By
Bennett Waxse and Jess Kwong
Cambridge
We started FOURH4ND out of sheer love for music. Although we’re Cambridge PhD students working in completely different fields (Bennett spends his days imaging fluorescent proteins and Jess writes about seventeenth century prostitutes) we share an insatiable thirst for new music, and a profound belief in its ability to inspire and connect. DJing together as FOURH4ND has allowed us to collaborate creatively and bring a new standard of dance music to Cambridge.
The production of interesting music is no longer just the purview of professionals and record labels. Within the last five years, the music scene has exploded in vitality, innovation, and variety, and we want to help expose people to these incredible new sounds. We both have a keen sense for what people like to hear and we enjoy the challenge of playing sets that include familiar and brand new material and that ultimately gets people dancing.
Learn about FOURH4ND on our website or download free music from our facebook page.
We have steadily been building a fan base in Cambridge by DJing at college formals, dance parties, and local clubs; however, to make the transition from amateurs to artists, we want to be able to record and play our own remixes, to develop our own sound, and to promote our work in a fresh and interesting way.
Over 18,000 students, old and new, descend on Cambridge during one week in October: Freshers’ Week. As colleges welcome their students to the academic side of Cambridge, we want to show them what a night out should be like. Nothing brings people together like music, so our goal is to play seven shows in seven nights. We have the network, we have the energy, we just need your help with the money.
The startup costs for DJs are high, and we’ve come up with some fun rewards for your support. If you can sponsor us we’d appreciate it, but if not, even sharing this page with your friends would help us a lot! (We'd never reject donated DJ equipment either!)
-Jess and Bennett
Kontrol, from Native Instruments will allow us to DJ like the pros. These controller decks go for £400 and £650 retail, but we typically find better deals on gumtree and eBay. These controllers also come with copies of the DJ software, Traktor (below).
The Kontrol F1 add-on controller would allow us to remix tracks live. This way we can start making our own remixes to accompany the standard tracks.
Ableton Live is a standard software for music production and mixtape creation. We’re using the 30-day trial at the moment, but that won’t last long. Since we’re students, we’ll save over £200.
Traktor Pro, from Native Instruments software package that helps to simplify many aspects of DJing. It will allow us to DJ with nothing more than a computer, but the software is packaged with the Kontrol S2, so it’d be silly to just get the software.
Once we reach two hours of mixtapes, we’ll have to upgrade our Soundcloud account.
We have a bit of web design experience, so we'll cut this cost by developing the FOURH4ND website ourself. We'll just have to buy the urls, which cost £10/year.
Demo CDs and business cards are things of the past. We’re looking to promote FOURH4ND by handing out branded Flash Drives accompanied by demo mixtapes and electronic contact details.
As musicians, we want to support musicians. To access the high quality music that professional sound systems require, we want to buy high bit rate music files off Beatport or iTunes, which charges £1.50-£3 per song.
As you can see, this is a hefty undertaking. We could really use your help.
Select this reward if you just want to donate to the project without receiving a reward.
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Show your support for our mission with £2 or more. In return, we’ll add you to our newsletter for updates leading up to Freshers’ Week.
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Estimated delivery: 1 August 2012
We’ll send you a FOURH4ND Flash Drive preloaded with one of our demo mixtapes (found online at http://soundcloud.com/fourh4nd) or one of our Freshers’ Week sets.
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Estimated delivery: 1 August 2012
In addition to the Flash Drive Mixtape and a shout-out in an upcoming mixtape, you’ll get free entry to one of our Cambridge gigs. We can even enjoy a beer together at the event.
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Estimated delivery: 1 August 2012
In addition to the FOURH4ND Flash Drive Mixtape and a shout-out in an upcoming mixtape, send us 30 minutes of your favorite music (regardless of genre) and we’ll compile the tunes into a custom mixtape. You could even add a greeting or message to help personalize your mix. Also, we’ll take care of hosting to help you share your mixtape with the world.
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Estimated delivery: 1 October 2012
Interested in learning how DJs keep the dance floor moving for hours at a time? In addition to the FOURH4ND Flash Drive Mixtape and a shout-out in an upcoming mixtape, we’ll sit down with you for an hour-and-a-half DJ lesson to give you the rundown of the FOURH4ND method.
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Estimated delivery: 1 October 2012
FOURH4ND plays everything from hard-hitting dubstep to familiar tunes from your local club, we’re happy to take requests, and we’re experts at getting people to dance! With this reward, you'll hire FOURH4ND at 50% off for a 1-2-Hour set and we’ll bring the party to you (free up to 120 mi from Cambridge). Of course, we’ll throw in a Flash Drive Mixtape and a shout-out thanking you for your help.
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Estimated delivery: 1 October 2012
When we come to play your event (up to 120 mi from Cambridge), we’ll either bring along your custom mixtape or come early to show you how to DJ. Of course, we’ll throw in a Flash Drive Mixtape and a shout-out thanking you for your help.
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Estimated delivery: 1 October 2012
FOURH4ND mixtapes and performances reach a large Cambridge student community. At a standard gig we can reach up to 200 Cambridge graduates. For £140, you’ll sponsor five mixtapes or five gigs. We’ll display your logo throughout our shows and give you a shout-out at a gig or on the mixtapes.
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Estimated delivery: 1 October 2012
Looking for a DJ to play more than 1-2 hours? Hire FOURH4ND for anything up to 5 hours and we’ll bring the party to you. Of course, we’ll throw in a Flash Drive Mixtape and a shout-out thanking you for your help.
0 claimed
Estimated delivery: 1 October 2012