UK DJs in The Midlands: Basement DJ Battle! Win £400+ in DJ Gear!

[jon1st]

The Basement DJ Battle League, formerly the Hub DJ Battle, is a friendly series of DJ battles held every second Friday of the month at The Basement, Leicester aiming to discover and promote up and coming DJ talent in the midlands.

2013 dates:

Heat 1: Friday 11th January 2013
Heat 2: Friday 8th February 2013
Heat 3: Friday 8th March 2013
Heat 4: Friday 12th April 2013
Semi Final. Friday 10th May 2013
Final: Friday 14th June 2013

Each league lasts six months and consists of 4 preliminary heats, a semi final and a final. The rules are simple: in each heat a group of DJs will each play a 20 minute set and a winner will be decided by a small panel of judges. An audience favourite will also be decided by a public vote. Both the judges' winner and the winner of the public vote will then progress to the semi final where 8 DJs will be narrowed down to 4 for the final, where in turn one DJ will be crowned Basement DJ Battle League Champion. In both the semi final and final the winners will be selected entirely by a judging panel.

The winner of the first battle league of 2013 will receive:

- 1 x pair of Shure M44-7 DJ Cartridges + Styli worth £170
- 1 x pair of Audio Technica Professional DJ Headphones (model TBC) worth £100
- 1 x Oh Drat Digital Total Music Production Course worth £50
- 1 x Music Video by One Fifty One Films
- £50 cash

Second place will receive £50 cash.

DJs will be marked on the following criteria:

1. Variety and originality in selection: DJs will be expected to mix more than one genre, or mix more than one style within their selected genre. DJs will also be expected to showcase a variety of knowledge within their selected genres, utilising old and new tracks or using tracks that wouldn't usually be associated with their chosen genres. Original record choices will be rewarded more than obvious ones.

2. Variety in mixing: DJs will be expected to use a variety of mixing techniques, e.g. quick mixing, double dropping, blends, acapella mixes, slow fades etc.

3. Technicality of performance: DJs will be credited for the MUSICAL use of more advanced techniques such as scratching, beat juggling, quick mixing, clean mixing across different bpm ranges, use of EQ, filters and effects. We are looking for techniques that enhance sets.

4. Overall accuracy of performance: DJs will be credited for how clean their performance is. If a house DJ that incorporates blends, good use of eq and fx and has varied selection performs their set cleanly they are likely to do just as well as a turntablist who makes mistakes.

Here is a brief demo of the type of set we're looking for:



All styles of music are welcome!

DJs can enter as many heats as they want, although priority will be given to DJs who have not yet competed in the league.

Available equipment:

-1 x pioneer djm800
-2 x technics 1210
-2 x pioneer CDJ900
-DJs may bring a DVS soundcard such as Serato or Traktor w/ a laptop with them.
-Controller set ups are allowed but performance enhancing techniques such as 'auto-sync' or 'bpm-mapped fx' will be taken into account by the judges.

-If you don't turn up or cancel without 48 hours notice you will be barred from entering the rest of the league.

Finally and most importantly, the battle is all in the name of fun and is really just a good chance for budding DJs to play out and play in front of a new audience.

If you are interested in entering please read the rules thoroughly then email basementdjbattle@gmail.com specifying your first and second choices for heats and confirming that you have read the rules.