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Rane 12 just got smashed? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hasbro-DropMix-Mixing-System-Bundle/dp/B07K4BTDSW

Oh hai! Shield and I have a new EP out next week. Here's the first single from it: And preorder link: https://jon1standshield.bandcamp.com/album/flapjacks It's been really fun to make and has involved a lot of recording live elements like drums, percussion, vocals, scratching then resampling them, processing them and turning them into subtle textures

You don't need any tutorials,Waxo. Just go out and buy a tape deck and a SP-404

From my experience the industry is only interested in your events when you´re big enough... and that´s the point when you actually don´t need them anymore. So basically they want you do to do all the work and then jump in to grab the spotlight. Even though it´s a tough game for both ends not a single brand seems to be interested in investing into grassroot work but instead they fight for a spot in an already overfed event where people will hardly remember any of the many sponsors (anyone who watched the live stream of this years IDA finals knows what I´m talking about). I´ve seen a more efficient approach with people I know who organize b-boy events and battles who don´t go begging at companies for money but rather connected with city and state officials over the many years they´ve been doing it and getting a share of fundings that are meant for cultural events. If you sell/present it right you have a good chance of getting funded by them (at least partly) but as like with anything else it won´t happen instantly and might take a few approaches/years to get there. I know it´s a different thing for b-boys and turntablists since b-boying/dancing has a way bigger market but thinking about options that are not as obvious as DJ brands will be helpful in the long run. But you need to plan way ahead since fundings are usually planned/spent at the beginning of a year already, so spontaneous events will never reach a professional level, especially when it comes to sponsoring. And from own experience combining events is extremely helpful. One of my sessions happened during a popular jazz festival and the turn up was amazing, we had families with kids checking it out and showing interest that would have never shown up if it was a regular scratch nerd event. Especially jazz heads are very open for this kind of stuff but obviously I´m not talking about the hardcore traditionalists that you have in any genre/craft/artform. They can go fuck a monkey on a tree if they don´t like evolution of things instead of starting drama. But that´s a different story...

As a local organizer of battles & jams in Greece, let me share some inside info (which BTW didn't wanted to do in the FB thread for all the drama it would cause): 1. Every international DJ competition has a major sponsor backing it up. Major sponsor = funds 2. The cost of running this international show is the same as the cost of running a local jam. I.e. you only have to pay for the venue. 3. IDA & DMC demand a "participation fee" from all national chapters. I.e. even more funds, which they DO NOT share back, but instead pretend that they use for the main battle (promos, judges etc.). 4. The excuse from gear companies that the scratch demographic is niche is absolute bullshit. This demographic is their major brand ambassadors and constitute for more than half of their sales. It all comes down to who you know, from which company. 5. Every single person involved in these international battles is getting paid for their time/effort. This does not apply of course to the actual participant DJs. 6. There are other battles which offer very considerable prizes: e.g. the Mixfader battle. How is that possible? 7. The national chapters are indeed responsible for providing their winners with commute / accomodation. I managed that for the C2C/COTT with just 2 local sponsors. So anyone saying this could not be "achieved", is just bullshitting people and either he/she is COMPLETELY incapable of running the local chapter (valid for most cases), or he/she is chewing all the money for themselves (happened a few times in the past). The incompetence who is evident in most battles these days is the result of greedy / incapable organizers. I personally have chosen to support only the smaller ones, as I am too old to be treated like a fuckin' 18yo who should be "OK" with exposure. In specific, I am more than frustrated with DMC/IDA and all I can say is FUCK THEM. They run shitty battles, full of politics, with prizes for kids and they can go fuck themselves and get lost in oblivion. We're already in 2019 and I see absolutely no need for these 2 to exist anymore. As for 3style, they can go fuck themselves too. I have absolutely no interest in an EDM/ clap yo' hands/ Jesus posse DJ battle. They chose to be irrelevant to our demographic a couple of years ago with that Barbados dude. So be it. The presence of Craze and others on their judging panel gives them zero credibility whatsoever.