Upcoming Dates:

June 1-3 – CAIRO CARAVAN
Aboard the Queen Mary, Long Beach, CA

June 29-30 – DANCE FROM WITHIN
Yoga and Belly Dance retreat with Kami Liddle, Amy Sigil, Ashley Lopez, DJ Amar
in the beautiful Santa Cruz Mountains, CA

Learn how to make an impressive sounding mix for your next performance using industry standard, state-of-the-art software that you can download for free.

If you find yourself envious of certain dancers who blow the audience away with their style and music mixes, this workshop is for you.

With a few simple steps you can adjust bass, midrange and treble frequencies; cross-fade one track into the next or edit a track down to just the portions you need; adjust the volume on one song if it is noticeably lower or higher than another; add layers using beats and ambient melodies from other songs.

Do you love a song and want to use it, but it is just too long? Is there a portion of a song you want to use, but don’t know how to edit it smoothly?

Have you performed at a gig and given the “DJ” (or sound person) your CD with 2 or more tracks on it, and the wrong track gets played? Or your set gets cut short? Would you like to control exactly when your next track starts?

Would you like to be able to mix a continuous set with smooth transitions rather than stop the momentum and wait for the next song to begin?

With my laptop and a projector, I will give an overview of key features and shortcuts to get yourself started, show you how to edit a track, use the fade in and out feature, add a second track, and then I will make a mix using 3 songs with one piece of music overlayed onto another.

Software used: AUDACITY

I mix my sets using Audacity, free software which is compatible with Windows and Mac. I will be teaching using this software. You can also use Garage Band on your Mac, which works fairly similarly, with minor differences.

Level: This is an introductory course that will go over the basics of using the software and important tools relevant to mixing your set for stage performance. If you are already mixing your sets like a pro, you don’t need to take this workshop. If you are semi familiar with mixing using software, and could use pointers on key features and shortcuts that can turn several hours work into 45 minutes, then this workshop could benefit you.

Amar’s Bio:

Amar is amongst a handful of local DJs whose taste cuts a path through an abundance of musical selections and leads dance floors into a hypnotic sway like snakes before the charmer. In this instance the muse is a masala that brews sounds from the Middle East and Balkans with rhythms of the Asian underground and electric Brazilian vibes. Whether its breaks, bhangra, house, drum & bass or downtempo, the global nature of Amar’s sets bridges a multi-culti span from the world to the Bay Area.

As a DJ and promoter, he has collaborated and shared the stage with some of the Bay Area’s & world’s most innovative Musicians, DJs and dance troupes including DJ Dragonfly, DJ Sep, Dr. Israel, Freyja, Maneesh the Twister, Giamma, Cheb i Sabbah, Ultra Gypsy, Soulsalaam, Urban Tribal, Ariellah, SooozhyQ, Dub Gabriel, Dhol Rhythms, Lorin, Nitin Sawhney, Unmata, Nader, Midival Punditz, Shabaz, Sila and the Afrofunk Experience, Zoe Jakes, Ansuya, Lady Ra, Third Eye Tribe, DJ Layla, Karsh Kale, Janaka, State of Bengal, Dr Das & Ramjac, Jimmy Love, Frederique, Rachel Brice, Glitch Mob and others.

Producer and resident of the bay area’s Global Gypsy night ELECTRIC VARDO, Amar regularly performs at SF’s hottest venues including Club Six, DNA Lounge, Nickie’s, 1015 Folsom, Temple, 111 Minna, Roe, 12 Galaxies, Amnesia, Bollyhood, Mighty, El Rio, Underground SF, Elbo Room and Rickshaw Stop with Dhamaal, Nonstop Bhangra, Surya Dub, Worldly, Opel, Dance Jam, Triple Power, & the Groove Garden plus other ongoing and special events & festivals in CA, Oregon, Hawaii, New York, Washington DC, Canada & beyond.

What to Bring: Notebook and pen

What to Wear: Comfortable clothes – you will not be dancing

Event updates at electricvardo.com
DJ Amar event calendar at solunamar.com

DJ Amar on Facebook

Past Workshop archive:

2011

Workshops and show with DJ Amar & Calamity Sam, hosted by Hilde Cannoodt - Brighton, UK - November 12

Beyond Bellydance IV - Den Haag, Netherlands - November 18

Najm at Danse Orientale - Peachtree, GA – May 28

Cairo Caravan - Long Beach, CA (Free 30 minute intro lecture)

Tribal Fest 2011 - Sebastopol, CA – Thursday May 19th, 2011

2010

December 19 in San Luis Obispo
at Tribal Fusion Faire

JUNE 19 in OAKLAND
at Ariellah’s Studio
(Workshops with Sherri Wheatley and Amar)

JULY 23 at FUSION FEST
in Boise, ID

MAY 13th at TRIBAL FEST
Sebastopol, CA

2009

OCTOBER16  at Blood Moon Regale
Hosted by Amy Sigil and Unmata
Sacramento, CA

MAY 20 at ReOrient
Hosted by Ariel
Baltimore, MD

See Amar’s Calendar and find his mix CDs at www.solunamar.com
Visit Amar’s Amazon Store for hundreds of titles from his DJ collection and music store selection of world music.