When I finally decided to learn the mystical art of DJ'ing one night, after watching YouTube videos while a little drunk, and watching Crossfader, I was impressed to see that they also teach DJ's.
My initial thoughts were that it was going to be expensive, and in a way it is. On the other hand, it's excellent value. Why the contradiction? Because you'll end up paying them several hundred £££'s, but for that you get what feels like one to one tuition.
The first block of lessons you'll need is the Rekordbox beginners course (for PioneerDJ gear) at £95 (current at the time of writing).
This first course is excellent and will teach you the entire range of basic skills you'll need as an advanced DJ. Yes basic, but completely thorough and necessary for ALL bedroom and professional DJ's alike.
You'll learn to navigate both the software and hardware, which is kind of important!
Moving on from that, Jamie Hartley (the school's teacher and I believe owner) will show you how to count 4/4 time, beats, bars, phrases if you like, and you'll also learn how to beat-match by ear and manually adjust either deck to perfection. No small task, though once you master it... it's so easy looking back.
Moving on and putting it together, you'll start by putting all this together and making you're first pro-level mix, using the EQ's, filter and other knobs and buttons.
Now don't get me wrong, this is as basic as it gets, but it's fundamentally the most important phase of learning what DJ's do. Without this you'll always struggle to mix properly. You need this beginner course. Without it, the intermediate and advanced will be seriously hard if you don't have these skills and knowledge of both software and hardware.
Eventually after a few weeks of practice and perfecting the basic techniques you'll need to move on to more advanced mixing techniques. That's where the intermediate and advanced levels come in. You can buy these packages one at a time when you're ready, making the overall cost a much easier to bare.
One big surprise though, you don't have to start with a DDJ 200/400 to benefit from these lessons, you can if you want use anything from the DDJ 200 up to a XDJ XZ, all the lessons apply and work on all PioneerDJ controllers, because the software is Rekordbox, and any Rekordbox controller is applicable, though each controller will differ slightly and will have different methods to achieve the same end result. Working that out for yourself is part of the joy of DJ'ing.
So how do I review We Are Crossfader?
The price is a little steep, especially if you account for a DDJ 400 at around £250, then a beginner course at £95, it's not cheap. But quality tuition is worth the outlay, and that's what you get from Crossfader, good quality tuition, well planned progression, excellent quality video and audio.
Jamie Hartley, the teacher, has a very professional demeanour throughout, but he does lack passion in his presentation. While this isn't in any way a negative, I would like to see his passion and pleasure be detectable in the videos, but it must be hard considering he's playing up to an audience of one, and he's also taught DJ's for years, at this stage, it must get a little boring and monotonous. So I understand and sympathise why the delivery is dry. All that said, you're not here for that passion, you're here to learn.
My little forum/site can show you many lessons, and I can advise when you get stuck, but paying for lessons can be a really great investment.
1. You'll learn faster
2. You'll have more depth in knowledge
3. You'll progress into more advanced techniques sooner and with more confidence.
Overall I rate Crossfader VERY highly, they seem to be a great bunch of characters, they all have some permutation of Jamie/James in their names, they are also incredibly talented, technical, passionate and most importantly constantly in work and demand. That alone should say something of their abilities.
The crossfader website is here: https://wearecrossfader.co.uk
The crossfader youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/Crossfader
One downside, I've emailed them a few times with questions, and I've NEVER had one email in reply. So they need to keep on top of their administration or else risk losing out on business.
We Are Crossfader DJ-School Review
Last edited by DJ-Daz on Fri Jan 14, 2022 10:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: You can view and re-view all the course videos as many times as you like. You can come back to the videos years later if you want a refresher!
Reason: You can view and re-view all the course videos as many times as you like. You can come back to the videos years later if you want a refresher!
Autism is a neuro-developmental condition characterised by difficulties in social interaction and communication, as well as restricted and repetitive behaviours or interests.
I completely forgot to mention one HUGE selling point with this online course.
You can come back to it as many times and whenever you want a refresher. Something you can't do with a one 2 one.
You can come back to it as many times and whenever you want a refresher. Something you can't do with a one 2 one.
Autism is a neuro-developmental condition characterised by difficulties in social interaction and communication, as well as restricted and repetitive behaviours or interests.