Reviews & Ratings for DJ4Life Academy (DJ Lessons)

03/23/11

decent DJ program

by cwei510 at Citysearch

It was an alright experience for me. I came in basically not knowing anything about DJ'ing, but with the help of my instructor i was able to grasp at least the basics of dj'ing such as mixing techniques and beat matching. However, if you do not own your own DJ equipment it is literally impossible to progress. They do not provide any source of practice sessions where you can practice your DJ skills, you pretty much have to invest a lot of money to get your own. The program is also focused mainly on trance/house music so if you want to DJ other genre's there may be a slight adjustment in style. I doubt I will sign up for level 2, I continuously requested sample loops to help improve my DJ skills but the instructor kept delaying the request and eventually never responded.

11/16/10

Can't go wrong here!

by borzonik at Citysearch

I went into the lesson with barely any knowledge about DJing. All knew about was two turntables (Or CD Players) and a mixer in the middle. With Ben Seagren helping me out i learned what everything was used for along with beat matching and even threw an analog mixer in there to play with. This really helped me understand what can heppen when playing live and even when you're just messing around. I have to give DJ4Life 5 stars because i don't think that there is anything they can do better... Ben almost had to pry me from the tables and the time flew by so fast! Great time, really. I hope to go onto the next phases soon.

10/01/10

An amazing experience

by nmcspadden at Citysearch

If you're at all into the club or DJ scenes, and you've dreamed about ever being behind the decks rather than in front of them, this is the place for that dream to come true!

Ben Seagren is an incredible resource of experience, technical knowledge, and easygoing helpfulness. He encourages you to just play, let your instincts guide you, and really tries to get you to listen carefully to your own sound. He offers helpful suggestions, guides, and always watches to make sure you're on the right track, but lets you work at your own pace so you get the practice you need.

This is an incredible experience for anyone looking to start a new hobby.

08/23/10

Great experience!

by andresormachea at Citysearch

I had a great experience during the first module.

The first class with Björn, who was was very good at explaining the basics, he knows what he is talking about and I think it was great to have someone with so much experience as a DJ and Producer, guiding me through the first steps.

Second and third class with Ben where more deep into the technic, which was great as well. Again really cool to have Ben who is also a great DJ with more than 10 years of experience in the field, coaching me as I was mixing my songs.

Overall, these guys are as cool as it gets and they are super helpful.

I wish I would have been more proactive! Cause if you put the time into it, practice and prepare for class, you can really make it worth your while.

I'm already saving the money for module 2.

A

06/03/10

you learn so much so fast!

by littlequeefgirl at Citysearch

Let's see, I went into lessons without ever touching cdj's. I'm a musician, but I've always been fascinated to try out dj'ing so I searched for lessons and this came up. I can say that this experience was definitely worth that $400 I paid for. Sasha is a wonderful teacher who's patient, intelligent, and really just a great person to be around.

you do certain exercise to help build skill. "You learn fast here" as Sasha says because by the end of the 2nd week I amazed how quickly I picked up the skills. If you have your lesson with Sasha you will get to record your first mix with him, that's what I did. I'm really happy that I decided to take lessons. If you're interested but unsure, don't be unsure anymore cause this is totally worth it!

03/14/10

Great experience!

by Souldriver at Citysearch

I joined DJ4Life after deciding I wanted to DJ for a living, or at least spread my love of music through DJing and touching many people.

Sasha was a great help to me to get started and although I already knew alot of the stuff he showed me, he also showed me a thing or two that could have taken alot more time and energy to figure out on my own.

Sasha also helped me out as a great contact to have and I can count on him to support me with any questions, or contacts I need now that I am developing my career.

I also appreciated gettng feedback from someone with years of DJing experience. I am new to the city, and new to DJing, so it saved me a lot of time and money to get first hand experienced feedback and support rather than scrambling around.

About the price, well sure it is pricey, but not when compared with many other professional services. If you can afford it want a head start in terms of learning, support and feedback, then DJ4life is for you.

Apart from all this, Sasha is just plain cool :) Laid back and friendly, while also being professional and supportive.

Thanks Sasha, and I hope to play in front of people soon!!

• Pros: Great headstart, support and education

03/12/10

Great DJ Lessons

by yams25 at Citysearch

I have a lot of great things to say about DJ4Life - for starters, right after I signed up online, Sasha was emailing me to get things started. Everyone I dealt with, including the staff at SupperClub is incredibly nice and helpful. I had lessons with Michael who is very patient and very knowledgeable. He has a great teaching style - he actually teaches you something (this isn't just fluff) but he also lets you play with it and make mistakes. The key with Michael is that he teaches you the theory behind the music, not just how to play records. I have also taken beginner DJ lessons at DubSpot in NY and I felt this was better.

I saw another review about how you don't need lessons to DJ. Maybe not. But if you don't know anyone who DJs and you want to try it, you definitely need someone to point you in the right direction. The equipment choices alone are overwhelming, so it's best to have an expert help you navigate. Also, without lessons, I would have done some serious damage to my pricey equipment - because I'd have no idea what I was doing.

The only tiny, tiny nit I will mention is that there should be better coordination before the first lesson. Yes, they have all the equipment, but they should find out if you're planning to DJ on vinyl, digital, CD, etc. and then ensure the right equipment is available for your lesson. We had a little confusion about this at my first lesson - of course, Michael was fantastic about sorting it out.

• Pros: Fantastic staff, learned a lot

01/28/10

My experience at DJ4LIFE

by djkelly88 at Citysearch

I disagree with previous review; YOU DO NEED LESSONS to learn how to DJ!

And you do need an opportunity to play live as part of program and not just in small venues, but you will have exposure to play in supperclub, vessel, temple, and even at Ruby Skye (top 25 clubs in the world) where DJ4LIFE hosts next event on Feb 4th, 2010.

Now that is amazing and is the ultimate reason why I signed up. It's fast and structured trainning, class starts as soon as you sign up, and it occurs in loft studio or supperclub or cellar sf.

I don't have time to look for free instructors, or to teach myself while not even knowing what equipment to purchase, etc that's why DJ4Life is perfect for me..

Yes, it does cost money, min is $399 but it saves me time, so I am okay with paying while I know exactly what I will get and not to mention that Sasha and DJ4LIFE have been featured in USA TODAY and TIME Magazine as one of the most creative programs in USA, (check the website press/media section ), so in short DJ4LIFE has made me happy and satisfied, even though I do understand it is not for everyone and if you have time, and not much money to invest sure look elsewhere, or teach yourself (you will still need to buy equipment) but from my experience, DJ4LIFE is worth every penney, just show up at some of the upcoming events and talk to students that took a course.... That's your best source of information !

• Pros: Just simply the best program to learn how to DJ
• Cons: None

01/26/10

Are. You. Kidding Me.

by dj4eva at Citysearch

For anyone thinking of taking DJ "lessons": YOU DON'T NEED THEM.

DJs beatmatch. That's all they do. Sure you can tweak the equalizer or put some snazzy effect on the signal, but DJing is simply playing one record, then playing another record right after it at the same speed. You do not need much instruction (if any) to learn to do this. This is not classical piano.

DJ4Life, like most art schools, is a "pay for play." In exchange for paying Sasha almost $1000, you get the "privilege" of playing a few gigs in a side room somewhere, gigs you probably could've gotten yourself if you'd just hustled a little.

Does Sasha have a lot of connections in SF? Of course. But a lot of other DJs have a lot more, and many are willing to mentor for free if you just put in a little effort to get yourself started. There are TONS of places to play in SF. Bars. Hair salons. Art galleries. This all goes on your resume. You then make a mix tape and get it to the manager of a small club. He lets you play. Then you make another mix tape and get it to the owner of a slightly bigger club. Somewhere along the line you may start to get paid. Pretty straightforward. This is what Sasha did only about 4 years ago (without, to my knowledge, ever paying anybody anything to teach him how to beatmatch), and now he's going on "Asia Tours." Fast times.

I'll give Sasha this much: he's somehow managed to monetize an extremely simple task that anyone with any degree of musical ability can master. If THAT's what you want to learn how to do, by all means, fork over your dough to DJ4L. You'll have a decent amount of time to ponder what exactly possessed you to do that. Once you figure it out, just start your own business and get other people to pay you a lot of money for stuff they don't need.

Incidentally, all the other reviewers below are Sasha's personal friends, who he's apparently put up to writing glowing reviews. At least one is his direct employee, others get paying gigs through him, and one is his girlfriend. I love the internet.

01/04/10

Talk About Exhilarating Experiances!

by DJ Dane Mitchell at Citysearch

Talk about Exhilarating Experiences!

Some people say Jumping Out of an Airplane is the ultimate rush, others say Running with Bulls is, Extreme River Rafting, Hang Gliding, but I say becoming a DJ thru Dj4life and spinning the opening set @ SupperClub in San Francisco on NYE in front of 350 people and having the power of a full nightclub sound system behind me is a feeling/excitement like none other!

DJ Dane Mitchell