Brolic Army DJ School by DJ Rob Swift

  Most people think you need advanced DJ skills to learn how to recreate a classic beat juggle routine. But do you really? Before I knew about the Root Movements of Beat Juggling, I developed my skills by copying what I heard the DJs I admired do. You see, learning a juggle routine is challenging but not impossible, so long as you have the basics down! STUDENT OF THE WEEK, DJ Frank3000, proves that by following this 5-step process you can teach yourself how to juggle like Mista Sinista or any other master juggler! Step #1: Listen to the entire routine you want to learn. Listening allows you to mentally grasp how the routine sounds. Since our limbs follow the instructions of our brains, it’s important to mentally digest a juggle routine’s structure first. Once you can sound out all of the patterns in your head you’re pointed in the right direction. Step #2: Break the routine into workable chunks. Before you go all guns blazing, trying to perform the “Method Man” routine from beg...

  This learning pathway guide will help intermediate turntablists find out the best way of navigating our courses. We classify intermediate an intermediate DJ as somebody who has experience with turntables, can mix by ear, has the correct turntable fundamentals down such as mechanics, hand alignment, and can drop on beat. If you are experienced with CDJs and controllers but have no touched turntables before or are not used to using turntables, please see the beginners learning guide . Where to start? We advise that intermediate DJs do browse over the Basic DJing course, in order to ensure that they have strong and correct fundamental skills. See here: https://brolicarmydjschool.com/courses/basic-djing/ Most DJs overlook these fundamentals but without having these turntable instincts perfected, it will be difficult to correctly engage with the next courses. What course should I begin with? We recommend that DJs who are confident in their basic skills start with: Basic Scratching An...

  This learning pathway will help Advanced DJs navigate our courses and find the best learning pathway to suit their needs. We consider advanced DJs to be those with solid foundational skills in mixing, set building, fundamental scratching. Where to start? We recommend browsing over the Basic Scratching course to ensure that you do cover the scratching bases in terms of skills, technique and undoing any bad habits that self-taught DJs may have encountered. We assume that an advanced DJ is set on mixing by ear, dropping on beat, set arrangement and hand alignment and mechanics. What course should I begin with? 10 Root Moves of Beat Juggling This is our most popular course for intermediate and advanced DJs. This course takes you through all 10 of the root moves in details. This is the most comprehensive beat juggling guide out there. Rob explains how to manipulate drum beats, words, etc. on both left and right turntables simultaneously through the application of the 10 Root Movement...

  This guide is to help individuals who want to sign up, or have just signed up, navigate the website. Welcome! Thank you so much for coming to see the Brolic Army DJ School. We are excited to show you around and help you get started on your journey to becoming a beast on the turntables! Choose a Plan Membership Plans GET STARTED We have three membership options. The first is the monthly subscription, at $49 billed monthly. The second option is to be billed 249 every 6 months. With this option you save $90 per year. The final tier is the Lifetime membership. We recommend this to DJs who want to stay a part of the community for life. Enroll in your first class Congratulations! Now you are truly on your way to becoming a formidable DJ. To start your first class, select the desired course from the courses page and scroll the to bottom and click “Enroll”. This will enroll you in the course and give you access to all of the lesson material. Browse our Merch and Rep the Ar...

  NUMBER ONE 1982: Buffalo Gals (Malcolm McClaren) As a fan of scratch music you’re probably questioning this selection cause yes, there are slew of other songs which feature more technically progressive scratches on them. However, we would argue a top 5 list in any category merits the acknowledgement of the first, original, pioneer or in this case pioneers in said art or sport. Let it be known, Malcolm McClaren’s “Buffalo Gals” is the first song to ever feature scratches on it. In 1982, a British record producer named Malcolm McClaren flew across the Atlantic Ocean and landed in NYC. His mission, to seek help from DJ gods (we call them gods cause they were 5 Percenters) The World Famous Supreme Team in the recording of what would be the classic maxi-single release, “Buffalo Gals”. Started in 1979, Supreme Team members See Divine the Mastermind and Justice Allah the Superstar initially stepped into the Hip Hop scene as hosts of an undergound radio show on WHBI alongside none other ...

  May 17th marks what would have been Roc Raida’s 50th birthday. So in honor of the ultimate DJ hero, Brolic Army DJ School celebrates the life and creativity of Anthony “Roc Raida” Williams for the entire month of May with the Roc Raida Challenge! Last year’s Roc Raida Challenge tested students’ ability to compose their own unique beat juggle based on Raida’s famous “Chief Rocka” (Lords of the Underground) routine. Which oh by the way. helped him win his 1995 World DMC Championship title. This year, we’re interested in seeing how Brolic Army students fare with “Unassisted”, another beat juggle masterpiece composition from the mind of Roc Raida. RULES Create your best routine based on Roc Raida’s “Unassisted” (Rasco) beat juggle. SUBMISSION PROCESS Film a video of yourself performing a 90 second (maximum) beat juggle composition. Please ensure that your video is captured in landscape mode and contains direct audio. Email your video to Brolic Army DJ School no later than April 17th,...

Each season of the year we like to pose DJ challenges for our Brolic Army students because what’s the point in teaching someone a skill if you won’t provide opportunities for that student to apply their mastery of it? At Brolic Army DJ School, application is one of our most important tenets and the latest Brolic Army challenge not only test our students’ individual grasp of the DJ concepts they’ve learned, they will also be expected to showcase their newly acquired skills in a team setting. To mark the beginning of Summer training. We issued the BROLIC ARMY SQUAD CHALLENGE! Two teams, The Monty Pythons (Selecta Monty, DJ Tyson and DJ ECC) and The Peaky Jugglers (Chief Rocka challenge champ Captain Co, DJ Circle and DJ Backbeat), worked together as a group to create one cohesive battle set. The winning squad was decided by public fan vote. “It taught me how to be a better teacher and how to explain stuff and assess people.” ~ Selecta Monty “I have learnt so much from this challenge. It...

At midnight tonight, the DJ community celebrates the 20th year anniversary of the documentary SCRATCH. Directed by Doug Pray and released by Palm Pictures on Feb.15, 2002, this powerful documentary continues to stand as a symbol for how a small group of marginalized DJs can effect change by banding together. Twenty years later the ripple effects of what DJs like the X-Ecutioners, Invisibl Skratch Piklz, Beat Junkies, still resonates. Doug Pray does a thorough job of revealing how the authors (Kool Herc, Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, GrandWizzard Theodore, Grand Mixer D.St…) of DJing as we know it to be today, passed on techniques such as mixing, scratching and back spinning to the younger generation of DJs (Rob Swift, Roc Raida, Q-Bert, Mix Master Mike, Babu, Shortkut, DJ Shadow…). By building on the practices of their predecessors, these young visionaries furthered DJ culture and bum rushed a music industry that pushed them to the background during the 90s. This may surprise you but a...

  You’re probably asking yourself, why should I learn how to make my own edits when I can censor curse words, trigger loops, etc., on the fly while I perform a DJ set? No matter what type of DJ you are, understanding how to make your own edits has it’s advantages. The most important being the creative freedom to do more while you perform your set live. Not having to engage the reverse effect on your mixer on a curse word while a song is playing makes it so you have one less thing to worry about while DJing. This in turn allows you to channel your awareness to other important aspects of your performance. Additionally, learning how to edit is a great avenue to get you acclimated to the world of production, the natural “next step” in the journey of a DJ. This article will impart 4 tips on how to edit your MP3s on iMovie. That’s right, you don’t need to pay for an editing program like Logic or Audacity to learn. 4 Tips on ways to edit an MP3 using iMovie 1. Cut and Pasting sections of...

  Since launching the Brolic Army platform, I’ve taken more notice of how others learn and teach DJ art. From my observations, imitation seems to be at the center of both ends. Since when did copying become creativity? If Hip Hop’s golden rule is don’t bite, yet we see post after post of DJs regurgitating the works of masters like X-Ecutioners, Invisibl Skratch Piklz and Beat Junkies, how can we bring creativity and imagination back to DJing? Welp, here’s 5 ways I can think of: 1. Stop caring what people think. There are battle routines of mine that have stood the test of time. I can perform joints like my “Funky For You” routine today and 30 years after its creation, I still get a positive reaction. Even in cases where my audience doesn’t know the record. That’s because the song itself is a true reflection of my musical taste and when you stay true to what you like, without compromise, the authenticity in your motives trumps everything! 2. Be creatively courageous. Creative people...

  This learning pathway will help Advanced DJs navigate our courses and find the best learning pathway to suit their needs. We consider advanced DJs to be those with solid foundational skills in mixing, set building, fundamental scratching. Where to start? We recommend browsing over the  Basic Scratching course   to ensure that you do cover the scratching bases in terms of skills, technique and undoing any bad habits that self-taught DJs may have encountered. We assume that an advanced DJ is set on mixing by ear, dropping on beat, set arrangement and hand alignment and mechanics. What course should I begin with? 10 Root Moves of Beat Juggling This is our most popular course for intermediate and advanced DJs. This course takes you through all 10 of the root moves in details. This is the most comprehensive beat juggling guide out there. Rob explains how to manipulate drum beats, words, etc. on both left and right turntables simultaneously through the application of the 10 R...

   Founded in March of 2016, I created the  #brolicarmy   as a means of providing aspiring DJs with the proper information to grow as DJs. Over the course of the last 5 years, I’ve successfully turned YouTube, facebook and Instagram into my virtual classrooms. Giving students of DJing from all over the world valuable information on not just DJing’s techniques but the rich history involved with an art form that still remains an enigma to most people. After interacting with many of you on social media regarding my teachings, the most common question asked of me has been, “Rob, since I don’t live close enough to train with you in person, is there one place where I can go to access all of your concepts on DJing?”, and so it is with immense pride I present the  #brolicarmydjschool . Your experience with learning all that DJing has to offer will no longer bring with it any mysticism. From basic to technical, every aspect of the art form will be explained to you in a v...

  DJ Rob Swift leads this Brolic Army DJ School course on Advanced Scratching techniques. Expect to learn scratches such as DJ Disk’s “Orbit Flare”, The Invisibl Skratch Piklz’ “Crab Scratch” and other techniques. Each Brolic Army course is updated regularly with new tutorials on a regular basis! In line with DJ Rob Swift’s typical teaching style, he focuses his tutorials on both the history and the execution of these techniques. Rob Swift aims to empower the next wave of DJs in becoming active participants of the culture, passing down the knowledge for generations to come. Advanced Scratching is no exception. Advanced Scratching is for students who have strong foundations in the techniques of DJing and scratching techniques. Check out our other courses such as  Basic DJing,   Basic Scratching ,   and   Training Camp   if you’re looking to develop your foundations before setting off on the advanced work. Advanced Scratching Course Breakdown: Lesson 1: The O...

  If you are a newbie to the  DJ world ,  then congratulations! You are here at the right track with us because we are going to introduce you some of the best basic and premium equipment when starting a DJ set-up. This process is often overlooked by new DJs. But it can be considered the most important key point to bring your set up to stand out of the crowd. A great set up could help you in the long term. Set Up Options for Beginners Recommended a pair of turntables DJ Mixer Cartridges and Needles Slip Mats Speakers Headphones Control Vinyl or Records 1. Turntables Though turntables are at the premium end of the product market. Starting with turntables will allow you to develop key DJ instincts and skills that are best developed on turntables. We strongly recommend that you begin with this setup for our courses. Recommended: Technic 1200s 2. DJ Mixer Mixers are essential to any DJ setup. A DJ mixer allows you to control and manipulate multiple audio channels. Our favorite...