
Check out On Tap’s interview with DJ I-Dee right HERE.
Visit the DMC USA National DJ Battles FACEBOOK page for more info.
Premier DJ School Seeks to Train the Next DJ Superstar
What: The premier DJ school in the mid-Atlantic region, The Beat Refinery, is expanding to McLean, Virginia! Since the first Beat Refinery opened in 2010, classes have been dedicated to teaching every aspect of DJing, combining traditional methods with the latest technology. Individual classes are taught by local working DJ legends, including veterans of the national DJ club scene DJ Stylus Chris and DJ Geometrix.
“If you love music and technology, this is something you should try.” says Katie F., Beat Refinery student. DJ and former Beat Refinery student Ross A. says “Whether you’ve played for hundreds of people or haven’t dropped a needle for the first time yet… the Beat Refinery can certainly teach you something.”
An Open House Party to celebrate the launch of the McLean school is on Wednesday, February 29, from 6-8 PM. This new location will be headed up by the world-famous DJ Enferno – Madonna’s tour DJ, DMC World Vice Champion, veteran club DJ, production guru, and creator of the Live Remix Project. “Being in the same DJ crew with DJ Enferno and being good friends with him for the past 15 years, I’ve had the pleasure of learning most of the things I know about DJing from one of the best in the industry,” says DJ Geometrix, co-founder and director of the Beat Refinery. “I credit him as one of my influences in becoming an overall great DJ and if it wasn’t for him, I probably wouldn’t have made the jump in becoming a professional DJ. I’m excited that he’s joining the Beat Refinery family and I can’t wait for him to share to our students the same wisdom and knowledge he’s given me throughout my career.”
The Beat Refinery offers a wide range of class levels, from novice to seasoned performer. Classes focus on skill sets including how to beat match, scratch, drop mix, create mash-ups, mix and blend, record multi-track mixes, and produce. The facility is stocked with some of the industry’s top turntables and mixers. Other Beat Refinery schools are located in Bethesda, MD, and Herndon, VA. The new semester of classes starts Monday, March 5, 2012, at all Beat Refinery locations.
Where: Bach to Rock, 1440 Emerson Avenue, McLean, VA, 22101
When: Open House Party: Wednesday, February 29, 2012, 6-8 PM Official School Opening: Monday, March 5, 2012 Your coverage is invited. Please RSVP to Kim Venetz at 877-434-BEAT. For more information, please visit Beatrefinery.com.
Beat Refinery Student, DJ Beauty and The Beatz Drops New Podcast Mix!
Beat Refinery Student, DJ Sheeno Drops New Mix!
DJ Beauty and The Beatz Peforms A CycleFest 2011
9 Year Old Beat Refinery Student, “DJ Beauty and the Beatz” Performs In South Beach Miami
International Soul Society Festival on FOX 5 NEWS
Holly Morris – International Soul Society Festival: MyFoxDC.com
BEAT REFINERY DJS WIN 2011 DMC DC DJ BATTLE!
CONGRATULATIONS to Beat Refinery DJ Instructors, DJ I-DEE who took 1st Place and DJ AS-ONE who took 2nd Place in the 2011 DMC DC DJ Competition!!
The legendary DMC DJ Competition took place in Washington, DC on Friday April 15, 2011, at the U Street Music Hall in Washington, DC. The DMC Competition in Washington, DC was part of the 3rd Annual International Soul Society Festival which was held in DC from April 10-17, 2011. More info at www.internationalsoulsociety.com. This show was promoted by Urban Artistry and Beat Refinery.
Beat Refinery to Launch New Series of Classes
Ableton Live, The latest, Hottest Producer/DJ Software: Lessons Begin March 14th at the Bethesda Bach to Rock.
Bethesda, MD—Chris Stiles (DJ Stylus) and Brian Sadiarin, (DJ Geometrix) directors of B2R’s DJ school, Beat Refinery, are pleased to announce a new series of classes to begin March 14, 2011. The program which first rolled out in May, 2010 began with Basic DJ Techniques along with Basic Scratching and Turntablism. The next installment included Intermediate DJ Techniques as well as Intermediate Scratching and Turntablism. And now, Beat Refinery is proud to be launching classes in Ableton Live, the latest Producer/DJ software. The Bethesda B2R is located at 4819 Saint Elmo Avenue.
“Ableton Live allows users to create musical compositions, remix and edit songs, and perform live in a DJ set,” said Stiles. “We are thrilled to be able to bring this new technology to beginners as well as seasoned professionals.” (read more…)
Beat Refinery
International Soul Society Festival Dates Announced
February 23, 2011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: INTERNATIONAL SOUL SOCIETY FESTIVAL DATES ANNOUNCED
WASHINGTON, DC- Get your dance on at the 3rd annual International Soul Society Festival 2011 from April 10th-17th, with the main event being at the newest cultural arts center in Rosslyn, VA, the Artisphere. The International Soul Society Festival will be the largest urban arts event that DC has seen yet. The festival will merge the local arts community by way of urban dance competitions with international break dancing crews, poppers, lockers, hip hop and house dancers, graffiti artists, open mic and showcase for MC’s, local party and battle DJs to add the appreciation for music and turntablism with music styles like funk, breaks, hip-hop, house, dub-step and drum and bass. The international presence that has been finalized this year ranges from Finland, Korea, Denmark, Germany, France, San Francisco, New York, Boston, Los Angeles, San Diego and the DC metropolitan area.
The International Soul Society Festival kicks off in the spring with a variety of free weekly events. On Thursday, April 14, an emcee and hip-hop showcase called, The Original Tru Skool Classics (Reunion Show)will be held at Lounge of 3 at 1013 U Street NW, Washington DC from 7 pm to 2 am, hosted by Enoch the 7th Prophet, DJ Earth 1ne and DJ Underdog. Local emcees and hip-hop artists that are on the line up for this show include, Born Infinite & Auga “Shambhala,” Korean beat boxer /winner of Kollaboration DC: Chip Han, Assassins Productions 2Tone of Los Angeles and Scotty76 of Germany.
For all press and marketing inquiries for ISSF 2011, please contact Dee Sanae dee.sanae@internationalsoulsociety.com or 202.596.8278
International Soul Society
And the Drums…the Drums
Everyone knew that guy in college. You know, the guy who thought he was a sick DJ blasting his latest “sick” remix of ABBA and Tupac. Undoubtedly you wished someone would pull the plug or at least he’d miraculously get better. Bet you wished there was something like the Beat Refinery to school his sorry self. Located in downtown Bethesda, The Beat Refinery is “dedicated to teaching all facets of being a DJ by combining traditional methods alongside the ever changing technology.” Their renowned faculty consists of DJ Stylus Chris (aka Chris Styles), DJ Geometrix (aka Brian Sadiarin), DJ I-DEE (aka Isaac DeLima) and DJ Trayze, unfortunately not the love child of a Phish loving Hova fan.
Founded by Jeff Levin of Bach to Rock , the Beat Refinery offers classes from ‘turntabalism’, to electronic music production and recording technologies. The joint has class for all skill levels, from those wanting to become professionals to those who want to just mix party music for friends, that is if you still have any after your fourth attempt at your Toxic/Bad Romance mashup.
Do you have what it takes to be the next Jam Master Jay? Or are you going to spend the rest of your life making crappy iPod play-lists and wondering what could have been. Don’t be that guy from college; he still boots calls from the same busted girl he met at FUR, which doesn’t even exist anymore. Give them a call and sign up for a class. (read more…)
Source: ChangeUpMag.com
DJ Lessons at the Beat Refinery
I’ve always loved DJing. I’m the kid who made mixtapes for his friends in high school. I got a small taste of it senior year, when I had my full setup in my basement, and hosted many sweaty fraternity parties (while destroying half a dozen speaker systems). But I never really understood what to do, and could never find a way of learning how (while most DJs I spoke to were self taught, it’s kind of hard to justify investing in equipment I had no idea how to use).
Enter Beat Refinery. After finding out about the Beat Refinery program off of Thrillist, I signed up for their inaugural class. Taught by DJ Trayze, the beginners class was a perfect introduction into the basic skills and theory behind mixing. It was a lab-style class, where we each had our own station with the full setup a normal DJ uses, including Scratch Live, the industry standard. (read more…)
Source: Zvi Band.com
DJ I-Dee Performs @ The Foundation: DMC DJ Exhibition (Kennedy Center)
THE FOUNDATION: DMC DJ EXHIBITON
Curated by Christie Z Pabon, DMC USA Producer, Hosted by Kokayi. Featuring two of the best DJs in the USA, this Millennium Stage event marks the first time the Festival will showcase the skills behind the art form of turntablism, where the turntables, under the hands of the DJs, become instruments to rock the crowd.
Special guests include legendary DJ Rockin’ Rob, from the Bronx, NYC and DMC USA Supremacy Champion, DJ I-Dee. Part of the 9th Annual DC Hip Hop Theater Festival presented in cooperation with DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities. (read more…)
Source: The Kennedy Center
Beat Refinery Turntable tutoring — chicka chicka yeah!
Skillfully selected, your musical preferences can define and enhance an entire night, whether it be your Cinco de Mayo blowout or that wine and cheese tasting, which were both technically parties, and in the USA, so yeah, that worked.
Push your jockey skills even further, at Beat Refinery. Hosting their inaugural sesh May 3rd, Beat’s a hands-on, chopping and/or screwing class housed in an all-new, tricked out room in Bethesda’s Bach to Rock music school, with a curriculum (loosely based on NY’s Scratch DJ Academy) designed by local standout sound selectahs DJ Stylus Chris and the Ibiza-spinning DJ Geometrix, who measures everything in increments of two-doors. (read more…)
Source: Thrillist.com
Bethesda DJ School Opens Wicka Wicka
Just when you thought Bethesda couldn’t get any cooler, Beat Refinery, a DJ school modeled after NYC’s famed Scratch DJ Academy, opens its doors to teach students how to drop the beats and trip the light fantastic DJ style.
Classes take place in an all-new, tricked out room in Bethesda’s Bach to Rock music school, the curriculum has been designed by spin artists DJ Stylus Chris and the Ibiza-spinning DJ Geometrix and the 90-minute, once a week, 5-8 student classes run for 6 weeks and are taught by up-and-comers DJ Treyz, DJ As-1, and “Pat Jagla.” (read more…)
Source: WELOVEDC.com
DJ school set to open in Bethesda
Great DJs are like demigods around here: You depend on them to drop beats you’ve never heard before, and, if they’re really on, to keep you moving long past last call.
It’s no wonder that practically everyone in this town with a full iPod and 15 records wants be a DJ, too. Banking on the idea that the area is teeming with wannabe DJ Shadows, a pair of D.C.’s better-known turntablists are helping to launch a local DJ school modeled after New York’s famed Scratch DJ Academy. (read more…)
Source: The Washington Post
Stylus Chris: A Local DJ Legend
Few people can claim as many contributions to local DJ culture as DC legend Chris Stiles, aka DJ Stylus Chris, though he’s modest about tooting his own horn.
Fellow legend Chuck Koch, aka DJ Dirty Hands, however, is quick to say, “Chris’s importance to this city would take two articles. As a deejay, his knowledge of music is crazy. As a store owner, he helped preserve the art of the deejay. As a promoter, we had one of the hottest DC parties ever, called Soul Camp.” (read more…)
Source: On Tap Magazine
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