Ski Beatz Teacher Intro
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Photographs by Asia Minor

Well, sort of. Last week, when I heard Ski Beatz was hosting a beatmaking class at New York's Scratch DJ Academy, I jumped at the opportunity to get my long awaited career as a producer started. The way I saw it, I'd be signed up to co-produce Pilot Talk III, among several other high profile releases, in no time. That certainly wasn't the case, as I kind of sucked and my ADD kept me from retaining most of what I learned. But I had a lot of fun, and was fascinated by Ski's natural abilities as an instructor. Once class was over, I got a chance to speak with Ski about his recent foray into the world of academia. Here's what the professor had to say. 

Ski Beatz 2
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On taking on the role of a teacher:

It's something I always wanted to do. Back when I was in North Carolina I used to take this piano class and I was intrigued at how the teacher would teach the less. And I was thinking how cool it would be if someone had a beat school. This was back in 2007 and I always had this vision of how it'd be, with the tables and the laptops and big screen and me in the back teaching. Somehow I got introduced to the guys at Scratch DJ Academy and I talked to them about the idea and they were with it so we went with it. It's dope. This was only my second time teaching, but I love it. I just want people to feel the same joy I feel when I'm making music. To see people's faces once they get it... I remember how that felt when it happened to me. 

Ski beatz 3
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The Syllabus:

I basically want them to get an understanding of how to use the browser on Maschine, pick the sounds that they want and actually sequence them. So after sequencing, the next step is to teach them how to chop samples, and once they learn how to chop samples correctly, they already have the sequencing part down so they'll know how to add their samples. And then after that, I could teach them how to bring the keyboards and different types on instruments in, in case they know how to play. Cause they might now want to make a sample beat. They might want to make something live. I can show them all of that but the class is a basic class. It's a jumpstart into production without all the tech-y terminology. That shit will drive a motherfucker crazy. So I just give them some drums, show them how to sequence and let them get a feel for it. Once they do that they can learn about the EQs and the filters and the reverbs and all the effects. It's dope when you start exploring and figuring those things out by yourself.

Scratch Academy
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Class Participation:

They'll ask me a lot about how different things work. Like how do you connect the Maschine with Ableton and use them together. Or what sort of microphone should they use and how do I get my kicks to sound a certain way. I get all types of technical questions most of them time. Then I got the kids who listen to all my beats and critique them and tell me what I should and shouldn't be doing.

Ski 6
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On Being A Mentor:

If this is something you want to do, you just gotta do it. It's beyond me. When you have that kind of love for this and dedication, you're going to be a producer. No one can tell you nothing. Whether you have success or not doesn't matter. If you make music and it's sounding good, you did it. I just do what I love to do. I had my taste of mainstream success when I was doing it and it was cool. There were very enjoyable moments. But then there were other moments that kind of left me jaded about the industry. I was almost forgetting why I wanted to do this in the first place. It was never about trying to be popular or a superstar. I just loved fucking making a beat. That's what keeps me doing this and with all this new technology, I'm always learning too. I've got so many beats in the crib that no one hears, but it really doesn't matter because I hear them. They're for me. Through the universe things happen and I'm blessed to be able to put things out and support myself but that's not why I do it.

Ski 5
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Life Outside The Dojo:

We have another class scheduled for June 30, and after that I think we're gonna do a six week course for it, so this is gonna be here to stay for a minute. The response has been pretty good so far. It seems like a lot of kids want to learn how to operate the Maschine so as long as someone's willing to learn, I'm willing to teach. I've got this Balcony Music thing which is coming together and will be ready in a couple months. I was going to have artists speaking on the tracks and stuff but I think I want to make it a more instrumental thing with cool, vibey music. Definitely gonna do another 24 Hour Karate School, we got that in the works. We're trying to lock in this Pilot Talk III with Curren$y, which is a him and Dame thing. They gotta finish up their discussion of that, but once that's done, we're gonna go full steam. I've sent him some tracks, but I'm ready to really start and we can zone in and knock this shit out. That's gonna be a good one.

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